Actually, sec students will normally do badly in their SA1 exams, although this should not be used by the students themselves to justify their poor performance. Why does this “mass slaughter” of math students happen near the middle of every year?
Well, my educated guesses are as follows:
(1) If you are in Sec 1, you probably did badly because of your poor or zero exposure to algebra, negative numbers and proper presentations while in primary school. Please realise that your single arrows, your poorly labelled statements and your misuse of equation signs will really worsen your grades this time. So please listen carefully to your sec school teacher’s illustrations on how math solutions are presented in major exams. Many of you would also have made careless mistakes in opening brackets with minus signs on the inside and the outside, and in simplifying or solving algebraic expressions.
(2) If you are in Sec 2, in addition to not having overcome the above problems earlier, you were probably slapped with an exam paper that was designed to “kill”. The ‘logic’ is simple. Sec 2 is a crucial year; it is the year you are “streamed”, the year that decides whether you will be allowed to do pure sciences or additional math in sec 3. So teachers feel that they need to “wake you up”, to humble you, so that you will work harder for SA2. So most exam papers for SA1 in Sec 2 have been set to “wipe out” students. It is not something I fully agree with, as such tactics can also demoralize students for life.
(3) If you are in Sec 3, it was probably because you underestimated the effort needed to master A. Math. Topics like Quadratic Functions and Logarithms need a lot of attention and deep thinking, and even ‘simple’ topics like Remainder Theorem and Partial Fractions have their difficult parts, the kinds that teachers like to select for exams. Make no mistake about this – teachers KNOW what concepts you find difficult to apply.
(4) If you are in Sec 4, the reason is the same as in (2) above, that your Math teachers want to “wake you up” before the prelims and the actual O-Level exam, and also because you wouldn’t have had enought time to revise both Sec 3 and Sec 4 work before the exam which started right after you were taught the last topic. That’s why some schools remove the mid-year exam in Sec 4, or postpone it to late June.
What you have to do now to avoid a total disaster for SA2?
(1) If you are in Sec 1, focus on mastering the solving of Algebraic Equations.
(2) If you are in Sec 2, focus on mastering the solving of equations involving Algebraic Fractions and mastering all the topics on Graphs (Linear and Quadratic Equations). If you have been taught Indices, master that too!
(3) If you are in Sec 3, for Math, focus on mastering Indices, Coordinate Geometry and Trigonometry. For A. Math, focus on mastering Trigonometry.
(4) If you are in Sec 4, for Math, focus on mastering all of Graphs and Vectors. For A. Math, focus on Applications of Differentiation and Integration. If you have no time to revise everything since Sec 1, focus on the topics mentioned in (1) to (3) above. If you have not mastered all the topics mentioned in (1) to (4) above, you will be in serious trouble if you do Math in JC.
Click on How to study for Math or Physics exams to know more about exam preparation.
Click on O-Level Math or Additional Math to know what books you can use for revision and practice.
Or consult Mr Ilyasa @ 97860411.
All the best in your exams!
TUITION CLASSES:
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By EX-MOE TEACHERS & EXPERIENCED TUTORS
@ BLK 644, BUKIT BATOK CENTRAL, #01-68. S(650644).
CALL 65694897 OR SMS 98530744 OR 97860411.
Sec 4 IP Math group tuition …
For our latet timetable, click here =>
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ORIGINAL POST (OUTDATED):
Sec 4 Integrated Programme (IP) Math:
Sun 10.00 am – 12.00 pm; Course Code: s4amipsun10. (Investment amt: $240 per 4 sessions) (1 vacancy)
Conducted by our Principal Tutor, Mr Ilyasa (h/p: 97860411)
Current students in the class are from RI, RGS and ACS(I). Mr Ilyasa has been giving tuition in IP Math since 2005. His IP students are mainly from RI, RGS, HCI, Nanyang Girls’ and River Valley High. To view Mr Ilyasa’s educational qualifications and teaching experience, click here.
Sec 4 Physics, Chemistry, Math revision classes …
For our latest timetable, click here => 
Sec Math Textbook Solutions
If you are looking for fully-worked solutions to problems found in commonly used mathematics (Additional or Elementary) textbooks in Singapore, you can check out this wonderful website created by Lee Chu Keong, a lecturer at the Nanyang Technological University: http://www.openlysolved.org
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For our latest timetable, click here =>
Free Online Academic Lectures …
In this website, http://www.khanacademy.org/, you can find many instructional video clips, mostly on Math and Science topics, such as how to do ‘completing the square’, how to do differentiation and integration, how to calculate the moment of a force etc.
You may also visit http://openlectures.sg/ to hear lectures on A-level topics based on the Singapore syllabus.
If you learn better through watching and listening as compared to reading, then these websites might be of help to you. Happy exploring!
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SINGAPORE LEARNER
Singapore Learner provides Group Tuition, Individual Tuition, Intensive Revision, Enrichment Workshops, Headstart Classes and Crash Courses at the Primary, Secondary and Junior College levels in the areas of A.Math, Pure Physics, Pure Chemistry, Science, Economics, and General Paper for the Singapore A-Levels, O-Levels and PSLE.
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TUITION CLASSES:
_______________________________________________________________
EDUCATIONAL SERVICES:
______________________________________________________________
By EX-MOE TEACHERS & EXPERIENCED TUTORS
@ BLK 644, BUKIT BATOK CENTRAL, #01-68. S(650644).
CALL 65694897 OR SMS 98530744 OR 97860411.
Good A. Math test result …
I’m very happy today, not just because I have no teaching and no tutoring at all on Mondays. It is because my one of my tuition students smsed me her Sec 3 A. Math common test result, for which she obtained 31/40. Not bad at all for someone who has been struggling with her Algebra and Indices since last year.
This is what I mean when I talk about hard work. You don’t have to be an overnight success story. Neither do you need to score 100/100. You just have to be persistent in your quest for improvement. It’s ok for success to come in small doses. If you stick to your goals, the Big Success will come some day.
I also tutored her two elder brothers, from sec to jc, both of whom have obtained places in our local universities. The amazing thing about them is that they were ‘average’ students from ‘neighbourhood’ schools who simply refused to give up on their studies. They did a lot of work, asked many questions along the way, and took quite a lot of flak from me for being careless and forgetful. But that’s how things go for most of us. We are not perfect people who can understand immediately what we see or hear.
My main point is: Success is a personal choice.
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TUITION CLASSES:
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EDUCATIONAL SERVICES:
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By EX-MOE TEACHERS & EXPERIENCED TUTORS
@ BLK 644, BUKIT BATOK CENTRAL, #01-68. S(650644).
CALL 65694897 OR SMS 98530744 OR 97860411.
Just finished Sec 4 IP Math and Physics tuition…
Sunday mornings are very tiring for me – 2 hrs of Sec 4 IP Math followed by 1.5 hrs of Sec 4 Pure Physics tutoring. The topics we are doing now are Trigonometry, Differentiation and DC Circuits.
Apparently, some schools are slower than others. Sec 4 students should now already be doing Differentiation and DC Circuits, but some are still at graphs of trigonometrical functions and electrostatics or even sound!
Every year, my tuition students who are weak in Math come from two ‘very good’ schools in the west. I shall not name the schools but I think the lower sec Math teachers in these schools need to get closer supervision from their superiors. This is what I have been trying to tell parents – ‘good’ schools do not necessarily have good teachers. Some of these schools attain good results because their students are academically good in the first place, not because they have outstanding teachers. If you enter a ‘good’ school, chances are, the teachers there think you are already very smart, so they teach fast and make you do a lot of ‘independent’ learning, and justifying these actions using the ‘Teach Less Learn More’ philosophy.
Last but not least, I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: SEC 2 MATH IS VERY IMPORTANT, ESPECIALLY THE ALGEBRA PART.
For our latest timetable, click here =>
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By EX-MOE TEACHERS & EXPERIENCED TUTORS
@ BLK 644, BUKIT BATOK CENTRAL, #01-68. S(650644).
CALL 65694897 OR SMS 98530744 OR 97860411.
A. Math Reflections – Inequalities
I find that a lot of A. Math students, even JC students,
are weak in solving inequalities. For A. Math, some of the common
mistakes are:
(1) thinking that (x-4)(x+1) > 0 means that (x-4) > 0 or (x+1) > 0;
(2) thinking that (x^2 -9) > 0 means that x > +- 3;
(3) forgetting to change the inequality sign when multiplying or
dividing by a negative number, especially ‘hidden’ negative numbers such as
log(0.7).
Many JC students are also weak in solving inequalities, probably
due to not overcoming misconceptions abt inequalities when they were in
secondary school and new challenges posed by Inequalities in H2 Math, such as
in solving (x+2) / (x-3) < 0.
For our latest timetable, click here =>
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By EX-MOE TEACHERS & EXPERIENCED TUTORS
@ BLK 644, BUKIT BATOK CENTRAL, #01-68. S(650644).
CALL 65694897 OR SMS 98530744 OR 97860411.
A. Math Chap 2 – Quadratic Functions & Equations
I was teaching this topic in sch the other day and as expected, students encountered quite a number of problems with this topic. Many of my tuition students over the years also reported the same problems in handling issues related to Quadratic Functions.
Some of these problems are:
(1) not understanding that alpha and beta by themselves also satisfy the quadratic eqn because they are the roots of the equation! So it’s not just abt finding the sum and product of roots;
(2) not knowing the condition for the discriminant (b^2 – 4ac) when the question involves the phrase “for which the function is never positive or never negative”;
(3) not being sure whether one is required to solve an inequality involving the discriminant or the function itself;
(4) not knowing how to complete the square to determine the maximum or minimum value of a quadratic function (even those who can do it do not understand why it works!);
(5) not recognising that “real and distinct roots”, “real and equal roots”, and “no real roots” have other names that express the same meaning.
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For our latest timetable, click here =>
New Sec 4 A. Math class Fri 7.45 pm …
For our latest timetable, click here =>
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ORIGINAL POST (OUTDATED):
Sec 4 A. Math (Investment amt: $150 per mth):
Fri 7.45 pm – 9.15 pm; Course Code: s4amfri745. ( 3 vacancies) *NEW
Sat 10.45 am – 12.15 pm; Course Code: s4amsat1045. (1 vacancy)
Sun 10.00 am – 12.00 pm; Course Code: s4amsun10. (IP Programme – $200 per mth) (2 vacancies)
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SINGAPORE LEARNER
Singapore Learner provides Group Tuition, Individual Tuition, Intensive Revision, Enrichment Workshops, Headstart Classes, Holiday Classes and Crash Courses at the Primary, Secondary and Junior College levels in the areas of Math, Pure Physics, Pure Chemistry, Science, Economics, and General Paper for the Singapore A-Levels, O-Levels and PSLE.