昨天在海峡时报网络版看到一个新加坡家长投诉小六数学题目太难,伤害了他孩子幼小的心灵。看题目,本来我是很同情这个家长的,个人也很痛恨无聊的数学题目,一些毫无意义又无技巧可言,但是看完了那个家长的投诉信之后,才发觉又是一个无知无畏的家长。原文如下:
Don't hurt pupils' self-esteem with tough questions
AS A PARENT, I wonder whether some teachers who set exam papers are really interested in gauging the ability of pupils. Sometimes it seems as though they are simply intent on making life miserable for them.
Take a look at this maths question in a recently concluded Primary 6 preliminary exam:
'Three halls contained 9,876 chairs altogether. One-fifth of the chairs were transferred from the first hall to the second hall. Then, one-third of the chairs were transferred from the second hall to the third hall and the number of chairs in the third hall doubled. In the end, the number of chairs in the three halls became the same. How many chairs were in the second hall at first?'
I challenge readers to solve this problem in five minutes, which is all the time a Primary 6 pupil has to do it. I challenge school principals to do it, without the help of equations, which Primary 6 pupils aren't equipped with yet. Setting such difficult questions serves no educational purpose - it only undermines the pupils' self-esteem.
Stephen Lin
看看红字的部分,感觉校长压力很大啊。这题做还是不做?不做,伤了小孩自尊,做了,伤了家长自尊。
另外今天海峡时报刊登两个家长回信,一个家长同意他的看法,另一个家长说他小五的小孩做出来了,呵呵。
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