Many tutors face the difficulty of helping students improve as they see all students as similar student type. In this blog post, I will share 4 types of challenges that my students usually face.

Challenge 1: Student A doesn't see the purpose in studying Chemistry and doesn't believe that he has the ability to learn.

Response: I explained the value of learning to Student A and also increased the student's ownership of learning by allowing him to dictate how much homework he gets. Whenever he shares about his difficulty in learning, I will pause and listen to help me analyse his weakness in learning. Slowly, Student A started to change his mental mindset and that's the start of seeing improvement in his Chemistry grades.

Challenge 2: Student B didn't do well in Sec 3 end-of-year exam. She has insufficient prior knowledge and prerequisite skills needed for mastery of new content for Sec 4. 

Response: I used bite-sized assessments as a platform for discussion to teach concepts using commonly tested exam questions. I also provided the key phrases and templates needed to gain scientific vocabulary in the shortest amount of time. With the correct focus, Student B managed to catch up and follow the lessons taught in school.

Challenge 3: Student C has misconceptions about many topics as he was taught inaccurate information.

Response: I will jot down his misconceptions in a notebook and ask him to justify his belief. After the discussion, the student will rephrase the concept below the original misconception. This allowed Student C to revisit the misconception and relearn the correct concept.

Challenge 4: Student D doesn't have any learning/studying strategies/exam techniques. She will only do practice questions right before her tests.

Response: I will teach study skills which have proven themselves to be effective. During lesson, I will demonstrate thinking aloud skills, do retrieval practice of information  and also stress the importance of spaced learning. I will also share the common wrong studying methods made by most students.

My slots for 2021 is currently full.

​Do contact me for a discussion if your child is keen to learn with me from November/Dec 2021 onwards to prepare for 2022.

​Thanks for reading!

Type of error:
Wrong direction error occurs when you misunderstood the direction of the question and do the question with the wrong topic, concept and keywords in mind.

Problem caused:
This error costs the most marks and wastes the most time.

To avoid this type of error:
Read the question at least twice, underlining important keywords before planning the answer.    

Type of error:
These are mistakes made due to way the student takes exam. It is affected by their own personalities and mindsets.

Problem caused/To avoid this type of error:

• If you leave more questions in the 1st third of the paper blank or score worse at the beginning of the paper, it’s normally because you need more confidence. Many students panic at the beginning due to the lack of confidence. Write down some information or try at least to do the first step. Not only can this give you points, but can also "jog" your memory to answer the rest of the questions.
  

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• If you leave more questions in the last third of the paper blank, it’s usually due to insufficient time. Getting stuck on one problem and spending too much time will cost you to be unable to complete the paper. Speed up your writing speed and learn to write and think at the same time.

• Not completing a problem to its last step - many students tend to want to switch questions midway as they worry that they will be too slow. Calculate the average time required for every mark to have a rough idea of how much time is needed for the question. Set a time limit for each problem before moving to the next problem.

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• Changing test answers from the correct ones to incorrect ones. Only change answers if you can prove to yourself that the changed answer is correct. Don’t make last minute changes due to uncertainty. Change only if you know the exact mistake made.

Total duration: 1 h 15 min (One paper Only)

• MCQ - 20 marks (20 compulsory Chemistry MCQ) - 20% of Science grade
• Structured - 30% of Science grade

1. Section A - 14 marks (all compulsory)
2. Section B - 16 marks (3 Questions, Choose 2)

The remaining 50% of the Science grade comes from either Physics or Biology component.
Students only need to sit for 2 papers for Science (Chemistry + Physics or Biology).

Total duration for MCQ paper: 1 h 

• 40 MCQ (20 Chemistry, 20 either Physics or Biology) - 20% of Science grade (only 10% for Chemistry component)

Total duration for Structured paper: 1 h 15 min

• Structured - 32.5% of Science grade

1. Section A - 45 marks (all compulsory)
2. Section B - 20 marks (3 Questions, Choose 2)​

Total duration: 1 h 30 min
30 marks - 15% of Science grade
​Format: 1 or 2 Questions on Chemistry (15 marks) + 1 or 2 Questions on Physics/Biology (15 marks)

1. Energy Changes
2. Speed of Reaction
3. Redox
4. Alcohols
​5. Carboxylic Acids
​6. Qualitative Analysis

Experimental Design
- Know how to design experiment to measure rate of reaction

Identification of Ions and Gases
​- Describe tests for ammonia, chlorine and sulfur dioxide

Mole Calculations
- Formulas 
- Concept of limiting and excess reagent

Alkenes
- Addition polymerisation
- Pollution problems caused by plastics

These topics are exactly the same as those studied by Sec 4 O Level students. However, the questions set for these questions are no longer as simple as those seen in Sec 4 N(A) papers. Students are expected to answer questions which require them to "explain", "describe", "elaborate" or "suggest".

Name: J
Level: Sec 4 
School: Chung Cheng High Main
Grades: E8-F9 
Marks for Prelims: MCQ 29/40, P2 - 37/80 (Failed), Practical 21/40(Just pass)
Date of first session: 27/9/19
Total number of lessons: 8  (27/9, 4/10, 6/10, 9/10, 13/10, 16/10, 18/10 and 26/10)
Total number of hours: 16
Date of O level Exam: 30/10/19

Hi Mdm W, just a quick feedback regarding my observation so far:

1. J is weak in understanding of concepts. She may be able to give the answers to certain questions, but when asked further, she doesn’t know how she formed her answer. Most likely, she uses a lot of memory work when studying, instead of understanding the concepts.

2. She lacks skills when forming equations, taking up a lot of time even when it’s a 1 mark type of question. I have given her tips on how to form equations faster and more accurately. Also taught her how to check the equations formed.

3. She is not very sure of the keywords to use for answering questions. In chemistry, there are certain sentence structure template that we use to answer questions. And most likely she lost marks when she did not answer using important keywords (which she didn’t know that they are keywords). 

4. I went through the basics to make sure that she doesn’t make the same type of mistakes again and again as these basics are repeated throughout all topics. 

5. We started with the most challenging chapter which is electrolysis. She couldn’t answer well even for the most basic type of questions. Have already gone through her mistakes and given her some homework.

6. I stressed to her the importance of understanding of concepts. Knowing how to explain how she came out with the answers is crucial as the exam questions set in recent years require students to answer questions base on new context. Remembering answers from familiar context will give her a disadvantage.

I gave her some reference materials, notes and worksheets. Hopefully she will find them useful. Will be preparing according to her request for the next session.

To win a war, we must first know our enemy well. 

Duration of Paper 1 MCQ: 1 h 
Duration of Paper 2: 1 h 45 min

MCQ: 40 marks (30% of overall grade)
Section A + B: 50 + 30 marks (50% of overall grade)

A copy of the Periodic Table of Elements will be provided.

What can I expect?

MCQ consists of 40 questions from all topics. (Tip: Do the Mole Calculation questions LAST!)

Section A consists of 7-9 compulsory structured questions, each with several parts.

Section B consists of 3 questions.
-The first is a compulsory data-based question and the second is a long compulsory questions.
-The data-based question requires students to interpret, evaluate or solve problems using a set of given data.
-The third has an either/or option. 

Be familiar with the Periodic Table and save time by knowing where the common elements are. 

Create your own personalised Periodic Table. Jot down essential notes and refer to it for all assignments. (All my students will have a copy each from the first session.)

Know exactly what information can be found on the Periodic Table:
-proton/atomic number
-mass/nucleon number
-electronic configuration
-charge of an ion
-relative atomic mass
-group and period number 
-number of electron shells and valence electrons

Many parents in Singapore have invested time and money into finding suitable Chemistry tuition classes for their children. However, despite painstakingly sourcing for the tutors for their children, parents often face disappointment as the results fall short. Why is this so? 

Here are 3 reasons why typical Chemistry tuition centres wouldn’t work for students. ​

At many tuition centres, tutors are often part-timers who are transitioning between jobs or working for extra income. Although many claim to have experience and flexible schedules, their availability could be inconsistent in the long run as many are working under a short-term contract. As the part-timers usually use materials provided by the tuition centres, lessons tend to have a lack of engagement due to the routine teaching. ​