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Written on November 10, 2009 by Lester Lim

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Examination fever on Campus

Some have taken to establishing new colonies in NUS Libraries.

(photo credits:Yun Shan)

Campus – So, before we even know it, we’re in week 13 — the last week of the academic semester. This week is as ominous as it sounds: it is the time when most students are expected to turn in their final papers and projects, and prepare for the term examination in 2 weeks time.

Third-year arts student Edwin has three 2,500 words essays to turn in, all almost at the same time. “I have became almost an essay churning machine,” he says. “I’ve done nothing for the past few weekends except the essays. And the only break for me was to watch the Chelsea vs Man Utd match,” He’s been my classmate for 3 years in school. And I have never seen him so tired.

“What do you think? Year 3 is not the same as doing 1101E modules in Year 1!” he tells me. I know this better than he does.

The Central Library in school, from today on, would be open for extended periods throughout the night. Call it ‘Open for 24-hours’ ala MacDonalds if you wish, except for half an hour closures (from 9.30pm – 10.00pm and once more in the morning) to clean up the premises. The Level 6 floor which is open for an all-night revision is stale with air of examination anxiety and huffs to get through a large thick stack of readings. The tidbits section of the school bookstore is doing typically well, no thanks to the fact that there are hungry stomachs to feed during revision time.

How could students could pull all-nighters to revise for their examination? Is it the case that there is so much to learn for the examinations? There’s a consensus among my friends that much has to do with the bell curve grading scheme for most of our classes. To put it simply, only a percentage of the class gets an A, an A-, then a B+. B is almost unimaginable for many, although the largest percentage of students will end up getting this result. The consequence of the bell curve grading system is such that if you don’t swim, you will naturally sink. To get your As, it is not a matter of how good you are intrinsically, but how you fare relative to the rest of your class. A Professor of mine told his students who enquired about whether there is a bell curve grading system for the class, which was relatively small compared to the other class in the university (less than 15). He told us not to think about it, and ‘just do your best’.

Truth be told, even without the grading system, it is impossible for a Professor to give everyone an A for the class. As such, students strive the hardest to make the best impressions in classes, impressions that will surely translate to a better examination score. Results matter so much that many students pursue their studies with that as the only goal in mind. Never mind if everything committed so earnestly to memory before the exams gets flushed out immediately when the holidays come.

At the third year, many of my seniors have told me that it is the most crucial year of my university career. “If you end the third year with a good CAP, chances are that you will sustain it and see very little deviation in the fourth.” This is true because the Cumulative Average Point (Singapore’s version of the GPA, Grade Point Average) is factored by the number of total modules that you have taken. By the fourth year, your CAP largely stagnates, and if you have built up a buffer between your current and the lower class of honors, chances are that your grades would not matter as much.

But does this mean that students at the fourth year are studying very little? On the contrary. I asked a friend of mine, Y.M, why he was studying so hard even though it appears that his CAP was unlikely to change (his CAP is above 4.5/5.0) at the fourth year. He pointed to this t-shirt which said: CAP is not something you buy from the Campus Sports Store. I took a chuckle. It was his department’s t-shirt.

Right in front of him in his honors classroom was a photo of his professor in a nicely framed portrait. I asked him why it was there. “So that I can feel that my Professor is looking at me when I am typing my honors thesis,” he tells me. I laughed heartedly, for the only thing that was missing was some joss sticks and incense before his table gets converted into an altar fit for worshipping his Professor. “Don’t laugh,” he quipped. “This is very serious. It is as though he’s asking me how is my essay going every second of the day.”

–

At the fourth year now I seem to have become very accustomed to the university’s educational system, and the way that the grading system awards not those who study the hardest, but those that do study smart. I must have been a mess in my first year in university and it would have been inconceivable to me back then that I could possibly be juggling 6 classes in one semester as I am now, and still not stay on campus. But taking a class and doing well in the grading system is a skill that students will slowly but surely hone in their years in the university, when they become more delicately sensitive to the demands of the grading system in the school.

As I sit behind a terminal in the library now, the printing machines have been incessantly churning out documents and readings that my fellow undergraduates have been keen to print just to meet the deadline by the end of this week for their essay submissions, or for the call of revision that has been knocking on their doors already in the past week. In the queue leading up the print release machines, many of them have a listless look on their face, and I could see their tired minds taking a surreptitious nap before their turn is up. There is only one thing on their mind now, and that is if they could ever finish that 3,000 word essay that is due tomorrow.

I took a look at Edwin’s Facebook account just to see how he’s been doing and he has just joined a group called “I learn 90% of my course the week before the exams.” The last time I did that was for my economics classes in year 3, classes that Edwin’s taking now. I took a laugh as I tried to recall my CAP. I don’t really remember it now.

Maybe that’s why I am very much happier in the final year of my university career.

*Edit (10/11): The Library closure time should read 930pm – 10pm, instead of 930am – 10am.

576115 CommentsExamination+fever+on+Campus2009-11-10+06%3A41%3A14Lester+Lim on "Examination fever on Campus"

Tan Ker Ming on Tue, 10th Nov 2009 7:47 am

Good story. I'm glad the Kent Ridge Commons is stepping out of the shadow after kelvin has left the team. good to see more of the other writers focus on other stuff other than leftist anti establishment articles. i realli feel kent ridge commons have the potential more than just being any other ordinary political blog in sinmgapore.

Joan on Tue, 10th Nov 2009 9:15 pm

You need to improve on your English. As a form of respect to fellow readers, do check for mistakes before publishing your articles. It is an eye sore.

Lester Lim on Tue, 10th Nov 2009 1:26 pm

Hi Joan,

Thanks for your comments! And sorry for the eye-sore. I did type this article really quickly in the library.

Cheers,
Lester

Lester Lim on Tue, 10th Nov 2009 1:27 pm

Thanks for your comments, Ker Ming!

Guest on Wed, 11th Nov 2009 2:20 am

To Lester:

Seems like you agree with Ker Ming's comments? It appears that Kelvin has to leave because your site wanted a slant away from the 'leftist/anti-establishment articles'[? Rather let me rephrase, will your site welcome contributions from Kelvin in future?

To Ker Ming: You really have a thin-skin. Not all that Kelvin has written are anti-establishment. P65 blog is an extinct animal and the reality is that KRC's readership has dropped.

Guest on Wed, 11th Nov 2009 5:04 am

I was actually looking at the number of comments that your site generated. Sems to be lesser than when your old writer was arund. That was when I inferred that your site readership dropped.

To confess, I come to KRC because of your old writer. Now, he has a new blog elsewhere which I think has pulled away alot of KRC readers. I do not want to name his blog out of respect for your site.

You should seriously welcome contributions from him. Do you welcome contribitions from writers who left your team? Does your site even practise free speech to begin?

Guest on Wed, 11th Nov 2009 6:20 am

Actually you didn't answer my question of whethr Kelvin-type writers welcome to submit contributions. In the past, you used to have guest writers. So will you practise free speech and accept contributions from Kelvin-type writers? Hope you can answer this.

Temasek Review and The Online Citizens are not tabloids or gossip webbys but they have high readerships.

The part about KRC being a one man show isn't Kelvin's fault I think. When I read Kelvin's blog, Kelvin mentioned it is more of the fact that the other writers AREN'T contributing, which means Kelvin has to contribute. So, can your writer be blamed for his one man show?

Let's look at the rest of your other writers. For you alone, Lester, perhaps fair enough, you have the second highest number of contributions behgind your old writer.

not again on Wed, 11th Nov 2009 9:14 am

hi, this is missbored .

as i commented before under lester's ris low article, as a reader, im here for intellectual refreshment.
Also, personally, i would like to believe that as an author of any article, he/she would more likely to see his /her readers to discuss& to share their opinions about the content of their article, not how his/her article sucks, or worse, dragging on personal matters like how one's husband left her because she is too involved in her writing career?!

my point is this is an online daily, not singapore_gossip.com (quoting myself), personally, it would be nice if "guest" and "lester" could resolve your issues privately because honestly speaking, the rest of the readers like me are neither concerned nor interested.

thanks.

Raven on Wed, 11th Nov 2009 12:31 pm

Dear Lester,
How did you come to the conclusion that Kelvin's articles are gossip tabloid in nature. Isn't that the inference from your comment as per sentence 2. Quite libellous, I think. I would be concerned. I never thought that KRC came even close to gossip tabloid. It was very done from inception and credit goes to evryone including Kelvin.

The challenge is to reach the same readership level at least with similar quality and they don't have to be of similar bent. – Raven

Lester Lim on Wed, 11th Nov 2009 2:16 pm

Hey everyone,

Wow thanks for the comments. It's really good to get feedback from all of you. Raven, I'm sorry if you have inferred from my earlier reply it is of my opinion that Kelvin's articles are tabloid-ish in nature. Of course this is not the case! Far from it. On the contrary, I have always had a high opinion of his articles that have been always pushing the boundaries and are often well-researched, even if there are some that I disagree with. He has put in a lot of effort for the publication and I cannot thank him enough for that.

Yes it is definitely my fault that I haven't been 'on top of things' to as to speak. There are many reasons why our writers are not contributing but I am not at liberty to discuss them here. But I am sure that I have never put any 'pressure' on Kelvin to write just because our other writers aren't writing. We are doing this on a purely voluntary basis and our writers are free to come and go as they like.

Lester Lim on Wed, 11th Nov 2009 2:16 pm

am not too sure why you are pushing so hard for Kelvin's articles to be published here. He can definitely publish his articles on his blog and we're in no way stopping you from visiting his blog. My take on it is that if it's available and accessible on another blog on the internet, there're no reasons why we should replicate his articles for the sake of it on the publication. Magazines have editorial discretion about the nature of articles they wish to publish, and an exercise of it does not mean that they do not respect free speech. If the Economist magazine doesn't publish an article you have written on say, Sesame Street, does it necessarily mean that they don't respect free speech? Not quite.

I'd like to keep the discussion pertinent to the article and this would be the last time I would be commenting here on this issue.

Cheers!
Lester

coffee on Wed, 11th Nov 2009 2:32 pm

after seeing the students are so hardworking, shouldnt the school be touched and want to show her appreciation for the students' hardwork by offering free-flow of hot coffee in central library 24/7 :)

weirdo on Wed, 11th Nov 2009 2:35 pm

"Right in front of him in his honors classroom was a photo of his professor in a nicely framed portrait "

i tried your friend's method, doesnt work… i end up making voodoo dolls of my professor…

I'm Amazed on Thu, 12th Nov 2009 1:02 am

Isn’t it obvious that guest = kelvin?!?!?

i i think the other writers don’t wnat to write because there is one individual dominating the ENTIRE KRC. AND THAT IS KELVIN TEO. if any of u knoe about the REAL HISTORY OF KRC JUST GO ASK THIS GIRL CALLED CHOON HUI WHO QUITTED KRC because of kelvin! she wrote a lot of articles and got her friends to join the publication (there was this indian girl) but all left cos of one tyrant = kelvin teo. kelvin is the real assh0le doing self-interviews of himself on his blog pretending to talk good things abt krc while writing hate msg of them in his facebook.. this after he shut down the entire KRC for a week! OH PLS!!!

?????????????? ? ????? on Tue, 17th Nov 2009 3:54 am

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