New 5-Point System. Are you better or worse off?

yoohoo SG

NUS came up with the new 5-point system during last semester (1st Semester of 1999/2000). Some people were better off while others were unaffected.

The main purpose of this new system is suppose to let students "do better". Eg: In the past, if you get an "F" grade (zero point), u need to have an "A" grade (4 points) to average out to give a "C" grade (2 points).

However with this new system, u are required to have only a "B+" grade (4 points) to get the same average of a "C" grade (2 points).

I observed that those who had done relatively not so well will see an improvement over their CAP score while whose who had done well will not be affected as much as the former.

So, what is your opinon on the new 5-point system?

[PS: BTW, only the current 2nd year students (98/99 intake) are affected. This is because the 1st year students received their results for the 1st time. The 3rd year students are still adopting the old 4-point system]

SiaoGal SG

Huh yoohoo.....are you sure ppl like me not affected? I am in year three leow loh. I got my last sem's results in the new grading system too. All that minuses along with the alphables.

Sigh.....watever, I dun reallie care lah. I just hope they will just dun use that system on us. However, I have to agree that it will be an advantage for those year twos who accelerated as their results seems comparatively better than the year threes and will get an edge over selections for honours?

sigh....there has been lotsa changes ever since the current year two first came in. Dunno wat the Uni is trying to do also. Bec of toopid changes, I am stuck with an extra module. I ended up taking 5 modules now when I could have just taken 4 if the econs dept never change their ***$&$&@Q&* system

:p

light SG

there is no gain for year 2s when it comes to honours. It fact there is a loss. The upgrading of grades and pts does not compensate the upgrading of criteria for honours offering. This is especially so for those who qualify for honours slightly above the cutoff mark under the old system. What it means is that those who qualify under the old system fail to qualify under the new. One reason for this is that not all grades are being upgraded. Thr lower grades are but not the upper grades. The main benificiaries are those who did not do too well (eg ave of Cs). Those who did average of Bs and above only benefit from a improvement in the outlook of the transcript for some grades but are worse off for the borderline honours cases as they may not qualify.

yoohoo SG

Hmmm SiaoGal, I tnk it dosen't affect current Yr3 students leh... coz my frenz in 3rd yr says not affected. But if yours is affected, well, i am also puzzled~!

Hmmm.... indeed as Light had pointed out, the new point system only helps those who did not do so well, as for those who had done well, there are not much influence.

Guess what i heard? Next intake (2000/2001) students have to take 5 CFM!!! Dono what they want us to know so much thing for? If we are here to receive education, why is it that they want us to take so much cross-fac modules? This is definately not going to make our "general degree" in FASS any much better.

This is especially so if they are going to increase the requirement for CFM at the expense of our own faculty modules, say less elective will be required in due to the more CFM modules to be taken.

At least if we were to take elective, we can take all belonging to the same subjects so as to widen our knowledge in that field. If not, perhaps some from stats and maths which are complementary to one another and of course to many other FASS concentration like Econs, Psy... ...

However, with CFM, we are mostly going to take one from this Fac, another from another Fac... which eventually mean that we will be getting a GENERAL DEGREE~!!

theychosenone SG

IF you all think about it..it actually only benefits the cap grades above B….below that it’s no diff. Thus it only helps students with better results. Defeats the whole purpose.

light SG

It helps those with lower grades most because it improves the outlook of their transcripts. My friend who consistantly has around Cs and C+s seen a big improvement cos almost all the grades improve to B- or B. And as I pointed out, it penalises those who need the CAP pts to qualify for the honours program due to the increase in selection criteria far above the improvement in points.

Hajime SG

So how are the students’ results going to be calculated? Assuming it only affects 2nd yr students…then their 1st yr results will be based on the 4-pt system, & 2nd yr onwards, results based on 5-pt system isit? In that case, why wasn’t 3rd yr students affected? even if only one more semester to go…it is even weirder that only 2nd yr students are affected, but not the 1st yr students. maybe i dun understand the system very well, but in my memory, these kind of changes usually affect freshmen more often than other more senior students…*shrugz

yoohoo SG

well, as i had mentioned, it only affects the current 2nd yr students(1999/2000). As for their 1st year results in 1998/2000, it will be recalculated. The grades that they obtain will be adjusted accordingly to the new 5-points system.

PS: (Light and SiaoGal), u all know of any changes to the honours requirements? It seems that no announcement was made regarding this. And also, the min point to obtain a "Pass with Merit". Seems like no change to these 2 as i had not heard of anything regarding them leh...

light SG

Not heard does not meant they have not changed Smile
Just ask around your faculty and compare the difference in the min honours cutoff before and after should give an idea.
Basically for my faculty, honours used to be offered around 2.75 and above which is between a C+ and a B average for the past few years(at least 3yrs). With the new revision, the minimum requirement is AT LEAST around 4 to 4.1 which is equalvalent to a B+ average in the new system or slightly above a B average in the old system. Basically if we convert everything back to old system it means that the average offering has been raise to at least a B and above(old). The jump is about half a grade on average. Multiply that average by the number of subjects you take will end up with very significant figures Smile

sparkle SG

hey light, u seem to noe a lot about this new system.
i'm 3rd year, but my last sem transcript comes with the new grading syst, with all the minuses (like siaogal's). i was told there's no change for year 3s as well. but now how do i calculate my cap?

light SG

Sparkle,
I'm not too sure abt how it affects yr 3s. Basically what I know comes from my enquiries with friends and comparing with my own results before and after cos they affect me pretty significantly.

Anyway, my guess for year 3s is that the old grades stay with the old calculations method and the recent semester grades are calculated using the new pt system whereb a A+ or A is 5 pts, A- is 4.5, B+ is 4, B is 3.5, B- is 3, C+ is 2.5 and follows. However there is no C- or D- in the new system.

Maybe you can try to use the old CAP pts multiply by the total number of subjects you take 2 sems ago (just b4 the revision) and then add it with the individual grades and their pts last sem b4 taking the average and see if they tally.

Another probable mtd that could be used is that all A+, A and A- stay at 4 pts and B+ at 3.5 while B and B- are 3pts.

The possible 3rd mtd is that all grades are calculated on the new system but there is no upgrading of grades.

Hope that I'm able to help you Smile I'll try to find out from my year 3 friends and see if any of them got any idea.

[This message has been edited by light (edited 24 April 2000).]

e10 SG

Well,

I am in yr 3 now and my results for last sem seem to jump from mostly Cs to As and Bs. Maybe it is due to the new system. Anyway, the new system will not benefit U if U do not work hard for it. However I have to say NUS had been making a lot of changes this couple of years and this is not good news for us students as we will never be sure what those up there will think up of next. Really hope they make up their mind and stop making too many changes....

light SG

Sometimes I feel that NUS should inform us before they implemented any changes. At least it keeps us prepared and know what is coming especially since it affects us. I believe that almost no student had any idea of the new grading change until they retrieve their results and spread the word around.

yoohoo SG

ya loh, should at least tell us right?
when i receive my result den i know abt the new system......

hmmm now even worse is, 3rd yr students also not properly informed abt whether they are affected by the change or not....

dono how they do things one hor?
or, they did "inform" perhaps on website or whatever means, but we did not come across?

but still, it seems like no one reli very sure 3rd yr students are affected or not...

Also ah, ppl says the arts building is weird~!.... dono the way around... try asking me where is AS5, by now i still dono!!
i tnk i am not the only one lah..... coz the place there is so poorly identified... the block no is indicated on the wall of the building, but its so high up, who is going to walk around with their head facing upwards?

other than that would be the doors are labelled. but also, the wordings are so small... how do i know abt it if i am new there when i am 1st yr, or if i am a visitor?

maybe last time the articheture tot like this den consider stylo~!
hehehehheh Cool

sparkle SG

Hi light,
thanks for trying to help. i asked my frds, my frds asked me, they asked their frds, and in the end, we still can't find an answer.
the problem is that our results slips don't show our CAP, unlike the year 2s and 1s. so can't really do by trial and error and comparing.

yoohoo,
hehe..so i'm not the only one who gets lost in arts huh. i never know where's where. i think i only noe how to get to the arts canteen from bizad thru the law carpark. hehehe...

Hajime SG

For most of the decisions made by NUS, I believe that we are among the last to know. I don't remember being informed about the point system until I received a forwarded msg about it (from friends, not from NUS somemore!). After that, when I got my results, the official slip was included to inform us AFTER they had implemented everything. I can say that I felt pretty neglected. Felt like we didn't even get the basic respect of being informed beforehand for many stuff. If they want us to develop into all-rounded students whatever...then for goodness sake, treat us more like adults.

This kind Xian1 Zan3 Hou4 Zou4 way of treating us is pure autocratic. I say this, you do it. How nice.D*mnZ.

Spoofed SG

that's why after so many years of history, NUS is still not even ISO9000 certified !!!!!

hahahaha.
crappy admin.