“AIMS

Social Studies seeks to develop the competencies of our students to be informed, concerned and participative citizens by the end of a 10-year Social Studies education. These competencies encompass the body of knowledge, skills and values expressed in the Philosophy of Social
Studies and they are elaborated below.

As informed citizens, students would:
• understand their identity as Singaporeans with a global outlook;
• understand different perspectives;
• view the world with an understanding of the Singapore perspective;
• apply reflective thought in making quality decisions;
• analyse, negotiate and manage complex situations; and
• evaluate information, consider different viewpoints and exercise discernment in reaching well-reasoned conclusions and making responsible decisions.

As concerned citizens, students would:
• have a sense of belonging to their community and nation;
• appreciate the importance of engaging in issues of societal concern;
• be committed to building social cohesion by appreciating diversity in society; and
• have an awareness of the ethical considerations and consequences of decision-making.

As participative citizens, students would:
• be motivated to identify issues of concern and take action;
• be resilient in addressing concerns of the community or society in spite of challenges faced; and
• be empowered to take personal and collective responsibility for effecting change for the good of society, and serve to make a positive difference to others.

ASSESSMENT

Purpose of Assessment
The purpose of assessment must be understood beyond the context of high-stake national examinations. While Assessment of Learning does play an important role in quantifying and qualifying the students’ and teachers’ efforts at understanding and applying knowledge areas, it is not an end in itself.

The grades and feedback received at specific junctures serve as a consolidation of students’ learning, but may not be timely in helping teachers strengthen their teaching practices.

Thus, Assessment for Learning is just as important because it provides regular feedback to teachers on how they could improve on classroom practices in order to better cater to their students’ learning needs and in turn, strengthen the learning and teaching of Social Studies.

Both Assessment of Learning and Assessment for Learning have a place in the Social Studies Express/Normal (Academic) Curriculum. The modes of assessment are designed in alignment with the purpose of the Syllabus, which is to develop our students into informed, concerned and participative citizens.

This is made possible as both school-based assessment and national assessment seek to evoke students’ curiosity to inquire into societal issues that concern their lives.

Both assessments require students to think critically and reflectively about these issues through the appreciation
of multiple perspectives, to derive at well-reasoned and substantiated conclusions.

Modes of Assessment

School-Based Assessment

As mentioned previously, Assessment for Learning (formative assessment) is just as important as Assessment of Learning (summative assessment).

Examples of summative assessment include class assessments and semestral examinations, while formative assessments could
exist in the form of quizzes, debates, deliberative discussions and Issue Investigation.

(a) Purpose of Issue investigation
The inquiry approach develops skills and values that cannot be wholly assessed through conventional pen-and-paper assessment modes as students are required to integrate the knowledge, skills and values learnt and demonstrate them in the classroom.

Thus, the outcomes of the approach are better exemplified through their participation in learning activities.

As a performance task, Issue Investigation provides a platform for students to demonstrate the knowledge, skills and values needed for active citizenship.

As students conduct investigations on societal issues of meaning to them, they extend their inquiry skills by working as a group to:
• identify a societal issue that is a cause of concern;
• gather data that reflects multiple perspectives;
• analyse the data gathered to surface trends and patterns that help address the issue;
• arrive at well-reasoned and substantiated conclusions;
• consider possible recommendations to the societal issue; and
• reflect on their understanding of the societal issue and examine personal assumptions and beliefs about the issue.

Moreover, when students undertake Issue Investigation, they learn to question unexamined assumptions and develop perspective-taking, all of which will contribute towards helping them arrive at informed conclusions.

Thus, Issue Investigation provides students with the opportunity to practise and demonstrate the 21st Century Competencies to become informed, concerned and participative citizens.

(b) Assessment in Issue Investigation
The different stages of Issue Investigation, i.e. Sparking Curiosity, Gathering Data, Exercising Reasoning and Reflective Thinking, allow students the opportunity to apply a combination of knowledge, skills and values to inquire and address the societal issue they have chosen.

The application of these knowledge, skills and values leads to outcomes which the Issue Investigation process aims to develop in students

Scheme of Assessment

The assessment objectives reflect the emphasis in the aims of the Social Studies Syllabus.

These objectives are tested in two different sections of the Social Studies paper.

Section A: Source-Based Case Study (SBCS)
The GCE ‘O’- and ‘N(A)’- Level Social Studies Syllabus aims to develop critical and reflective thinking, and perspective-taking in students. This is best assessed in Section A where students are required to demonstrate their knowledge, skills and conceptual understanding through an
unseen SBCS.

They will interpret and evaluate a collection of sources based on a societal issue.

There is hence, alignment between Assessment Objectives 1 and 2 with the assessment items in this section.

A new assessment item, sub-question (e) is introduced, where students are required to consolidate perspectives from multiple sources of information to respond to the issue of the Source-Base Case Study.

Section B: Structured-Response Question (SRQ)

The GCE ‘O’- and ‘N(A)’- Level Social Studies Syllabus is anchored on issues and driven by inquiry, where knowledge is important as a basis for discourse on societal issues.

Students will be required to show their understanding of societal issues when they apply their knowledge as they analyse societal issues and construct explanations.

This emphasis on knowledge beyond factual recall and the ability to construct reasoned arguments and make informed judgement and recommendations are tested in Section B.

Duration and Weighting

The total duration for both the ‘O’- and ‘N(A)’- Level Social Studies papers is 1hr 45mins.

As seen previously, the ‘O’- and ‘N(A)’- Level Social Studies papers comprise two sections: Section A (Source-Based Case Study) and Section B (Structured-Response Question).

Students will have to attempt all questions in both Section A and Section B. The total marks for SBCS is 35 marks for both the ‘O’- and ‘N(A)’- Level examinations.

Correspondingly, the total marks for SRQ is 15 marks.

Both the SBCS and SRQ will be marked using the Levels of Response Marking Scheme (LORMS), which rewards the level of skill or understanding displayed in an answer.

Section A will involve a greater number of marks and students will need to spend a longer period of time to complete this section.”