Exam to have more HOTS questions
THE latest Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examinations results will be used as a benchmark for determining whether Malaysian students have successfully grasped answering Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) questions.
Education director-general Datuk Dr Amin Senin said overall, 66% of SPM 2017 candidates have mastered answering HOTS questions well.
“Based on the quality of answers, 27% of candidates have a high level of mastery of HOTS questions, 39% at the average level and 34% have a low mastery level,” he said when announcing the 2017 SPM results analysis last Thursday.
Introduced in 2014, Dr Amin said HOTS questions test candidates’ ability to apply knowledge, skills and correctly assess when reasoning their answers in order to solve problems, make decisions, innovate and create.
He added that HOTS questions are divided into four skill categories - application, analysis, assessing and creation.
Dr Amin said the ministry will gradually increase the percentage of HOTS questions to 50% by 2020.
In 2017, 25% of the questions were HOTS and it will be 30% for SPM 2018.
About 25% of SPM questions have been HOTS questions since it was introducedd i d ini 2014. 2014
Dr Amin said there’s been an overall improvement for the 2017 SPM examinations compared to 2016.
The National Average Grade (GPN) improved, with a score of 4.90, com- pared to 5.05 in 2016.
A lower GPN score indicates better performance.
“About 85.2% of the candidates qualify for the SPM certificate,” he said.
SPM candidates must pass Bahasa Malaysia and History to qualify for the certificate.
Dr Amin said the ministry will not be focusing on the number of candidates who scored straight As as they move towards gauging student performance in a more holistic manner, rather than based on their academic results.
A total of 443,883 candidates sat for the national examination last year.
Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak conveyed his congratulations to all the SPM candidates who achieved excellent results in the examination last year.
The Prime Minister advised the unsuccessful candidates not to lose hope but to take up whatever opportunity they could.
“The #SPM2017 results are out today. Congratulations to all the candidates who achieved excellent results! The others must not despair. A new life is beginning; there are many opportunities for all,” he said on Twitter last Thursday. — By