Thursday, November 29, 2012

PROBLEM SOLVING ASSESSMENT CLASS IX and XI: DETAILS



It is a widely acknowledged fact that research and analytical skills, ability to apply basic concepts of different subjects, solve application based problems in Mathematics and Science, comprehend and analyse written text and effective communication are the skills which ensure success in Higher Studies and Professional areas.These dimensions of 21st Century life skills will greatly assist learners in acquiring higher order thinking skills such as Problem Solving and Decision Making.
It is in this connection that the Board is planning to initiate a `Problem Solving Assessment’ (CBSE-PSA) for students of Classes IX from the second term of this session 2012-13.
The features of the ‘Problem Solving Assessment’ (CBSE-PSA) will be as follows: -
1. It will be compulsory for all students of Classes IX and carry 90 marks. There will be 60 items of MCQ type.
2. It will assess the following areas:-
  • Quantitative Reasoning (found in mathematics, science and technology)
  • Qualitative Reasoning (found in humanities, arts and social sciences)
  • Language Conventions
There is no specific syllabus for Problem Solving Assessment (CBSE-PSA).
3. The items will incorporate aspects of 21 Century Skills (Creative Thinking, Decision Making, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Communication) that leads to success at Secondary Stage. They should be able to assess student’s ability to process, interpret and use information rather than assess student’s prior subject matter knowledge.
4. The Assessment will contain items that will assess written expression, including grammar and usage, vocabulary in context and passage-completion.
5. The test items will be so designed that they will also help in improving scores within the core school subjects as the Problem Solving Assessment test items are designed to improve generic and higher order thinking skills.
6. The items will be able to assess students ability. The test items will be so designed that they will also help in improving scores within the core school subjects as the Problem Solving Assessment test items are designed to improve the generic skills.
7. The ‘Problem Solving Assessment’ (CBSE-PSA) will be done during the month of January – February 2013 for students of Class IX. The ‘Problem Solving Assessment’ (CBSE-PSA) will be counted towards FA-4 which is 10% of total assessments of Class IX.
8. This assessment will also be carried forward towards the FA-4 in Class X. This score will be reflected in one Language( English or Hindi), Mathematics, Science and Social Science w.e.f the session 2012-2013 for Class IX and 2013 – 14 for Class X. The same score will be reflected in FA-4 for class IX and Class X.
9. The students will have the option to improve their PSA Score in Class X, as they can sit for the test with Class IX students of the Session 2013-2014 in January – February 2014. The best scores will be reflected in the final certificate in case of those applying for improvement.
10. The schools which have already planned their time table and other details regarding FA-4 will take the best scores of FA-3 and FA-4 to count towards the total 10%, now available for FA-3 and FA-4 taken together.
11. There will be no separate time tables or periods for teaching or practice of PSA in schools.

Format Class XI Development Numbers for Items and Passages for the 2 forms of the CBSE-PSA

Test Context Domain/ Item Type
Target No. per Test Form
No. of Items
No. of PassagesTotal No. of Items
Qualitative
  • Stand-alone MCQs
  • Passage-based MCQs
6
6
2
612
SUB TOTAL
18
Quantitative
  • Stand-alone MCQs
  • Passage-based MCQs
10
4
2
108
SUB TOTAL
18
Language Conventions
  • Grammar & Usage MCQs
  • Vocabulary in Context MCQs
  • Passage-completion MCQs
8
8
8
88
8
SUB TOTAL
24
TOTAL
60
FOR OFFICIAL INFO AND SAMPLE QUESTIONS CLICK THE FOLLOWING LINK

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

JEE Main FORM: You can correct your particulars in January


CBSE has decided to display the particulars of the JEE aspirants who have applied online for JEE Main in the second week of January next year so that they can rectify their incorrect particulars.
The move comes after it was found that candidates have committed mistakes while filling particulars in their online registration form, CBSE said in a statement today.
However, no corrections can be carried for changes in examination cities and option for change of mode of examination from computer-based examination (online) to pen- and-paper based examination, it said.
The online registration form has been made available on JEE Main website from November 8 December 15.
As per the new format, aspirants for IIT will have to appear for JEE Main and then for JEE Advance.
Press Release regarding this can be seen @
http://cbse.nic.in/public%20Notice_jeemain_2013_2012.pdf

Saturday, November 17, 2012

GOOD NEWS: MORE STUDENTS LIKELY TO MAKE IN FOR JEE ADVANCED


More candidates for JEE-Advanced 2013


The list of candidates eligible to appear for JEE-Advanced 2013 can grown longer. A total of 1,50,000 JEE-Main candidates will be shortlisted to appear for JEE-Advanced. But there might be thousands more getting the aggregate score to be eligible for the next stage as there will be no tie-break mechanism at the stage of shortlisting candidates.
As there could be more than one candidate with similar aggregate score, this will give scope for more candidates to reach the final stage of their quest to acquire a seat in IIT.
In the reformed structure of the Indian Institute of Technology-Joint Entrance Examination (IIT-JEE), all undergraduate engineering admissions, will be conducted through a single entrance test. The reformed JEE will be conducted for the first time in 2013.
It has two stages – JEE-Main and JEE-Advanced. Admission to non-IIT institutes is to be conducted through JEE-Main and JEE-Advanced score will be considered for admission to IITs. “Only a candidate’s aggregate marks in JEE-Main will be considered and no tie-break mechanism will be implemented at this stage. This will make the list of eligible candidates slightly more than 1,50,000 due to bunching of candidates with the same aggregate marks at the bottom of each category,” says the JEE 2013 website.
Tom Mathew, chairman of the IIT Bombay zone of the JEE, said, “Since there will be more than one student with similar aggregate score in the JEE-Main, the number of eligible students for JEE-Advanced is expected to be more than 1,50,000.” Even after being shortlisted after JEE-Main, aspiring IITians will have to again register themselves for the JEE-Advanced.
Number Factor
  • 50.5% of the 1,50,000 (75,750 candidates) will be taken from the top rankers of the Common Merit List (CML) of JEE (Main)
  • 27% (40,500), 15% (22,500) and 7.5% (11,250) candidates will be taken from the top rankers of the category rank lists of OBC-NCL, SC and ST, respectively
  • The candidates figuring in the category rank lists will be those who do not figure in the 75,750 candidates chosen from the CML
COURTESY:DNA
URL of the article:
 http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_more-candidates-for-jee-advanced-2013_1765549-all

P.S.
LINK TO JEE MAIN BROCHURE http://jeemain.nic.in/jeemain2013/pdf/JEE_Main_bulletin_12_11_a.pdf
LINK TO JEE ADVANCED BROCHURE  http://jeeadv.iitd.ac.in/images/IB_JEE_Adv_2013.pdf

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

JEE EFFECT: HIKE OF COACHING FEE


Unscrupulous tutorials milk Gujarat govt’s delayed nod to JEE


The late decision of Gujarat government to accept Joint Entrance Exam (JEE)-2013 for admission in the engineering colleges in state is haunting the students.
With only five months left for the test, coaching classes are minting money by charging higher coaching fee from engineering aspirants. Most of the students are finding it extremely difficult to cough up the exorbitant fees they are being subjected to.
“Just five months are left for the JEE (Main) exam and the tutorials have made the course fee very high which has pressurised parents to a great extent,” said Darshan Goradiya, student of a city-based school.
GUJCET, which was used as medium to give admission to students in state colleges has been replaced by the JEE (Main). The tutorials which used to charge around Rs5,000 to Rs15,000 till last year have hiked fees to as much as Rs20,000 to Rs50,000,” Goradiya said.
Claiming that the Gujarat state board students will face a daunting task in clearing the JEE (Main) exam, an official from Abhyas Tutorials said, “Till last year, it was just GUJCET which students could clear easily. However, JEE (Main) will be a new concept for every student and the delayed decision of the state government has forced tutorials to put in extra efforts to train students”, he added. The tutorial used to charge Rs 7,000 for GUJCET till last year which has increased to Rs 45,000 this year for JEE (Main).
“The fee is too high for anybody to afford. Sudden changes in paper patterns create panic among students and they will be forced to shell out higher fees as demanded by the coaching institutes,” said a parent of a Std XII student. The parent added that he has requested the coaching class to allow him to pay the fee in two instalments as it is difficult for him to cough up the money in one go.
Students are also facing issue with the new pattern of test they will be facing in JEE (Main). “The current academic batch is bound to suffer due to the decision,” said a Std 12 student of a city-based school.
Courtesy:DNA
 http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_unscrupulous-tutorials-milk-gujarat-govts-delayed-nod-to-jee_1764074-all