Chapters
- 01. Effective Ways To Gain A Full Score For Section A In Your STPM Economics Paper 1
- 02. Why Do Candidates Lose Marks For Structured & Essay Questions in Section B?
- 03. What Are Examiners Looking For When It Comes To Quantitative Questions In Section C?
- 04. How Will You Be Graded For Your STPM Economics Coursework Assessment During Your Final Semester?
- 05. Is It A Good Investment To Hire An Economics Tutor For Your STPM Preparation?
Have you ever wondered why some students seem to hit the right notes during their examinations?
It's as if they can read the examiner's mind when it comes to presenting their final answers.
Actually, everyone can read the examiner's mind when they completely master the marking scheme of the subject that they're being tested on.
For a national-based external examination like STPM, there's always a "manual" to get the highest score whether it's multiple choice questions, short structured questions, long essay questions or quantitative calculation-based questions.
If you're taking Economics as a subject as a Form 6 student, you're in the right place.
In this article, we will explore what it takes to get a high score for different components of your STPM Economics papers.
Effective Ways To Gain A Full Score For Section A In Your STPM Economics Paper 1
Before we dive deep into the marking scheme of the respective sections of your STPM Economics papers, first let's review the format of your STPM Economics Paper 1.
For this paper, candidates need to answer the following:
- 20 multiple-choice questions in Section A
- 4 out of six essay questions in Section B
- 2 out of 3 quantitative questions in Section C
Getting full marks for Section A is as straightforward as it gets. Here are four practical strategies to get the ball rolling.
Strategy 1: Practice with topical questions (cover each chapter)
It certainly boosts your confidence when you consistently do sample objective questions/past year questions from every chapter. Altogether, you will be tested on 10 chapters for the two semesters.
The list of the chapters is as follows:
- Pengenalan Mikroekonomi [Semester 1]
- Pasaran Barang dan Harga [Semester 1]
- Teori Pengeluaran dan Kos Pengeluaran [Semester 1]
- Struktur Pasaran, Penentuan Harga, dan Output [Semester 1]
- Pasaran Faktor dan Agihan [Semester 1]
- Pengenalan Makroekonomi [Semester 2]
- Perakaunan Pendapatan Negara [Semester 2]
- Keseimbangan Pendapatan Negara dan Dasar Fiskal [Semester 2]
- Wang, Bank, dan Dasar Kewangan [Semester 2]
- Perdagangan dan Kewangan Antarabangsa [Semester 2]
That way, you'll know what to expect when you scan through the questions for your STPM Economics Paper 1 and STPM Economics Paper 2.
Strategy 2: Read and analyse the question carefully (keywords)
Look out for the keywords like ciri, jumlah, benar, kecuali, tidak, bukan to determine the question requirements.
For instance, keywords such as benar, kecuali, tidak and bukan in the questions imply the need to identify true or false statements.
Source: The Indian Express
Strategy 3: Compare the given answers to the question requirements
At times, you may not be able to identify the correct answer at a glance. There's no need to panic!
What you can do is look at the given answers to gain an idea of the direction the question is heading. Look out for matching statements and the answers that have the closest interpretation based on the question requirement.
Strategy 4: Eliminate the 100% wrong answers
This is the most effective answering strategy for answering multiple-choice questions. The moment you remove the wrong answers, it offers you greater clarity in identifying and selecting the most accurate answer.
It's extremely helpful when you're given pairing options or true-false statements.
Learn more about the latest examination format of the STPM Economics papers here.
Why Do Candidates Lose Marks For Structured & Essay Questions in Section B?
While it's important to learn the techniques to secure your marks, it's also as important to know how to sustain them in the long run.
Let's review some of the most common mistakes made by candidates when they're answering the essay questions for their STPM Economics papers.
Here are some general comments that were recorded by the examiners based on the records of the STPM Economics report.
Common Mistake 1: Wrong usage of terms and definitions
Be sure to double-check your answers and keep your definitions concise and straight to the point. When you're revising,
Common Mistake 2: Incomplete and inaccurate sketching when they're answering graphs-related questions
You'll definitely come across at least one or two graph-related questions for the essay component.
Include the right input for your X and Y axis and make sure your lines are correctly sketched according to the question.
Having said that, this step is super important because it will affect how you describe the graph and elaborate on the points.
Common Mistake 3: During final answers, facts are not supported with the right elaboration and examples
It's important to note down exactly how many facts and elaborations you're planning to write based on the mark allocation.
For example, if the question requires you to explain four factors and holds 8 marks, you have to make sure you write down Factor 1, followed by Elaboration of Factor 1 and followed by Factor 2, Factor 3 and Factor 4 alongside the consecutive examples.
Note: Order is important for essays with higher mark allocation as it helps the examiners quickly identify the correct points to award the marks accordingly without missing out.
Don't forget to explore these references and learning resources to boost your performance in your STPM Economics exams.
What Are Examiners Looking For When It Comes To Quantitative Questions In Section C?
Now, we'll take a look at the marking scheme of quantitative questions.
Here are four important keys to keep in mind when you're presenting your final answers for this section.
-
Indication of the right formula and concepts
A good beginning is half the battle.
When you clearly list down the right formula that fits the economics concepts, it helps you to put in the right values to perform the calculation smoothly.
-
Step-by-step operations
Don't hesitate to list down all the workings until you reach the final answer. Don't just write down the answer you obtain with your calculator.
Photo by Aaron Lefler on Unsplash
-
Usage of the right final unit
Once you have arrived at your final answer, make sure you quickly include the final unit.
It could be a simple percentage symbol (%), currency symbol (RM) or even the number of persons (orang).
Failure to include the right final unit will cause you to lose marks.
-
Rounding up the final answers to two decimal points
This is something that is commonly ignored by many candidates when they're answering these questions.
Make it a habit to always round up your final answers to two decimal points (not less and not more than that).
For example:
Round up RM45.659 to RM45. 67
Check out these practical tips to take your STPM Economics grades to the next level.
How Will You Be Graded For Your STPM Economics Coursework Assessment During Your Final Semester?
For your STPM Economics coursework, candidates will be evaluated based on their written report and their oral presentation based on their report by their subject teacher.
The total mark for this section is 60 marks will later be scaled to 50 marks (it holds 20% weightage over the overall STPM Economics final grade).
The assessment will be conducted throughout your third semester, so you'll have sufficient time to prepare your reports and presentations.
You can refer to the list below to look at the mark allocation for each grading criteria.
Penulisan Kerja Kursus [Written Report]
- Tajuk/Abstrak [2 marks]
- Latar belakang kajian [3 marks]
- Penyataan masalah [ 2 marks]
- Tujuan/objektif kajian [2 marks]
- Kaedah kajian [4 marks]
- Hasil kajian dan perbincangan [20 marks]
- Cadangan [ 4 marks]
- Penutup/rumusan [2 marks]
- Senarai rujukan [2 marks]
- Lampiran [1 marks]
- Kemahiran manipulatif [3 marks]
- Kemahiran insaniah [5 marks]
Total marks: for written report: 50 marks
Important note: Make sure you include the necessary forms and proof of source when you're compiling the final report.
Pembentangan Kerja Kursus [Oral Presentation]
- Kerelevanan [ 2 marks]
- Soal jawab [2 marks]
- Kebahasaan [2 marks]
- Kreativiti [2 marks]
- Keterampilan [2 marks]
Total marks for oral presentation: 10 marks
Important note: Even though the oral presentation is conducted in groups, each candidate might have different marks according to their individual performance.
So always be well prepared, especially during the Q and A session after the presentation!
Photo by ThisisEngineering RAEng on Unsplash
Is It A Good Investment To Hire An Economics Tutor For Your STPM Preparation?
Now that you've gone through the general marking scheme of all the tested components of your STPM Economics papers, are you finally ready to face it head-on?
If you find yourself still hesitating, it could be for a reason.
Maybe you feel that you're not well prepared in terms of fully understanding several concepts like faedah berbanding, imbangan pembayaran, perdagangan antarabangsa dan keterbukaan ekonomi and so on.
Well, you could either opt for a refresher tutorial or hire an experienced STPM Economics tutor to walk you through every nook and cranny of all the chapters throughout the three semesters.
We assure you that it's a good investment in the long run.
It's even better if you find one at Superprof. Let's tell you why.
Reason 1: Easy to navigate website and steps
At Superprof, all you need to do is just key in the subject that you plan to learn as well as your current location to start looking for the perfect tutor.
From there, you can easily filter the selection according to your educational level, hourly rates and learning modes too.
Reason 2: A wide selection of home tutors and online tutors across Malaysia
You can opt for face-to-face lessons or 100% online lessons at Superprof. Just look out for this information when you review the tutors' profiles.
Reason 3: Budget-friendly (Tailored made)
As mentioned earlier, you can easily adjust the maximum budget for your hourly rates when you're browsing the profiles. That means when you clearly indicate that your maximum budget is RM50 an hour, you will only be directed to Economics tutors who offer their lessons based on this rate or below this rate.
There's no pressure on both party! Once you have finalised your payment method with your tutor, you can start discussing your first lesson.
That's the end of this article. We hope you will gain the superpower of "mind reading" as you're preparing for your STPM Economics papers each semester when you master the marking schemes! You got this.
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