RAFFLES INSTITUTION

DIFFERENTIATED MODULES PROGRAMME (DMP)

YEAR 4

12 September 2011 – 30 September 2011

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CONTENTS Acknowledgements Page 3

Chapter 1 Philosophy Statement, Rationale and Goals Page 4

Chapter 2 Types of DMP Modules Page 5

Chapter 3 DMP Assessment and Performance Reporting Page 7

Chapter 4 DMP Timetable Page 8

Chapter 5 Guidelines and Instructions for Students Page 9

Chapter 6 DMP Registration Page 11

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Special thanks to the following staff members for the time and effort they have put into making the Differentiated Modules Programme (DMP) possible:

• Department heads and subject teachers for designing and conducting internal DMP modules, as well as for organizing external DMP modules in collaboration with out-of-school agencies.

• Miss Yew Wei Zhen for the overall planning, preparation of the DMP timetable and

allocation of resources for the various DMP modules.

• Mrs Tan Mui Hong and Mr Kwan Chong Sin for their advice through the planning stages.

• Mr Bill Tang for managing and providing technical support for the online DMP

Registration System.

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Chapter 1 PHILOSOPHY STATEMENT, RATIONALE AND GOALS PHILOSOPHY STATEMENT …...We believe that every student is a unique individual - with need for a dynamic and risk-friendly, conducive and stimulating environment in which to learn, grow and mature -intellectually, physically, emotionally, and socially. ……We believe that by sharing their passion for learning, teachers model life-long independent learning habits and responsibility. By teaching to the needs and interests of students, teachers provide intrinsic motivation, instill a love of learning and affirm that students are capable and can succeed. …..We believe that as a school we must provide for students’ needs to the best of our ability; to help them in their quest for knowledge and learning; as they search for answers to questions in a bid to make sense of the world around them; and to plant the seeds in them for new and innovative ways to make our world a better place. RATIONALE FOR OFFERING THE DMP RI is committed to developing the whole person. Students are nurtured into Thinkers, Leaders and Pioneers through the vehicle of the RAFL framework which emphasizes authentic, interactive, learner-centred, continuous, process-focused and integrated learning. It recognizes that it must provide an education of quality and relevance in order to ensure that the potential of each student is recognized and nurtured. In line with this, the DMP was conceptualized to augment the enriched curriculum of the Raffles Programme (RP) by providing a diverse range of modules that cater to the varied interests and aptitudes of students. The additional intellectual rigour and challenge, as well as exposure to domains of study which may be outside the RP syllabus, may uncover talent areas or ignite interests in new fields of study of value to themselves and the community.

GOALS OF DMP The main goal of the DMP is to provide students with positive educational exposures and experiences to help them discover and/or develop interest areas and potential in a conducive and vibrant learning environment. By so doing, students gain greater self-confidence and awareness of their abilities and interests. With transference, this positive outcome could impact and level up the overall performance of students in their core areas of study. DMP offers students opportunities

• to hone their higher order thinking and creative thinking skills • to delve into areas of interest not offered in the Raffles Programme • to extend classroom learning via authentic real-world applications • to develop attitudes for self-directed lifelong learning • to enhance the pursuit for individual fulfillment and excellence.

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Chapter 2 TYPES OF DMP MODULES DMP modules are open to Year 4 students, subject to module pre-requisites. All subject departments will offer DMP modules. Subject teachers will innovatively and creatively design and implement DMP content, instruction and assessment. The DMP modules may vary in delivery formats and duration. Subject Departments will offer both Advanced and Enriched DMP modules. These modules differ in rigour and demand. • ADVANCED modules may cover subject content in greater depth and/or breadth, or

topics that are out of the RP curriculum entirely. These may provide students a world-view never before encountered in the classroom setting. Assessments will be rigorous and closely aligned to curricular and instructional provisions. Advanced modules are of 12-hour duration and the modules will run over 8 sessions of 1.5 hours each.

• ENRICHED modules may cover content that is out of or are authentic extensions of the

RP curriculum. They may be less rigorous and demanding than advanced modules but similarly provide a world view never before encountered by students. Assessments may be rigorous and will be closely aligned to curricular and instructional provisions. Enriched modules are of 6-hour duration and the modules will run over 4 sessions of 1.5 hours each.

The advanced and enriched modules may be designed and run in-house by RI teachers (internal modules) or may be conducted outside agencies (external modules).

• INTERNAL modules are designed and conducted by RI subject teachers. The modules are based on relevance to RP curriculum, and/or interest of students as gauged from the responses obtained from informal surveys of students. A wide and varied range of interesting and exciting internal modules will be offered students.

• EXTERNAL modules are conducted by lecturers from tertiary institutions or service providers from community organizations, can be outside the DMP timetable (e.g. during weekday afternoons and/or Saturdays), on or off campus. Some of these modules may be developed in collaboration with RI subject teachers. These modules more often than not, offer course contents beyond the RP curriculum. The arrangement and schedule will be managed by the respective departments. External modules will vary in duration and will count a maximum of 36 hours towards students’ DMP hours.

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Students signing up for external modules must check and ensure their availability to fully participate in all planned activities. Third Language, EL2, Special Programme and Elective Programme students will not be exempted from their classes to attend the external modules. Students may choose NOT to participate in any external module as there are sufficient internal modules to choose from.

Course fees, if any, may be payable by students through their Edusave funds.

The details of all DMP modules (title, synopsis, pre-requisites, delivery mode, assessment, etc) are available at the online registration website at http://dmp.ri.edu.sg.

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Chapter 3 DMP ASSESSMENT AND PERFORMANCE REPORTING As DMP complements the Raffles Programme, the participation and performance of students in their selected modules will be reported in the End-of-Year Academic Performance Report. The grading schemes for the modules are as follows: • ENRICHED modules: Pass / Ungraded

• ADVANCED modules:

Level of Achievement Score

Distinction 80 & above

Merit 65 – 79

Pass 50 – 64

Ungraded < 50

• A student who is absent from DMP must submit a medical certificate or parent’s letter

to account for his absence.

• An EVR will be reported for the module(s) if the student is absent with valid reason.

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Chapter 4 DMP TIMETABLE DMP will be conducted in Term 4 Weeks 1 to 3, 12 Sept 2011 – 30 Sept 2011. During the three weeks of DMP, a customized DMP timetable will be drawn up for each student. The following table shows the timetable structure during the DMP weeks.

Period 1 0750 - 0920

Period 2 0930 - 1100

Recess 1100 - 1130

Period 3 1130 - 1300

Lunch 1300 -1350

Period 4 1350 - 1520

Note that Period 4 is only on Mondays and Wednesdays. DMP lessons end at 1520 hrs on Mondays and Wednesdays and 1300 hrs on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. During the DMP weeks, the recess for Year 4 will be 1100 – 1130 hrs. During the DMP weeks, all Year 4 students will continue to attend Assembly Programme and Character and Leadership Education (CLE) lessons. Their schedules will, however, be amended to fit the customized DMP schedule. The details are as follows: • Assembly Programme: Tuesday Period 3 on 13th Sept and 27th September

(1.5 hrs x 2 periods = 3 hrs) • CLE Lessons: Friday Period 3 on 16th Sept and 30th Sept (1.5 hrs x 2 periods = 3 hrs) All afternoon classes like Elective Programmes (AEP, CEP, MEP), Special Language Programmes (CSP, MSP), EL2 and Third Language will continue as per normal. The duration for all these will not be counted towards the DMP hours. The HMT/MT lessons will continue to be conducted during DMP. All Year 4 HMT/MT students must attend the HMT/MT lessons with their original language class. The duration of these lessons will be counted towards the DMP hours. These classes will be pre-registered. Their schedules will, however, be amended to fit the customized DMP schedule. The details are as follows: • Year 4 HMT: 1.5 hours x 8 periods (12 hours) • Year 4 MT: 1.5 hours x 4 periods (6 hours) Other than the lessons mentioned above and the DMP modules, all Year 4 students are also required to sit for the Year 4 English Language End-of-year Examination on 13 Sep 2011 (Tue), 0800 – 0915 hrs.

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Chapter 5 GUIDELINES AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR STUDENTS IMPORTANT DATES 18 Aug (5.00 pm) – 19 Aug 2011 Online DMP registration for all YEAR 4 students 12 Sept − 30 Sept 2011 Differentiated Modules Programme

(a total of 15 days in 3 weeks) SELECTION OF MODULES 1. All Year 4 students with GPA at least 2.8 will have to register for a minimum of 48

hours of DMP modules. 2. Generally, the class size of the DMP classes will be kept to a minimum of 10 and a

maximum of 30 students. 3. Some selected students are required to attend compulsory Subject Support

Module(s). These students will be pre-registered and will be informed by their respective subject teachers.

4. All Year 3 and Year 4 students with GPA < 2.8 will be identified and are required to

attend compulsory Subject Support Modules during the DMP weeks. These students will be pre-registered and will be informed by their Form Teachers. In addition, they are also required to stay back after school to attend the Supervised Study Programme (SSP2) in the afternoons.

5. Students are required to take a minimum of 12 hours of internal modules; this

includes the DMP hours of the HMT / MT lessons. 6. Students will be strongly encouraged to take a combination of both enriched and

advanced modules. As an illustration of a possible selection of DMP modules, a student may choose 4 enriched modules (24 hrs) and 2 advanced module (24 hrs), or 2 enriched modules (12 hrs) and 3 advanced modules (36 hrs), or other combinations thereof.

7. DMP modules are grouped into Packages A to F to facilitate the choice of modules

by students and to reduce possible clashes of time slots of the various modules. The packages are specially structured to give students the leeway to choose 2 enriched modules or 1 advanced module from each Package A to E. Package F has only enriched modules.

8. Students must check their availability to attend all planned activities before

registering for an external module. Students with afternoon classes will not be excused from classes to attend these modules.

9. Students will need to seek approval from CCA teachers if they wish to attend an

external module or an extended module which clashes with their CCA schedule.

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10. Please check the noticeboard outside the General Office for any changes to the venue of DMP modules.

11. Students are required to complete an online DMP feedback form for the modules

attended by 4 Oct 2011 (Tue). ATTENDANCE 1. Students will report to school according to their personal DMP timetable.

Attendance at Assembly Programme, CLE lessons, HMT/MT lessons and the afternoon classes is compulsory.

2. Students are required to be at the venue 5 minutes before the start of the lesson.

Attendance will be taken at the respective DMP classes. Teachers in charge of external modules must ask for attendance lists from the service providers.

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Chapter 6 DMP REGISTRATION IMPORTANT INFORMATION ON DMP REGISTRATION 1. The website address for the online DMP Registration system is http://dmp.ri.edu.sg.

Students may access the online DMP Registration System from home or from school, at the Computer Labs, or at the Hullet Memorial Library.

2. Both user ID and password are students’ NRIC / FIN numbers. 3. DMP registration will commence from Thursday 18 Aug 2011 from 5.00 pm.

Computer Labs 3 and 4 will be opened on 18 Aug (5 pm to 6 pm) for registration. Registration will close on Friday 19 Aug 2011.

4. As there are a fixed number of places for most modules, the system will allocate

modules on a first-come-first-served basis. 5. Students are strongly encouraged to click on the link “DMP Handbook”, “Internal

Enriched Modules”, “Internal Advanced Modules”, “External Modules” and “DMP Venues” to obtain information on the DMP before registration.

6. Students should read the synopses of the modules, and then prepare a ranked list of

modules (a total of at least 48 hours) they are interested in before progressing to the stage of registration. Students should read and follow closely the instructions given on the website. It is important to note that registration can only be done once.

7. Students may choose 1 advanced module or 2 enriched modules from each package

(A to E) and 1 enriched module from Package F until they fulfill the 48-hour requirement. You are not allowed to register your selection of modules unless you have selected a minimum of 48 hours of DMP modules. If you did not register your selection and exited the system, you would have to start the selection all over again.

8. Excluding the HMT/MT modules, the minimum requirement for Year 4 HMT

students is 36 hours of DMP modules whereas the minimum requirement for Year 4 MT students is 42 hours of DMP modules.

9. All Year 3 and Year 4 students (including those students with GPA < 2.8) are

required to do registration at the online DMP registration system. 10. Students are required to print a copy of your personal DMP timetable upon

completion of registration.

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11. During DMP registration, students who are pre-registered for any Subject Support Modules and/or External Modules should be able to see the modules appear in the list of selected modules. If you find any of your pre-registered modules missing in the selection list, please carry on to complete the registration and inform Mr Bill Tang of the problem. You may delete the extra modules later after the missing module(s) is added in to your selection list.

STEPS FOR REGISTRATION 1. Upon login, students will see the screen as shown below:

2. Students should identify the module in the package first, then click on the module and

click on the “Add” button to select the module. The module will then appear on the selection list.

3. Click on the “Remove” button if you wish to remove any selected module. 4. You may also click on “Choose & check DMP package slot” to find out the package

code of any modules. 5. Upon completion of the selection of all your modules (remember to make sure that

you have at least 48 hours of DMP modules), click on the “Register DMP” button to proceed to Confirmation page.

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6. Remember to click “Register DMP Now” on the Confirmation page to confirm the selection of your DMP modules.

7. Upon confirmation, you will see your personal DMP timetable as shown below:

8. Students are required to print a copy of your personal DMP timetable upon

completion of registration. 9. It is important to note that you can only register once and hence you cannot amend

your modules anymore after registration. You will have to contact Mr Bill Tang if you wish to make any amendment. This request will be attended to only if you have a valid reason. It is therefore important that you choose your modules carefully.

10. Although you cannot register again, you can always login again to the DMP system to

retrieve your personal DMP timetable. 11. If you experience any technical difficulties, you may seek assistance from Mr Bill

Tang at the New Administrative Block or call him at 64199229 during office hours. Alternatively, you can email Mr Bill Tang at bill.tang@ri.edu.sg.