新西兰华裔哈佛小哥亲自总结了这些高中选课经验，直接影响考大学，赶紧看看！

最近正逢中国高考出分，在高考中表现出色的各个学生纷纷冲上热搜。新西兰也有自己的高考体系，有一位曾在新西兰高考中表现出色的华裔小哥哥，不仅拿下了新西兰NZQA奖学金的Premier Scholar大奖（每年只有10名左右高中生获此殊荣）和物理、化学的单科奖学金，还获得了CAIE（剑桥课程，原CIE课程）AS Level物理，A Level化学、英语新西兰地区第一，A Level生物、英语文学科目获世界第一的成绩。

因为表现出众，他拿下了哈佛大学的offer，现在是哈佛大学分子细胞生物学和统计学（Molecular and Cellular Biology and Statistics）的大三学生，他就是毕业于奥克兰著名公校Macleans College的学霸，同时也是Crimson的知名华裔校友之一的Ben Zhang（张一彬）。

Ben Zhang（左一）和校友们在哈佛

谈到如何才能取得优异的成绩，Ben认为学习方法和学习效率固然重要，但选课选得对不对，适合不适合自己，才是关键。因为没有一种课程是适合所有人的完美课程，每个人都有自己的特长和短板儿，选择一种尽量能发挥自己优势，避免劣势的课程学习 ，才能最大程度上取得理想的成绩。

为了让学弟、学妹们在高中第一步就找准适合自己的方向，Ben特别根据自己的学习体会从课程内容、考试方式等逐一分析了新西兰几大课程的特点，亲自撰写了几篇关于选课的系列文章。学霸亲身总结的选课经验，绝对值得一读！

注：为了便于华裔家长及学生同时阅读，我们特别提供了中英文两版的文章。

Ben从Macleans College校长手中接过Dux奖杯

在读这篇文章之前，我们先来了解一下新西兰目前四大课程。以前，我们通常说的新西兰有三大课程体系，即国际课程剑桥A Level（以前为CIE，现在为CAIE）和IB（国际文凭），以及新西兰本土课程NCEA（国家教育成就证书）。不过，现在随着Crimson线上中学CGA的成立，已经有一种新的课程体系被引入了新西兰，这就是Pearson Edexcel A Level课程，这个课程与剑桥CAIE同属于A Level课程。（相关阅读：这所刚成立的高中聘请奥克兰文法前校长，计划将一个全新课程引入新西兰）

IB课程

IB全名International Baccalaureate，是全球国际学校广泛采用的课程体系，至今已有50年的历史。IB课程，由世界性组织IBO来管理，所以课程的设置以及评分标准不受任何国家政府的干预或影响。IB包括从小学，初中到高中，以及职业教育的一系列课程，满分45分。

NCEA课程

NCEA是National Certificate of Educational Achievement（新西兰国家教育证书）的简称。2002年起，新西兰逐年停止从Year 11到Year 13的全国性会考，代之以NCEA课程及其成绩考核制度。学生从Year 11到Year 13，依序通过学分考核并获颁Level 1、Level 2、Level 3的正式学历证书。

剑桥A Level

英国剑桥CIE原名为 Cambridge International Examinations（剑桥国际认证考试），于2017年9月更名为Cambridge Assessment International Education，即CAIE。剑桥证书考试始于 1951 年，隶属于剑桥大学的剑桥国际考试委员会。剑桥国际高中学历考试（CAIE），包括剑桥 IGCSE(Y11), AS Level (Y12) 和剑桥 A Level (Y13)。剑桥IGCSE，AS Level/A Level都是基于学科的证书考试， 通常在高中的最后三年内进行。

Edexcel A Level

Edexcel A Level课程是由新西兰第一所在线高中CGA所引入的新课程，和CAIE剑桥课程同属于A-level 课程。不同的是，CAIE是国际课程，英国以外的国家多采用这种课程，而英国本土则有45%的学校采用Edexcel课程，英国本土很多知名高中也对Edexcel青睐有加。同为A-level 课程，Edexcel和CAIE对知识的难度、宽度相当，课程设置也十分相像，并且两个课程都允许学生重考，而且以最好成绩作为最终成绩。不同的是，二者的重考方式不同：Edexcel的一个科目可以选择不同部分分别重考，而CAIE却不可以部分重考，因此Edexcel可以最大限度地帮助学生获得更加理想的成绩。（具体不同我们会在选课第二篇——考试篇中介绍，请持续关注）

新西兰高中生应该如何选课？

（第一篇：四大课程内容篇）

——作者Ben Zhang（张一彬）

Ben（左二）与新西兰队友在国际生物奥林匹克竞赛中合影

想取得理想的成绩，就要在课外活动与学术学业中取得平衡，进行合理的社交生活，并且保持充足的睡眠...... 高中的最后几年无疑是压力最大的关键时刻，如何选择最适合自己的课程和考试体系，是帮助高中生最大限度提高学习成绩的重要一环。选择适合自己风格和符合自己理想的课程将帮助你提高入读顶尖大学的机会，并为你的梦想职业做好准备。

在文章中，我会为大家分析每种教育体系所提供的特定课程，它们的要求以及优缺点。更重要的是，我希望通过文章中的分析，能够让你更具体地了解每个体系的细微差别，因为这会影响你对课程的选择和以后的升学。

在新西兰四大课程体系中，IB文凭（IB Diploma ）课程可谓是要求最严格的，并且在选择科目的灵活度上最小。IB Diploma有六大科目组（predefined academic subject group），分别是：

1、语言文学研究，即第一语言（从3种可能的选择中选择一种英语课）

Studies in Language and Literature (choosing one of the types of English class out of 3 possible choices)

2、语言习得（外语）

Language Acquisition (foreign language)

3、人文社会（社会科学，例如经济学，历史，哲学和地理）

Individuals and Societies (social sciences e.g. economics, history, philosophy, and geography)

4、科学（例如生物学，化学，物理学，计算机科学）

Sciences (e.g. biology, chemistry, physics, computer science) 

5、数学（两种类型的数学，“分析和方法”或“应用和解释”）

Mathematics (two types of maths, either “analysis and approaches” or “applications and interpretation”)

6、艺术（例如舞蹈，音乐，戏剧，电影，视觉艺术）

学生必须在12年和13年的课程中，从上面六个学科组中各选择一个科目并完成。唯一的例外是，学生可以放弃选择“艺术”专业，而选择“语言习得”，“个人与社会”或“科学”组中的其中一门课代替“艺术”。

 在这6个科目组中，学生在高等级（HL）的科目选择中不得超过4门，其余在标准等级（SL）中选择。高等级（HL）科目比标准等级（SL）科目的范围更广，但要求更高。这意味着学生必须在更高层次上表现出更多的知识储备和投入，需要更多的学习时间。因此，学习高等级科目（HL）的学生与主要学习标准等级（SL）科目的同龄人，会处于一个明显的优势，这会使你在申请大学时更具竞争力。

IB的高要求也是双刃剑，一方面会让学生面临更繁重的学业压力，但也正因为要求高所以学的扎实，这样更加适应升入大学之后的学业，学业衔接也会比较好，并且IB文凭的国际认可度也很高。

IB虽然好，也并不适合所有学生学。比如，IB严格地规定了学生可以选择的学科，这个限制可能会对那些已经明确自己在大学会选择什么专业或已经做好职业规划的学生不利，因为IB鼓励的是学生文理兼修且全面发展，所以这个选课限制不允许学生将学习重点放在自己感兴趣的领域上。尤其是对那些对科学，数学或医学感兴趣的学生，因为学生最多只能在科学这个大类里选择两门相关学科。拿我个人的情况举例：如果我高中选择IB课程，那我就不可能同时修读物理学，生物学和化学这三门核心科学，但是这些学科在我作为哈佛大学预科生的学习中非常有用。

这种学科选择的限制，可能也会对想在新西兰或国外学医的学生造成一些烦恼，因为高中不能修读三门核心科学课程，那么大学第一年的生物医学或健康科学学起来就要花更多的时间，下更多功夫。

此外，对于清楚了解自己兴趣所在的学生，也会因为学科选择的限制，被迫学习自己不喜欢的科目，且至少要达到标准水平。兴趣也是成功的关键因素之一，学不喜欢或者不擅长的学科可能会缺乏动力，如果学不好的话也会影响整体的成绩，因此，严重偏科的学生也要谨慎选IB。

相对于IB而言，其他三大课程剑桥A Level、NCEA还有Edexcel A Level的科目选择则比较灵活，都允许在学术上自由地选择他们想学习的科目。学生通常会完成4至5个A Level科目（3个A Level也是有可能的，因为新西兰，澳大利亚和英国大学的入学条件是最少3个A level科目，因此大多数学校建议你选择至少4个）或者5个NCEA的3级科目。

剑桥A Level课程、Edexcel国际A Level课程、NCEA 3级这些课程可以提供像是英语，文学，数学，进阶数学，商业，经济学，IT，生物学，化学，物理学，历史和心理学这些科目。

从各个课程的额外要求来看，IB有4000字的扩展论文（EE），要求学生对感兴趣的主题进行独立研究。学生还必须通过参加大量课外活动来展示其创造力（C），行动（A）和服务（S），统称CAS，并在称为知识论（ToK）的课程中反思知识的本质，ToK需要写1600字论文和做一次演讲。

这些IB课程的额外要求与其他课程有很大不同，会给学生一定压力，但同时也会让学生在这个过程中迅速成长，快速提升。但是，也正因为IB规定了这些额外的框架，也会让一些有明确兴趣的学生为了应付这些任务而不得不减少自己感兴趣领域的研究。

另外三大课程剑桥A Level、NCEA还有Edexcel A Level的学生同样可以通过参与独立研究，进行有意义的课外活动，并积极思考他们所学的内容，但不受到诸多要求的束缚，从而获得与IB文凭的EE，CAS和ToK相似的经验。比较适合有对特定领域很兴趣愿意多花时间的学生。

我们再来说说各个课程所学科目的难度。就科目难度而言，IB高等级科目、Edexcel A Level、剑桥 A Level这三个课程的科目难度相当，这三种课程被国际广泛认可的课程可以面向全球，被世界多数学校认可。

与IB、剑桥 A Level和NCEA相比，我觉得新引进的Edexcel  A Level的科目内容有几点优势：

 Edexcel尽最大努力定期更新其教学大纲，以反映新的全球思想和技术。NCEA则相对着眼于新西兰。例如，NCEA 3级生物学的很大一部分内容致力于新西兰的生物多样性和地质历史。NCEA还倾向于更加专注于一些特定主题或“标准”，这会限制学生对他们所研究领域的整体理解。NCEA过于分散的性质意味着学校和教师个人可以选择其学生学习的标准，这意味着学校通常会过多地干预这个系统，从而选择更容易的标准来提高学生的成绩和合格率，这些并不利于学生的学习。

与IB相比，Edexcel和剑桥考试在每个科目上涵盖了更广泛的主题，通常会使学生初步了解一些他们将在进入大学后会遇到的一些想法和概念。与剑桥相比，Edexcel在理论上更扎实，尤其是在科学科目上，因为Edexcel没有像剑桥那样的实验技能型考试。根据我自己的经验，因为许多学校没有足够的资源让学生足够地练习必要的实验技能，所以学校在为学生准备实践考试方面往往做得不好。这意味着剑桥 A Level的实用论文会降低学生在科学课中的成绩 - 这种情况在Edexcel A Level中是完全不会遇到的。

英文版

Curriculum Choices: 

The Content

Getting good grades, balancing extracurriculars with academics, maintaining a social life, and getting enough sleep… high school can be a very stressful time, even before the added pressure of selecting the educational system that will maximise a student’s academic performance. Pearson Edexcel International A Levels, Cambridge A levels (formerly CIE and now CAIE), IB (International Baccalaureate), and the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) are four well-known high school curricula that students will need to choose between. Choosing the curriculum that best suits your learning style and goals will help you gain the grades for admission to top universities, master important content for further study, and set you up for your dream career. Here at CGA, we have created a blog series to help you understand the differences of these four educational systems. In this blog, we will be looking at the specific curriculum offered by each qualification, their requirements, and their strengths and weaknesses. It is important to understand the nuances of each system as this will impact subject selection and your overall educational experience.

Of the systems mentioned above, IB has the strictest set of requirements needed to pass its diploma program and the least amount of flexibility in its selection of subjects. Students must take six subjects over the course of Year 12 and 13 by choosing one subject each in each predefined academic subject group. These subject groups are: 

• Studies in Language and Literature (choosing one of the types of English class out of 3 possible choices)

• Language Acquisition (foreign language)

• Individuals and Societies (social sciences e.g. economics, history, philosophy, and geography)

• Sciences (e.g. biology, chemistry, physics, computer science) 

• Mathematics (two types of maths, either “analysis and approaches” or “applications and interpretation”)

• The Arts (e.g. dance, music, theatre, film, visual arts)

The only exception is that students can choose to forego taking a subject in The Arts and take another subject in Language Acquisition, Individuals and Societies, or Sciences instead. Out of these 6 subjects, students may not take more than 4 at the Higher Level (HL), and the rest at Standard Level (SL). HL subjects have a greater scope than SL subjects, but are measured by the same grade descriptors. This means that students must demonstrate greater knowledge and engagement at the Higher Level, so will require more teaching hours but will also be a clear stand out when compared to peers who have largely taken SL subjects.

Because IB so strictly prescribes the subject selection that a student may access, this can disadvantage students who have a clear idea of what they want to do at university and beyond and want to concentrate their studies in their area of interest. This is particularly applicable for those interested in science, maths or medicine, as students may only take two sciences as the most. If I had taken IB, I would have never been able to take the three core sciences of physics, biology and chemistry – subjects that have been extremely useful in my studies as a pre-med student at Harvard. This also applies to students wanting to study medicine in New Zealand or abroad, as it can be extremely difficult to keep up in first year Biomedical or Health Science without having taken all three sciences during high school. Moreover, for students who have a clear understanding of where their passions lie, being forced to take subjects in areas of little or no interest to them will waste their time by forcing them to at least sit through those subjects at Standard Level, and potentially lower their overall diploma grade if they lack the motivation to achieve highly in these subjects. 

IB also has a number of extra requirements, which include the 4000 word Extended Essay (EE) which requires the student to conduct independent research on a topic of interest. Students must also engage in extracurricular activities through Creativity, Action and Service (CAS) and reflect on the nature of knowledge in a course called Theory of Knowledge (ToK). These requirements are very different to many other curricula, and while some students thrive within this framework, others view it as an extra burden which detracts from the time which they can spend on their passions. Students taking A levels or NCEA can have similar experiences to those gained from the EE, CAS and ToK by engaging in their independent research, meaningful extracurriculars and actively thinking about what they’re learning without having requirements placed upon them.

Furthermore, IB students cannot take more than the allotted 6 subjects or more than 4 subjects at Higher Level, preventing students from harnessing their intellectual curiosity beyond these limitations and proving their full academic potential to universities and employers. CGA can help boost these students’ academic success by enabling them to easily take extra Edexcel International A levels on top of their IB courses in structured online classes. Doing so would raise their academic achievements relative to their peers that only did IB and would help them explore subjects they otherwise wouldn’t have had the opportunity to take. Distinguishing yourself in this manner academically is a great way to stand out to admissions officers and show how you have gone above and beyond the many other bright and talented students in the same application pools.

On the other hand, Edexcel/ Cambridge A levels and NCEA all allow students to freely choose the subjects that they would like to study. Students would typically complete 4-5 A-Levels (3 A-Levels are possible as only your top 3 subjects are counted for University entrance in NZ, Australia and the UK, but most schools recommend you to take 4) or 5 NCEA Level 3 subjects. CGA offers a standard selection of Edexcel International A level subjects that you would find at other schools offering Cambridge A levels like English Language, Literature, Maths, Further Maths, Business, Economics, IT, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, History and Psychology. Most schools will offer a similar range of subjects for NCEA Level 3 as well. 

In terms of subject difficulty, IB Higher Level subjects are on par with Edexcel International A Levels and Cambridge A levels. These international qualifications tend to craft their subjects with a global focus. Edexcel does the best job of regularly updating its syllabi to reflect new global ideas and technologies. NCEA is more narrowly focused on a New Zealand context. For example, a large part of Level 3 biology is dedicated to NZ biodiversity and geological history. NCEA also tends to be more focused on going deep into a few specific topics or “Standards,” which tends to limit students’ overall understanding of the field they are studying. The decentralized nature of NCEA means that schools and individual teachers can choose the Standards that their students study, meaning schools often game the system and choose easier Standards to boost grades and pass rates that hurt student learning. Edexcel and Cambridge examinations cover a wider array of topics in each subject, more so than IB, often exposing students to the sort of ideas and concepts they will encounter in these subjects at the university level. Edexcel is more grounded in theory compared to Cambridge, especially in the science classes as there are no exams on experimental skills like there are in Cambridge. In my experience, schools tend to do a poor job preparing students for practical exams as they do not have the resources to allow students to practice the necessary experimental skills enough. This means that the practical paper of Cambridge A levels tend to drag down students’ grades in their science classes – a situation you won’t encounter with Edexcel A levels.

由于篇幅限制，我们将在下周的微信中推出Ben Zhang的新西兰高中生选课第二篇——四大课程的考试特点，请关注我们的微信号（扫码下面的微信二维码），以便第一时间看到文章更新！

想知道更多关于学霸的故事吗？想获得专业教育信息吗？请马上扫描以下二维码，关注Crimson的官方微信号。这里有新西兰本地教育资讯，英美的教育干货，IB、NCEA 、CIE、SAT 、ACT等各种考试秘籍,还有来自全世界学霸们的真实故事！

热门文章