CANDIDATES’ WEAKNESSES
The observed weaknesses are as follows:
- poor drawings and not drawing to scale;
- not writing titles of the diagrams drawn;
- inability to label diagrams correctly e.g. some candidates could not label the vacuole in the typical plant cell drawn in question 1(b);
- inability to name the organs that constitute the alimentary canal in sequence in question
2(a);
- inability to correspond the answers to questions on comparison;
- mistaking the roles of pancreas in digestion for the roles of pancreas in the regulation of blood sugar in question
2(d);
- inability to state the source of energy when describing the energy flow in a fresh water habitat in question 3(b);
- inability to state the structural differences and similarities in the alimentary canal of a bird and human in question 2(b);
- inability to apply the knowledge of fingerprinting to crime detection.
The following solutions were proffered to overcome these weaknesses;
- teachers should teach students the rules guiding drawing of biological diagrams;
- teachers should make students draw from original specimens and according to the specified size;
- students should practice the use of technical terms often so as to know how to spell them correctly;
- teachers should tell students that adaptation questions require stating the structure with its function to score;
- students should endeavour to correspond answers that require comparison;
- the correct definition of biological terms should be encouraged;
- schools should provide teaching aids and models to help students understand biological concepts;
- teachers should ensure they complete the syllabus.