Candidates' Weakness
Most of the candidates inadequacies were attributed to the following weaknesses:
- poor understanding of the concept of dimensions of physical quantities;
- poor knowledge of molecular theory of matter;
- inability to calculate energy gained by an electron accelerated under a given potential difference;
- improper handling of computational problems;
- inability to accurately give the statement of definitions;
- poor language expressions;
- poor explanations of some concepts such as: Young’s modulus; relative motion; latent heat; resonance in turning forks; transmutation; stopping potential
- disregard to instructions in some questions by not complying to the restrictions e.g. in questions: 2 (maximum height); 7 (de-Broglie is assumptions) and 10c (total internal reflection).
The suggested remedies were as follows:
- Teachers should endeavour to complete the syllabus;
- Teachers should be motivated to attend workshops to improve their skills;
- More periods should be allotted on the time table for the teaching of Physics;
- Physics, mathematics and English teachers should work together to improve the computational skills and language expressions of candidates;
- Teachers with sound knowledge should be engaged in schools;
- Teachers should endeavour to mark candidates assignments and effect corrections promptly;
- Candidates should be more studious.