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.