OUR JAMB TECHNIQUES SEMINAR FOR YABA LCDA STARTS TODAY!/UNRESOLVED ISSUES ABOUT GOLDIE

YABA LCDA/JAMB TECHNIQUES SEMINAR

We posted sometime ago that we were  hired by the Education and Library Dept of  Yaba LCDA to conduct a 4-day seminar on JAMB Techniques for 100 students in their domain.The seminar starts today.

Virtually our office, will be shifting to Yaba from today till Friday.Postings on this site may be reduced for the period but not totally abandoned.

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AND WHAT ABOUT GOLDIE?

There are still some angles we want to go after on the Goldie story such as.

1.Where and how the issue of Harvey not being given a visa started and how it was resolved in the end

2.How really close was Harvey to Goldie at the time she passed on?

3. Who is Ifeoma Harvey and her so-called friend in Lagos .What about her claims of bigamy?

4.Has Denrele more to say about her death?

We however hope some of these issues shall be resolved during our short part-time leave .

WHETHER YOU PASS WAEC OR JAMB STARTS FROM HERE AND NOW! (2)

RELATED POST


WHETHER YOU PASS WAEC OR JAMB STARTS FROM HERE AND NOW! (1)

50 SELF-REVIEW QUESTIONS BY STUDENTS FOR WAEC / NECO / JAMB EXAMS (2)

26.HAVE YOU CHOSEN A STUDY PARTNER OR STUDY GROUP?

27.HAVE YOU ENGAGED YOURSELF IN BRAINSTORMING SESSIONS ABOUT LIKELY QUESTIONS?

28.HAVE YOU UNDERSTOOD THE IMPORTANCE OF ROLE-PLAYING IN PREPARING FOR EXAM THROUGH A GROUP?

29.HAVE YOU UNDERSTOOD THE IMPORTANCE OF TECHNIQUE SEMINARS IN PREPARING FOR AN EXAM?

30.HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM JAMB SEMINARS THAT IT IS NECESSARY TO MAKE EDUCATED   GUESSES?



..mason college queen…

31.HAVE YOU MASTERED HOW TO UPLOAD AND DOWNLOAD FACTS TO YOUR PAPER IN THE EXAM HALL FROM YOUR EXAM SCRAPBOOK THROUGH YOUR BRAIN?

32.HAVE YOU UNDERSTOOD WHY THE TIME YOU USED IN PRACTICING PAST Q/As SHOULD BE SLIGHTLY LESSER THAN THE REAL EXAM?

33.HAVE YOU MASTERED THE 6-STEPS ANSWER PLAN FROM MATHS THEORY PAPERS?(THESE ARE STILL TO COME FROM EDUPEDIA) DO YOU KNOW YOU CAN STILL GET A REASONABLE GRADE WITHOUT GETTING THE REAL ANSWER IF YOU FOLLOW THE 6-STEP PLAN? HAVE YOU UNDERSTOOD WHY ALL ROUGH WORK IN MATHS, PHYSIC & CHEMISTRY THEORY PAPERS HAVE TO BE TAGGED TO THE REAL ANSWERS?

34. HAVE YOU LEARNED THE ETIQUETTE OF MATHS?

35. HAVE YOU PRACTICED RELEVANT EXAMINATION TECHNIQUES?



…our beautiful, brilliant,entertaining senior prefect girls…an all-rounder!…now a medical student…

TO SATISFY WAEC/NECO/JAMB EXAMINERS

36.HAVE YOU UNDERSTOOD THE IMPORTANCE OF EXAM INSTRUCTIONS?

37.HAVE YOU KNOWN HOW TO START RIGHT IN THE EXAM HALL AFTER READING THE INSTRUCTIONS? HOW TO SELECT AND ALLOCATE TIME THROUGH PROPER PACING OF YOURSELF?

38.HAVE YOU KNOWN HOW TO INTERPRETE QUESTIONS PROPERLY? DO YOU KNOW THE VOCABULARY OF QUESTION TYPES? (TO BE PROVIDED LATER BY EDUPEDIA)

39.HAVE YOU KNOWN HOW TO PRESENT YOUR ANSWERS NEATLY, TO MAKE THE EXAMINER FAVORABLE TOWARDS YOUR WORK?

40.HAVE YOU BELIEVED THAT THE QUANTITY OF ANSWER YOU GIVE IS NOT AS IMPORTANT AS THE QUALITY?



…singing or praying?…very talented summer school student…

41.HAVE YOU MASTERED HOW TO PRESENT YOUR WORK THROUGH THE HANDOUT TITLED ‘HOW TO PASS EXAMS BY RELEVANT PRESENTATION OF WORK?’(STILL TO COME FROM EDUPEDIA)

42.HAVE YOU LEARNED HOW TO KEEP AN EXAMINER HAPPY BY NOT IRRITATING HIM THROUGH ILLEGIBLE HANDWRITING,WRITING IN THE MARGIN, ROUGH WRITING, INCORRECT NUMBERING, USING INK FOR DRAWING DIAGRAMS, HALF-FINISHED OR VERBOSE SENTENCES ETC?

43. HAVE YOU MASTERED THE RULES OF DRAWING DIAGRAMS IN AN EXAM? HAVE YOU LEARNED THAT YOUR DIAGRAMS SHOULD BE LARGE AND NOT SMALL MAY BE UP TO HALF OF THE PAGE? DO YOU KNOW THIS IS APPLICABLE TO GRAPHS TOO?

44.HAVE YOU LEARNED TO KEEP A RULER AND A COIN OR MATHS SET WITH YOU? WHAT ABOUT YOUR WRISTWATCH?

45.HAVE YOU UNDERSTOOD THAT ALL OBJECTIVE PAPERS IN WAEC OR NECO HAVE GOT TO BE ANSWERED USING SAME JAMB TECHNIQUES?



…because she was soooooo involved…very funny though…

46.HAVE YOU REALIZED THAT MATHS, PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE WORKED OUT IN THE HEAD AS OBJECTIVE EXAMS IS ALL ABOUT SPEED. DURING THE EXAMINATION, EXPECT TO  GRASP  RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN FIGURES AND MANIPULATE THEM WITHOUT PUTTING PEN TO PAPER

47.HAVE YOU UNDERSTOOD THAT IF YOU FEEL CERTAIN ABOUT AN ANSWER YOU DON’T NEED TO PONDER FURTHER ON IT? YOU MUST ACCEPT THAT YOU GOT IT RIGHT AND MOVE TO THE NEXT. THIS IS MORE FOR MATHS, PHYSICS & CHEMISTRY QUESTIONS.

48.HAVE YOU ALSO LEARNED TO LEAVE DIFFICULT QUESTIONS THAT MIGHT HOLD YOU UP OR DOWN UNTIL YOU HAVE DEALT WITH THE EASIER ONES?

49.HAVE YOU MASTERED IN OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS HOW NOT TO  PUT THE ANSWER OF QUESTION 22 IN THE ANSWER SPACE OF 21 WHICH WAS DIFFICULT AND WHICH YOU SKIPPED TO ANSWER LATER?

50. HAVE YOU LEARNED NOT TO DISCUSS THE EXAM WITH ANY OTHER STUDENT ON THE MORNING OF THE EXAM OR AFTER THE EXAM ITSELF?



…involved and funny too…nice kids they were…

GOOD LUCK

DO YOU WANT TO KNOW HOW WAEC EXAMINERS MARK ENGLISH ESSAYS?...THEN READ THIS!

TECHNICAL NOTES USUALLY USED BY EXAMINERS FOR MARKING WAEC ENGLISH ESSAYS  USING COEM (WAEC SCHEME)

...exam hall...

COEM means CONTENT + ORGANIZATION + EXPRESSION + MECHANICAL ACCURACY

 Please take note of the instruction usually given by WAEC at the beginning of the essay section…

YOUR ANSWER SHOULD NOT BE LESS THAN 450 WORDS!

   CONTENT

1. For each essay “content” has a maximum of 10 marks.

2. “Content” refers to relevance of ideas to the topic and its specific audience and purpose. It also refers to the appropriateness of the language and relevance to the central theme and its development. The adequacy of treatment of the subject is important and there must be some originality in approach. A reproduction of knowledge from another subject like Biology or Economics not original to the writer will lead to reduction of marks. Above all, any deliberate distortion of ideas will be penalized e.g. writing a letter to an editor instead of an article, will be punished. Engaging in an irrelevant topic to the question set will lead to being awarded zero marks. Where the composition appears to be totally irrelevant, the scripts will be referred to the Chief Examiner. Sometimes, many candidates hastily choose a topic they do not understand. Consequently, the topic is often misinterpreted, distorted or abandoned half way for lack of acceptable material e.g. a candidate who was asked to write on an incident  but who wrote on an accident will lose marks for irrelevancy if the question has no relevance to an accident.

3.Following the rules of grammar and punctuation judiciously is not  enough, a passage without errors of language can be considered badly phrased or difficult to follow based on form and content.

4.An unusual and unexpected approach will,however, not be rejected without careful consideration.

ORGANIZATION

5.For each essay, “organization” has a maximum of 10 marks.

6.“Organization” refers to the correct use of formal features such as good paragraphing, proper use of emphasis and arrangement of ideas. Paragraphs are expected to be chronologically, spatially and logically coherent.

7.What examiners look for include a suitable opening, adequate development into paragraphs, links between paragraph, balance, unity, coherence, and a suitable conclusion. For example, in a letter, all features must be present. Absence of necessary feature or wrong use will be penalized. Paragraphs are expected to be effectively linked for a good score. The usual problem here is inadequate preparation. Many answers lack paragraph development, or logical slanting. Again, single-sentence paragraphs are usually common. At the extreme, some essays have one or two paragraphs.

EXPRESSION

8.For each essay, “expression” has a maximum of    20 marks.

9.Expression refers to vocabulary chosen, which should reflect the general audience, atmosphere or format of composition, e.g. vocabulary for an informal letter. Vocabulary must also be controlled and the sentences structured.

10.An example of the distinction being made about vocabulary is the language expectations for an article in a school magazine, which should be a story telling experience, or for expressing a personal opinion. On the other hand, the language in an article for publication is expected to be formal.

11.Sentences of informal letters can be long, while those for formal ones short. But incomplete sentences will be penalized. There is also room for emotional language in an informal letter. A judicious and imaginative use of figurative language is also allowed. Descriptive words to create a vivid picture of an incident are also allowed.

12.Examiners are not expected to be unduly influenced by mechanical errors in awarding marks for expressions but this is perhaps the greatest problem to students, many candidates suffer from a severely restricted vocabulary and inadequate exposure to idiomatic English. Many sentences are translations of the mother tongue, resulting in many un- English collocation. The real cause of the problem is the neglect of extensive reading.

MECHANICAL ACCURACY

13.For each essay, “mechanical accuracy” has a maximum of   10marks

14.Mechanical accuracy refers to grammar, punctuation and spelling (GPS) rules to be complied with. Errors discovered will be penalized by examiners, and ¹/₂ mark deducted for each, up to a maximum of  10marks.

15.Candidates are expected to use skillful and sophisticated ways of punctuations and should avoid being “caught” by examiners especially on errors indicated by WAEC in its yearly Chief Examiners’ Reports.

ADDITIONAL TECHNICAL NOTES FOR MARKING ESSAY / COMPOSITIONS

16.Examiners will mark on the principle of positive marking i.e. credit will be awarded for what is done right, and penalty will be given for errors and blemishes. Penalties are not in all cases numerical deductions, but the award of a mark lesser than would have been awarded if there were no blemishes.

17.Once the examiner determines the length of about 450 words, he or she will rule the point. No errors are to count for mechanical accuracy after this point but will be underlined if found and taken into account in giving the mark for “expression”.

18.When a composition is short or below its required length the maximum mark for M.A shall be proportionately reduced. This will be done before the examiner awards the overall mark for M.A. While there is no penalty against a long composition, generally, the length may count for either a reward or a penalty under CONTENT, ORGANIZATION and EXPRESSION.

19.If a candidate attempts more than one essay question, only the first one answered will be marked. No penalty shall be given for others.

20.If a candidate writes on a topic that is irrelevant to the question set, zero shall be awarded for content and organization, and not more than 8 marks out of 20 for expression. The mechanical accuracy bit of it will be treated as stated above

ADDING SOME FINESSE TO WAEC ENGLISH ESSAYS BY OUR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

 To write with finesse  the student should take note of the following

(a)   he or she must be ready to display the reading level reached or achieved in life through the reading of novels, newspapers ,magazines, watching of films and T.V the lyrics of music or the lines of a poem can be useful in writing an essay if they are not reggae or hip hop.

(b)   The introduction should be interesting and catchy or attention- seeking or attention-grabbing. Some say it should be ‘like a shock and awe’’ sometimes “hitting the examiner in the middle of the face like a fresh gush of cool wind or hot air’’



academics at mason college was well combined with fun…

(c)    Idioms could be useful for introduction e.g ‘’the love of money is the root of all evils’’

(d)   Other ways of getting an interesting introduction is to use quotations. Statistics, questions, anecdotes, quotations can be proverbs, sayings of the wise or biblical e.g ‘’o death where is thy sting? Or in relation to literature e.g ‘’ water, water  everywhere but none to drink’’. However, when quotations are used they should be explained in the essay close to where they are expressed.



…with mrs emezue headmistress of foundation school…funny children!…

(e)     When questions are used they could be rhetorical e.g ‘’who is a corrupt man?’’ however don’t raise the question in paragraph 1 and then attempt to answer it in paragraph 4!

(f)    The body of each essay should be cohesive and should have a unity of purpose (theme). The points should be deliberately interrelated. Examples should be given where necessary too.

(g)   Appropriate lengths must be used for sentence. Too much information should not be chunked together in a sentence.



…kind of man-o-war?…or what?…

(h)    Sentences should be logically, chronologically or spatially arranged. A student should not  be disorganized in thaer arrangement of essays.

(i)     A statement or an idea which has already been stated should not be restated by the word “otherwise” or “in other words” as no extra mark will be awarded for such restatement.

(j)     Do not overuse a word just because you like it or because you think it will make an impression on the examiner.



members of Spices and Juices club cooked and served co-students at a co-curricular event…

(k)   Use jargons or colloquial English sparingly and essentially for non- formal compositions.

(l)     If there are’’ technical’’ words in the question they have to be taken apart one by one e.g “man proposes but God disposes’’

(m) In writing the conclusion you should summarize what have been said or take a stand. It  should also be interesting and arresting as the introduction. it  should summarize or highlight the points raised. A quotation or anecdote can also be used to end the essay.

(n)   Generally speaking, let your conclusion be appropriately short. Don’t use the conclusion to make another point you did not make in the body of the essay. If you happened to remember a point you should have included then put “P.S ‘’ (post script) where the point or paragraph should have been and write the point after the conclusion .



…foundation school students were made to see schooling as having fun…seniors in the background…

Good luck.

WAEC MATHS:WHY CHEAT AFTER WAEC PROVIDED YOU WITH THESE GUIDES?(3)

WAEC exams

 

WAEC – May/June. 2009

 

General Comments

 

The standard of the paper like in previous years was reported to have been maintained. The questions were within the syllabus and covered a wide area of the syllabus. The rubrics as well as the marking scheme were reported to be clear, generous and quite liberal.

 

However, the performance of the candidates generally fell below those of previous years. Notwithstanding, there were isolated reported cases of brilliant ones who did excellently well in the paper.

 

Candidates’ Weaknesses

 

Apart from not giving answers to the required degree of accuracy, majority of the candidates could not apply the basic concepts and theorems correctly in some aspects of the syllabus. Such areas of the syllabus as reported included:
(1)     Mensuration of three dimensional shapes;
(2)     Circle theorems;
(3)     Trigonometry;
(4)     Geometrical Construction.

 

Many candidates were said to be able to solve the inequality in question 2 but they were unable to get the three greatest integral values of x.

 

Suggested Remedies

 

(1)Teachers should put in more effort in the teaching of plane and solid geometry.

 

(2)Teachers and students should be encouraged to use teaching aids
during mathematics lessons in order to make some mathematical concepts clearer to the pupils.

 

(3)Candidates should be groomed on the rudiments of answering questions.

 

(4)Candidates are encouraged to adequately prepare for the examinations by practicing on a wide range of problems.

 

(5)Mathematics syllabus should be adequately covered.

 

(6)Teachers should spend more time in teaching those areas of the syllabus where candidates’ performance had been consistently poor such as Geometry.

 

Candidates’ Strengths

 

From the responses of candidates, it was stated that their performance in the following areas had improved which was commendable:
(1)Surds;
(2)Indices;
(3)Statistics;
(4)Set theory.

 

GCE – Nov/Dec. 2009

 

General Comments

 

It was reported that the standard of the paper compared very favourably with those of the previous years.  The rubrics were clear and unambiguous and the instructions were precise.  The questions were also clear, straight-forward and had a good coverage of the syllabus.  Accuracies required were well stated and the diagrams were clear.  The marking scheme was reported to be quite liberal, clear and generous.  The marks distributions were adequate and student-centred.

 

Generally, the performance of candidates was reported not to be different from those of previous years although they appear to have improved over that of last year.  It was also observed that candidates whose performance on the question on Geometrical construction and graphs were above average, performed well in the paper.

 

Candidates’ Weaknesses

 

Many candidates were adjudged not to have adhered to the given instructions.  It was observed that candidates relied so much on tables and calculators even in questions which stated otherwise while others presented their responses poorly.

 

The chief examiner was also of the opinion that candidates exhibited weaknesses in their:

 

 interpretation and application of geometric statement and theorems as in

 

questions 5 and 9.

 

    interpretation of graphs.  Some candidates even drew histograms with

 

class limits instead of class boundaries.

 

solution to problems on probability especially where it involved addition

 

and multiplication of probabilities.

 

 simplification of simple surds.  

 

response to word problems.

 

Though the question on number bases was well attempted, many candidates resorted to first converting to base ten rather than working in the base given in the question.

 

Suggested Remedies
Candidates should study the syllabus in order to know the scope of coverage.

 

Candidates should adequately prepare for examinations by engaging private teachers or attending coaching classes.
    
Candidates should possess adequate materials such as four-figure tables, Mathematical sets etc.
    
Candidates should be well exposed to past WASSCE questions.

 

 

Candidates’ Strengths

 

Generally, no outstanding performance was observed.  However, there were observed improvement in candidates’ response in the following areas:

 

Simplification of fractions and simple algebraic equations.

 

Computation of tables and drawing of graphs.
    
Mensuration – areas of plane shapes.
    
Operations on number bases.

 

Candidates’ performance in Arithmetic Progression (A.P) and longitude and latitude were also commendable.

 

WAEC MATHS:WHY CHEAT AFTER WAEC PROVIDED YOU WITH THESE GUIDES?(2)

General Mathematics Paper 2,May/June. 2008

General Comments

The paper was quite fair and within the reach of any candidate who had prepared well for the examination.  All the questions were within the content of the syllabus and there was no ambiguity of any sort.  The standard of the paper as well as the clarity of the rubrics were maintained.

The marking scheme was as usual, flexible to accommodate various approaches presented by the candidates in solving the problems. Apparently, the performance of the candidates was not significantly different from those of the previous years.

Candidates’ Weaknesses From candidates’ responses, it was evident that questions from some areas of the syllabus were poorly handled.  This may be attributed to inadequate preparation or poor interpretation of the demands of the questions. The identified areas are:
(1) Commercial arithmetic
(2) Geometry – majority of the candidates avoided the question on construction. Some of those who
     attempted it did not go beyond constructing angles 90˚ and <120˚;
(3) Word problems leading to simple linear equations;
(4) Mensuration
(5) Statistics as in question 5.

Suggested Remedies

 Candidates should be encouraged to study effectively and be exposed to mathematical facts, concepts and principles as well as how to apply them accurately in answering questions.   \

Candidates should be taught to adhere to the rubrics, study and comprehend the demands of the questions before attempting them. 

Candidates should be well exposed to past WASSCE questions

Candidates’ Strengths

Many candidates showed a good understanding of the following areas of the syllabus:
(1)  Set theory       -  drawing of Venn diagrams
(2)  Algebra           -  computing the table of values as well as drawing of algebraic graphs
(3)  Arithmetic progression.
(4)  Trigonometry   -          angles of elevation and depression.

The performance of candidates in Geometric Progression (G. P.) was only fair. Furthermore, a good number of the candidates were able to apply the sine rule correctly.  There was also a noticeable improvement in the performance of candidates in problems involving longitude and latitude.

GCE – Nov/Dec. 2008

General Comments

The paper was quite fair and within the reach of any candidate who had prepared well for the examination.  All the questions were within the content of the syllabus and there was no ambiguity of any sort.  The standard of the paper as well as the clarity of the rubrics were maintained.

The marking scheme was as usual, flexible to accommodate various approaches presented by the candidates in solving the problems. Apparently, the performance of the candidates was not significantly different from those of the previous years.

Candidates’ Weaknesses

From candidates’ responses, it was evident that questions from some areas of the syllabus were poorly handled.  This may be attributed to inadequate preparation or poor interpretation of the demands of the questions. The identified areas are:
(1) Commercial arithmetic
(2) Geometry – majority of the candidates avoided the question on construction. Some of those who attempted it did not go beyond constructing angles 90˚ and <120˚;
(3) Word problems leading to simple linear equations;
(4) Mensuration.
(5) Statistics as in question 5.

Suggested Remedies

Candidates should be encouraged to study effectively and be exposed to mathematical facts, concepts and principles as well as how to apply them accurately in answering questions.Candidates should be taught to adhere to the rubrics, study and comprehend the demands of the questions before attempting them. Candidates should be well exposed to past WASSCE questions.

Candidates’ Strengths

Many candidates showed a good understanding of the following areas of the syllabus:
(1) Set theory  -  drawing of Venn diagrams
(2) Algebra -   computing the table of values as well as drawing of algebraic graphs.
(3) Arithmetic progression.
(4) Trigonometry   -  angles of elevation and depression.

The performance of candidates in Geometric Progression (G. P.) was only fair. Furthermore, a good number of the candidates were able to apply the sine rule correctly.  There was also a noticeable improvement in the performance of candidates in problems involving longitude and latitude