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 aidsduring 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 RemediesCandidates 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.
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 questionsCandidates’ 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’ WeaknessesFrom 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 RemediesCandidates 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’ StrengthsMany 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
examination hall
GCE – Nov/Dec. 2007
General CommentsThe Mathematics Paper II for November/December 2007 WASSCE maintained the same standard as those of previous years. The rubrics were clear and the questions were within the content of the syllabus.The questions were unambiguous and they were loaded with many skills to show the understanding of the topic. The marking scheme was quite detailed, liberal, clear, generous and easy to follow.There seemed to be a slight improvement in the performance of candidates in some centers. It was also observed that candidates performed better in Section A than in Section B and there were few cases of candidates copying each other. In general, the performance of candidates compared favourably with those of previous years.Candidates’ WeaknessesFrom their responses, it was observed that some aspects of the syllabus were poorly handled by the candidates. This demonstrated clearly lack of knowledge of the topics on the part of the candidates.Apart from non-adherence to instructions and rubrics of the question, the candidates also exhibited significant weakness in(1) manipulating numerals and decimals;(2) theory of logarithms;(3) mensuration – solving problems on 3-dimensional shapes;(4) construction;(5) reading and solving problems from graphs.Although question 13 was very popular among the candidates, many candidates made poor attempt on it. In the (a) part, candidates were guilty of premature approximation or they did not approximate to the desired places. While in the (b) part, many candidates did not use the angle at the centre of the circle but that at the circumference. Some candidates also did not use curly brackets when listing the elements of sets.Candidates’ StrengthsGenerally, outstanding performances were noticed in the following topics where a good number of candidates earned good marks:(1) Inequality;(2) Set theory;(3) Surds;(4) Number bases(5) Drawing quadratic graph;(6) Plane geometry – circle theorems;(7) Commercial arithmetic – compound interest and depreciation;(8) Construction of cumulative frequency tables and drawing Ogives(9) Longitude and latitude;(10) Area of shaded segment.
TIPS FOR SETTING MULTIPLE CHOICE EXAMINATIONS
IN NIGERIAN SECONDARY SCHOOLS
exam hall
1. Present a single, definite statement in a concise easy stem. Students should know what is being asked from the stem, not from the answer options. Eliminate irrelevant materials. Address only one piece of information per question.2. Ensure that only one response is considered best or correct by experts in the field. If dealing with opinion ( as opposed to fact), cite the source.3. Avoid negative statements. Negative words and prefixes are often misread. Never use double negatives. If negative must be used, capitalize, underline, or otherwise highlight the negative term.4. Use only plausible and attractive alternatives as incorrect response choice. Good response choices are those that can help pinpoint student’s knowledge. It is therefore best to include choices that reflect common misconceptions or errors in logic. But please note that when choices are obviously incorrect they are, for all practical purposes, not real choices or options5. Avoid giving clues to the correct option. Clues can take many forms: inconsistencies in grammar, sentence lengths, structure or style: use of words such as ‘always’ or ‘never’, presenting exhaustive opposites; answers to other questions on the exam, to name a few.6. Avoid interdependent items where the answer to one item is necessary to work on the next item. This,however, should not eliminate the possibility of having multiple questions relating to the same data or passage.7. Use as choice ‘all of the above’ and ‘none of the above’ sparingly, if at all. Make sure that these are sometimes the correct and sometimes the incorrect choices.8. Avoid irrelevant sources of difficulty. Esoteric terminology should be used when such terminology is an integral part of the objective.9. Arrange response choices in logical order. For example, when dates or numbers are presented as response choices, list them in order. Or type answer alternatives in a vertical list.10. Avoid patterns of response: the correct answer should appear in each of the response positions approximately on equal number of times but in random order.11. Present the same number of choices throughout the test. The use of variable number of response choices can cause students to make clerical errors unrelated to their understanding of the material.12.Do not write questions on trivial ideas.13.It is always a good idea to pre-test your questions for content, format, and length. 14. A MULTIPLE CHOICE EXAM CAN TEST KNOWLEDGE AT SEVERAL LEVELS. a. LOW LEVEL QUESTIONS: Recall date, report observations, identify, define. b. CONVERGENT QUESTIONS: Find similarities or/and differences, identify relationships, draw inferences, explain. c. DIVERGENT QUESTIONS: Develop a theory, make predictions, develop a generalization, speculate. 15. LENGTH: You should not give students less than one minute per question (a maximum of 50 questions for a 50 minute class period.) You may choose to give even fewer questions depending on the number of responses per questions or calculations required.TIPS FOR PREVENTING CHEATING IN THE EXAM HALL16. There are two main aspects of multiple choice exams that create possible cheating opportunities,17. First, during the exam copying answers from others may be easier than with subjective answers.18. Second, after the exam, changing answers, or attempting to submit others work may be easier. With a little forethought, these can both be dealt with very effectively19. The most common way to prevent cheating is to use multiple versions of the exam as done by JAMB these days It is important to mix the order of the questions and the order of the items. There are many test- bank computer programs available that will automatically do this for you. If you change the order of the questions make sure that all versions are equally logically ordered. For example, if one version was in a logical order and the others were in a random order, those students with added clues of order may do better in the exam.20. Make sure the versions alternate then they are handed out.21. Have students keep the exam papers face down until you signal the start.22. Where affordable some instructors choose to identify the versions on different colors of paper. This means that the he can identify if students have shuffled the order of the exams and are sitting next to others with the same version. However, this also means that students may be able to identify a potential source for cheating. 23. You may also choose to use ‘phantom’ versions where you indicate that you have more versions than you actually have. For example, use four ‘Versions’ but have only 2 keys (versions 1 and 3 are actually the same. as are versions 2 and 4). 24. Be sure all desks are cleared of any material and such materials placed out before starting the exam. 25. Do not allow toilet-going.EXTRACTED FROM THE WEB A FEW YEARS AGO
