Students' mistakes in SEC Physics paper 1 May 2003

Abstract

Many candidates perform poorly in their Physics SEC examinations with only about 60% of the students gaining grade 5 or better. Research carried out so far (Gatt, 2002, Abdilla et, 1997), have considered overall marks gained but did not analyse the individual examination papers. The aim of this research was to identify the common types of mistakes made by the candidates. A sample of 250 booklets of candidates who obtained 50% or less of the total marks in Paper I was analysed. Each question was considered and graphs showing the distribution of candidates' marks were obtained, thus showing the overall performance of candidates in each question. Furthermore the types of mistakes made by candidates were identified and then classified under the concerning mistake category. The analysis led to a list of categories and frequencies of candidates' main difficulties. This research has provided an insight of mistakes in Physics by weak students. It has shown that weak candidates have problems with understanding and applying physics concepts, and in working numerical examples. Whereas some of the short-comings can be overcome through more practice, those related to understanding call to an overhaul of teaching practices from teacher-centred to student-centred.