Final Exam Comments
From 2003

These comments are based on marking the Janurary and June final exams and are applicable to any grade level. Below is a list of deficiencies that students exhibited on final exams.
Hopefully you take this list to heart and do not fall into these careless habits!
Some comments are general, some are question specific.
Note that the same remarks apear semester after semester.

Prior to exams

1. Student did not make use of review time made available.
2. Students did not listen to and/or take to heart the exam hints that were given. Some questions were actually given in class, numbers may have been changed but .... Lets ignore and complain how hard the exam is. Students would rather waste time, talk with friends in class, play cards, than actually review and practice doing questions or get help on specific problems that may be giving them difficulty.
3. In the final week of school, most students had little or no interest in preparing for exams. A rather frustrating time for the teacher who tries to prepare students for the exams and then must battle with students to listen.
4. The Internet exam reviews seemed to be ignored, especially by students who failed the exam. This was obvious because of questions that were simply not answered yet were mentioned as fact to be known.

• Diagrams incomplete and poorly drawn. Not drawn to scale, rules and protractors not used.
  Some students did not even have the necessary equipment for the exam
  An accurate well constructed diagram is often half the battle in solving the problem.
• Units missing! need I say any more.
• Decimal (metric errors). You are suppost to be able to work with the metric system.
• Inability to realize that when adding forces they must be added as vectors. They are added either geometrically or using sine or cosines as needed.
• No problem analysis. [GRASP method ignored] Problems must have a set-up else you probably won't be able to solve.
• Lack of understanding or terms such as "actual", "useful", "ideal", "food web or chain", types of chemical reactions, etc.
• Inability to draw a wave train given specific parameters. Inability to label a wave with all the necessary components.
• NO attention to detail.
• Inability to handle questions involving
  1. transformers
  2. the inclined plane
  3. ray diagrams
  4. wave equation and the speed of sound
  5. the motor, the generators or the galvanometer
• Instructions for questions were ignored. Maybe that's why the question was hard to solve.
• A serious lack of imagination. Students could not comprehend the basic premise of the question.
• Students were allowed to make their own formula sheet. Some didn't and had to use one that someone else made.

• This beats 'em all. Four students didn't put their name on the exam. I hope I got the right name to the right exam.
  PS. I didn't. Two students ended up with the wrong exam marks, which lowered one students marks considerably.

• Units left out or are wrong; what else is new!
• Inability to solve simple grade nine style algebra equations; can't cross multiply properly.
• Can't tell the difference between mass & weight (which is a force) or else you just don't know that mass is not a force and must be changed to a force
• Can't draw a pulley diagram even though students were told this was on the exam
• Can't work with mA to A. Metric conversions
• Serious lack of study and exam preparation as evident by the material that was not known
• Students not following explicit exam instuctions
• It was obvious that most students ignored the exam review or bothered to read this page of helpful hints
• From the 2D academic exam; names left of 1 scantron card and 2 exams.
• Deserts are not found in Canada, not one of the Canadian biomes.
• Should know the conditions of a specific biome, severe weather conditions
• Area under a vt line is the distance traveled, nice if this was known.
• Tasting of chemicals is not a valid or acceptable chemical test test.
• Math problems with no work steps. These are required for marks, as if you haven't been told.
• Simple hard core facts or skills are just not known such as
  1. chemical nomenclature; naming compounds and writing formula
  2. factors affecting chemical reaction rates
  3. being able to solve a math related motion problem using analysis techniques taught in class
  4. nitogen cycle, carbon dioxide cycle --> photosynthesis
  5. a front? what's that
  6. couldn't draw vector diagram and or didn't release that a vector diagram was needed to solve the problem
• Could not recognize a reaction type
• Questions just not answered
• The poorer students just seem not to want to study and learn, they seem not to really care, one way or the other.

• Nomenclature (from the chem unit) still not known
  Inability to criss-cross valence numbers
  A basic breakdoun of this topic --> 6 marks lost
• When asked to explain "how ..." => just a statement of the effect not an explination.
  Inability to understand what the question is asking or not careful enough reading the question.
• Doesn't know what a slope of a v/t or d/t graph yields; inability to read a graph.
  Cann't find the distance traveled or displacement from a v/t graph (area under the lines)
• Tries to use equations when given a graph
  My equations (the seven) where NOT needed!, seems they were misused anyway
  Inability to recognize an easy question from a hard one
  Misuse of equations, tries to fit equation to question, analyse the question then find an equation that works with the data.
• Vectors drawn without arrows
  No direction listed for the vector addition question
  Doesn't apply [E] or [W] properly
  No answer drawn in a vector addition question
• Units left off answers
  Does not include work steps (analysis) in the motion math questions
• Does not know how to use collision theory to explain reaction rates
• Doesn't know how to make energy loss calculations in a food chain
  Cann't explain the diference between a food chain and a food web
  Cann't recognize bioamplification in a question
• Basic weather facts simply not know and or could not be explained properly to ensure full marks
• Lastly, if you look back on previous years you see a repeat of many of these points. Hence I would conlude that a large number of you did not read these comments or didn't take them seriously enough

• Doesn't follow the directions of the question
• Uses v = d/t
• Careless math errors
• Units left off answers, both value and direction for vector answer
• Doesn't know name or symbol of elements.
• Doesn't criss-cross valence values
• Cann't handle nomenclature question
• Has trouble balancing equations and recogonizing their types
• Indicator colours not know wrt acid/base solutions
• Chem/Motion units done poorly; Eco/Weather done better
• Area under curve (v.t); many students didn't recognize this
• Most didn't know why equations are balanced or how or why catalysis work
• Many students did not listen to or follow up on exam hints that where given out; eg. hurricanes tornadoes, warm, cold fronts etc.

• Some students appeared NOT to have studied at all.
• Too many students would not attempt or use probem analysis techniques to solve mathematical word problems. No wonder they got zero on the problem.
• Units left of numbered answers. So what else is new!
• Diagrams inaccurately drawn for
  1. pulleys even though you were told exactly this question was on the exam.
  2. circuits
  3. hydraulic systems
  4. lenses
  5. F.B.D. of an object on a ramp.
• Students don't know what or how to
  1. LED stands for
  2. how a concave lens will refract light rays
  3. effort and load
  4. handle a lever diagram and question based on a lever
  5. mechanical advantage
  6. a wave is
  7. how to added parallel resistors or maybe the student just didn't see the worl parallel in the question
  8. convert mass to force or didn't know that this should be done
  9. power
  10. how many classes of  levers there are .... WOW! say no more as to why the exam results are poor
  11. a sound waves are made up of ......... & .............
  12. nodes and antinodes are
  13. solve a simple series circuit
  14. an octave is
  15. work with static friction (word problem)
  16. draw a pulley diagram precisely
  17. draw an accurate ray diagram of a concave or convex lens
  18. factors that effect pitch or frequency in a guitar string

In summation, it appears that most students do not take atvantage of all the pre-exam help that has been provided and make sure that they can answer questions that they have been basically told were on this exam.