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.

For the June 2007 comments Click Here     For January 2008 comments Click Here     For June 2008 comments Click Here

For January 2009 comments Click Here

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 just 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 facts to be known.
5. And I don't think many students took to heart THIS PAGE with a list of student errors, ommissions, and pitfalls.

• 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.

From grade 10

• student doesn't read instructions or all of the questions (examples left out)
• units left out! What else is new!
• inability to use a calculator properly in a calculation
• exact fact just not known; terms/definitional words not known, obviously no study
• many questions left blank? I guess no study, again!
• can't draw a graph of find a slope (units left out)
• chemical families mixed up, example of halogens, inert gases etc. not known
• doesn't know pH values for acid and bases
• inability to solve motion problem, in some cases not even an attempt
• arrows wrong way in food web or no arrows or just a chain not a web
• can't add vectors

From grade 12

• see list from 2007 June finals, I could just basically repeat a) thru r), but here's this exam's can't do's
• can't add vectors either
• simple wave or sound terms not known, what are sound waves comprised off (right off the last test of the year)
• units missing, say no more!
• can't solve a series/parallel circuit
• constructive/destructive interference, how does it form?
• can't draw a pulley diagram, at least this year some students where able to this,but most ...
• student doesn't bring a calculator .. to a physics exam
• confuses mass with force
• metric system errors mA is not A and A must be used in the problem not mA
• inability to complete a ray/lens diagram
• all kinds of facts not known

• Vectors must have arrows, most couldn't be bothered to draw them in
• resultant vector not drawn in; this is the answer!
• do not know how to add vectors, this was reviewed a day or two before the exam
• no (or lack there of) problem solving skills; why do what is taught in class, I'd only get marks!
• chemical nomenclature, balancing and reaction type identification; these skills severely lacking
• most marks are lost on the chemistry unit even though it weas reviewed & you knew what was coming. You were told this was on the exam and most ignored (didn't study) this section
• did not know how to incorporate energy values into a pyramid of energy
• reaction rates not known (students got this topic mixed up with something else) or how to explain them even though this was reviewed several times just before the exam
• "S" is not the symbol for sodium
  "C" is not the symbol for calcium
  did not know what hydroxide is
• Air pressure decreases as you go upward in the troposphere, most said it increases
• Use of units much better this time
• pH values for acids and bases not known
• highs & lows; properties not known
• many simple facts not knownsuch as what's an inert gas & example, chemical families,
• you cannot count boxes when finding the slope
• cann't solve a motion equation using an equation
• cann't give a good answer to why is knowing weather useful or important

Physics 12

• Simple facts just not known or how to use term in a question
  1. what a normal is
  2. power
  3. mechanical advantage
  4. LED
  5. node
  6. frequency - string length relationship
  7. torque
  8. units for energy or work
  9. types and characteristics of waves
  10. what are sound waves comprised of
  11. coefficients of friction the two types;static and kinetic
• Huge problems:
  1. not being able to solve a circuit or handle parallel resistors
  2. not converting mass to force (X 9.8)
  3. inability to solve equations
• Units missing but much better than usual
• Uses wrong formula; problem analysis lacking which leads to can't match data ot the correct formula
• Misuse of units, wrong one used
• Problem solving skills lacking, no analysis, methodolgy of problem solving simply ignored
• Cannot do elemntary algebra
• Must change mass to force when doing force, work, & power problems
• Can't draw pulley diagrams (some success) or complete lens diagram for convex or concave
• Someone said that there are five (5) classes of levers, lots of study from this fellow and lets make up new not-existent formulas to use and a wave is not a thing in the ocean.

from grade 10 Science

• Units
• Facts, terms not knows, quite serious in the Fill in the Blank section
• Use of words, terms that made absolutely no sense in the question, such as: there is no such chemical family called low pressure
• Directions in questions not read which meant that parts of questions were not done or completed, such as: give an example of and its not done
• Can't draw a vector (only one person realized to use a ruler and protactor, most just added the values numerically)
• Couple of students didn't do a whole section of the exam, either they didn't see it ( missed the page) or they could be bothered to even attempt it