WASSCE Candidates’ Weaknesses In Ceramics And Remedies | Extract From Chief Examiners Report Towards WASSCE 2023
Teachers preparing students for any examination are always worried about the potential weaknesses in answers that their students will provide during the examination. Fortunately, the main examining body, the West Africa Examination Council always provide WASSCE candidates’ weaknesses in Ceramics during the last held examinations.
WAEC Summary of 2021 WASSCE Ceramics Paper Two (2)
A. SUMMARY OF CANDIDATES STRENGTHS
Some candidates, exhibited maturity in their answers. They were quite brief yet precise with very few unnecessary embellishments in rendition. Spellings of ceramic terminology were accurate.
B. SUMMARY OF CANDIDATES’ WEAKNESSES
A greater number of candidates came to the examination hall ill-prepared. Some scored zero in every one of the six questions they attempted. There was no cohesion in their rendition. They showed ignorance about several topics.
Spellings and tenses were poor. A word in the question paper could still be spelt wrongly. Some candidates didn’t read the instructions at the back of their answer booklet and answered two questions on a single page.
Fewer candidates, unlike previous years answered more than the stipulated number of questions.
C. SUGGESTED REMEDIES
Schools must take their Mock Examinations seriously. Schools must insist teachers teach according to the Ministry Of Education approved syllabus.
Visual Art candidates must ensure they take illustration lessons seriously and consider it integral part of their practical knowledge and practices. Visual art teachers must be encouraged to constantly read the Chief Examiner’s reports. Candidates must follow the rubrics.
WAEC Summary of 2020 WASSCE Ceramics Paper Two (2)
A. SUMMARY OF CANDIDATES’ STRENGTHS
(1) One remarkable feature of this year’s performance by candidates was their comprehensive display of knowledge on the benefits of establishing a ceramic industry in one’s locality. The responses of the candidates were thorough, insightful and illustrative.
(2) Also, the number of candidates whose performances were of high standard was more than that of the previous year. These candidates exhibited comprehensive subject matter knowledge. They presented their answers in a chronological order. Their descriptions of processes were logical and coherent. Answers were also supported with relevant examples and illustrations.
(3) Their handwritings were legible with few cancelations. These remarkable features could be attributed to adequate prior preparation for examination, strict adherence to rubrics, reflective selection of questions that one has mastery over and proper time management.
(4) On the whole, candidates’ adherence to the rubrics saw a remarkable improvement. Largely, most candidates answered four questions as demanded by the test item.
Question numbers, candidates’ index numbers etc. were all well written on the answer booklets. These are commendable features noticed which should be maintained.
B. SUMMARY OF CANDIDATES’ WEAKNESSES
(1) Major fallout of this year’s examination performance by the candidates was the sheer lack of familiarity with basic ceramic equipment. Most candidates were unable to explain three uses of basic equipment used in any standard ceramic studio.
(2) The lack of proficiency in English language has been an underlying factor in the underperformance of ceramic candidates for years.
This challenge appears to have no solution in sight. Poor spellings, limited vocabulary, poor sentence construction and grammatical errors in general, make reading and subsequent assessment of candidates’ answers very challenging.
(3) Most candidates lost valuable marks because even though they had an idea about the dictates of the questions posed, their answers were shallow and did not address the core demands of the questions.
(4) Poor illustrative skills; Illustrations of candidates were very poor and uncharacteristic of visual art candidates.
(5) One weakness identified was the poor handwriting skills exhibited by some candidates. The handwritings of some candidates were not readable. Some handwritings were too small to be read.
(6) Others were sketchy and needed patience to be able to recognize what the candidates were trying to communicate. These identified weaknesses resulted in underperformance by some candidates.
C. SUGGESTED REMEDIES
(1) The Ministry of Education in collaboration with the Ghana Education Service should as a matter of urgency resource all studios with basic materials and equipment needed in operating any standard visual art studio. This will improve the knowledge of candidates on ceramics equipment and terminologies.
(2) Ceramics teachers should start paying attention to the grammar of their candidates. Candidates’ poor proficiency in English language can be improved by reading relevant books in addition to their recommended textbooks.
(3) Candidates should be penalized for poor sentence construction in their formative and summative assessments. These actions would draw the attention of ceramics candidates to their diction and grammar.
(4) Illustration is a cardinal feature of visual art education. Ceramics teachers should devote part of the allocated instructional time to developing candidates’ illustrative skills.
(5) Candidates should make the effort to make their handwriting readable to avoid losing valuable mark
WAEC Summary of 2019 WASSCE Ceramics Paper Two (2)
A. SUMMARY OF CANDIDATES’ STRENGTHS
(i) Most candidates adhered to the rubrics, hence answered the stipulated four questions
(ii) Candidates exhibited command of subject matter by giving precise information and examples.
B. SUMMARY OF CANDIDATES’ WEAKNESSES
(i) There were challenges with labelling in question three. Arrow heads were not pointing to the correct parts of the drawing. These lapses caused some candidates to lose marks.
(ii) Some candidates still answered two or three questions on a page and led to some answers mixing up since there were inadequate spaces between their responses.
(iii) A few candidates could not draw and label as in question three.
C. SUGGESTED REMEDIES
(i) Candidates are advised to take time to read the questions and understand very well before attempting to answer.
(ii) Visual Art teachers are also advised to read the Chief Examiners Reports to know more about teaching/learning of terminologies and processes.
WAEC Summary of 2018 WASSCE Ceramics Paper Two (2)
A. A SUMMARY OF CANDIDATES’ STRENGTHS
Candidates who performed creditably well, unlike previous years are very few, while certain candidates from a few schools did marvellously well. They read and perfectly understood the questions thereby providing the appropriate responses.
B. A SUMMARY OF CANDIDATES’ WEAKNESSES
Candidates’ knowledge of basic terminologies and processes in the ceramics field still needs some improvement. These weaknesses came to the fore in the poor performance of candidates in answering especially questions 2 on clay drying process; 3 on ceramic producing centres across the country; and 4 on plaster of Paris. Some scripts had very bad expressions with bad handwriting making it difficult to read and comprehend candidates’ answers.
C. SUGGESTED REMEDIES FOR THE WEAKNESSES
Candidates must be well groomed and prepared enough to take these examinations seriously. We keep hammering and insist that Visual art teachers be encouraged to constantly read the Chief Examiner’s reports. This will thus enable them to pay much attention to the teaching
and learning of ceramic terminologies and processes. For without a firm grip on these terms, many candidates are likely to display these kinds of weaknesses every year. Candidates are also advised to take their time to read over question, make sure they understand the dictates of the questions, draw a layout of their answers to the question and to satisfy themselves that they have what it takes to attempt the question before they go ahead to answer them.
It is the hope of our team that candidates will perform better when teachers and candidates go through this summary of strengths, WASECE candidates’ weaknesses in Ceramics and remedies and apply same.
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