WASSCE Candidates’ Weaknesses In Information & Communication Technology (Elective) 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 Information & Communication Technology (Elective) during the last held examinations.
WAEC Summary of 2021 WASSCE Information & Communication Technology (Elective) Paper Two (2)
A. SUMMARY OF CANDIDATES’ STRENGTHS
(1) In general, candidates answered the questions as demanded by the rubrics.
(2) A fairly good number of candidates exhibited good knowledge of the subject matter.
(3) A greater number of candidates expressed themselves much better in the English language than had been the practice in previous years.
(4) Only a few candidates answered more than three questions, unlike the situations in previous examinations.
(5) Candidates exhibited good knowledge in computer files and computer crime.
B. SUMMARY OF CANDIDATES’ WEAKNESSES
The following were the main candidates’ weaknesses identified:
(1) Inability to appreciate the key requirements of the questions.
(2) Little or no evidence that candidates planned answers before writing them down.
(3) Some of the candidates had bad handwriting.
(4) Some candidates demonstrated in their answers that they had little or no knowledge of the examination syllabus.
(5) Question 4 which was on desktop publishing is the least popular question, followed by question 5 (programming).
C. SUGGESTED REMEDIES
(1) Candidates should carefully read through the questions, selecting those to be attempted and planning the answers before writing them out.
(2) Candidates should learn with suitable textbooks on ICT and carefully use the Internet as a learning tool.
(3) Candidates should avoid the use of inappropriate standards of communication such as those they often use on the various social media platforms.
(4) Teachers of the ICT Elective subject should learn to adhere to the syllabus as much as possible and refrain from teaching just anything they see in their textbooks since it has been discovered that some of the textbook materials are incorrect/inappropriate
WAEC Summary of 2020 WASSCE Information & Communication Technology (Elective) Paper Two (2)
A. SUMMARY OF CANDIDATES’ STRENGTHS
(1) Candidates answered the questions as demanded by the rubrics.
(2) A fairly good number of candidates exhibited good knowledge of the subject matter.
(3) A greater number of candidates expressed themselves much better in the English language than had been the practice in previous years.
(4) Candidates showed good knowledge in number systems.
B. SUMMARY OF CANDIDATES’ WEAKNESSES
The following were the main candidates’ weaknesses identified:
(1) Inability to appreciate the key requirements of the questions.
(2) Little or no evidence that candidates planned answers before writing them down.
(3) Some of the candidates had bad handwriting.
(4) Some candidates demonstrated in their answers that they had little or no knowledge of the examination syllabus.
(5) Candidates showed poor understanding in SQL and Flowchart concepts.
C. SUGGESTED REMEDIES
(1) Candidates should carefully read through the questions, selecting those to be attempted and planning the answers before writing them out.
(2) Candidates should learn with suitable textbooks and material on ICT and carefully use the Internet as a learning tool.
(3) Candidates should be encouraged to write legibly.
(4) Candidates should avoid the use of inappropriate standards of communication such as those they often use on the various social media platforms.
(5) Candidates should allow for time to read through their answers to correct any errors as well as add further details.
(6) Teachers of the ICT Elective subject should learn to adhere to the syllabus as much as possible and refrain from teaching just anything they see in their textbooks since it has been discovered that some of the textbook materials are incorrect / inappropriate.
WAEC Summary of 2021 WASSCE Information & Communication Technology (Elective) Paper Three (3)
A. SUMMARY OF CANDIDATES’ STRENGTHS
DATABASE
Candidates were able to create
(1) database name;
(2) tables;
(3) field names;
(4) queries.
SPREADSHEET
Candidates were able to
(1) create table and format;
(2) compute total and average scores;
(3) insert full name using the header tool;
(4) save workbook in the required name.
QBASIC
Candidates were able to
(1) declare variables;
(2) input given data;
(3) format the required output;
(4) save program as PALINDROME.
B. SUMMARY OF CANDIDATES’ WEAKNESSES
The following were the main candidates’ weaknesses identified:
DATABASE
Candidates were not able to create
(1) proper form;
(2) list all officers receiving quantities less than 450;
(3) arrange data in table by commodity in descending order.
QBASIC
Candidates’ programs could not
(1) test for palindrome properly;
(2) display NOT Palindrome and Palindrome onscreen
C. SUGGESTED REMEDIES
(1) Teachers must ensure that candidates understand the importance of naming objects in information and communications technology in general.
(2) Candidates should be taught how to design forms using form Design more than using the Form Wizard. This will help them understand the labeling of forms.
(3) Candidates should be taught how to query data to extract information as required.
(4) Candidates should be taught how to handle input data to ensure that the input is in the exact form as required by the software
WAEC Summary of 2020 WASSCE Information & Communication Technology (Elective) Paper Three (3)
A. SUMMARY OF CANDIDATES’ STRENGTHS
SPREADSHEET
Candidates were able to:
(1) create conditions tables;
(2) create calls tables;
(3) populate data;
(4) save workbook.
HTML
Candidates were able to
(1) create the basic structure correct;
(2) correct row alignment;
(3) populate table;
(4) set the correct heading level 1 for “Continuous Assessment”;
(5) set the correct page title.
DATABASE
Candidates were able to:
(1) create database named DBCUSTOMERS;
(2) create data fields with correct data types;
(3) create correct Lookup table for country.
B. SUMMARY OF CANDIDATES’ WEAKNESSES
Many candidates had challenges in the following areas:
SPREADSHEET
(1) calculation of amount payable per customer;
(2) creating conditions table;
(3) calculation of maximum amount due for trunk calls;
(4) calculation of maximum amount due for local calls;
(5) calculation of maximum amount due for foreign calls;
(6) calculation of total amount due the operator of the call centre that day.
HTML
(1) correct table structure (correct row span and column span);
(2) correct column header alignment (centre).
DATABASE
(1) creating fields with correct data format;
(2) creating Customer-ID;
(3) creating Tel-Number.
C. SUGGESTED REMEDIES
(1) Teachers must continue to make efforts to improve the logical reasoning skill in candidates to help in the development of programming skills.
(2) Teachers must pay attention to the curriculum requirements and should not underrate the expectations of the ICT curriculum. They must stress on technical approach in teaching ICT.
(3) Candidates must be encouraged and assisted to pick up personal ICT projects structured in a manner which will compel them to eventually be practical in their approach to the subject and cover significant aspects of the subject. It will also lay the foundation for their research abilities before getting into the tertiary level.
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 Information & Communication Technology (Elective) and remedies and apply same
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