On Friday 19th September, 2014 Riviera High School hosted a Physics seminar to help students interact with their colleagues from different schools. Students who attended that seminar came from Liquidnet Family High School at Agahozo Shallom Youth Village (Rwamagana), Kagarama Secondary School (Kicukiro), Lycée de Kigali (Nyarugenge) and Riviera High School (Gasabo).

From the questions that students discussed, it was clear that their teachers had already covered the syllabus for Advanced Level since the paper tackled all chapters. But when I remember the poor performance we had last year in Physics (only 8 students with A in the whole country), I can’t let students sit again for the coming exam without giving them my little advice.

Dear students, you have covered the syllabus and you have enough knowledge now. But in addition to this, there are a number of things you need to do in order to succeed not only in Physics, but also in other subjects in this coming national exam exercise.

First of all, organise your knowledge. Don’t waste the little time remaining in running through various notebooks from different schools because they contain the same information as yours.

Secondly, see whether you know how to answer different questions well in advance and keep in mind that the answer you give should be clear and precise. Remember, you will not accompany your answer sheet to explain what you had in mind when you wrote this or that. Also ensure that your handwriting is readable. Avoid confusion by writing full answers and not assuming that the examiner knows what you mean. Maybe you used to lose some marks because of such ambiguity and now is the time to make up for it.

Thirdly, check whether you can interprete all formulae that you have ever come across, knowing what exactly every letter represents. To correct the mistakes you have now as well as the worries, the following questions will guide you on what to do;

 Do you read the problem before you attempt it? Do you write data in the order of their occurrence in the problem or you write them the way you want? Do you remember that the first sentence is the one to dictate what you have to do before you get to the second sentence? Do you take the number you are attempting as a new one or you directly solve it as if you already know the answer? Do you understand all the mathematics you met in your physics or you still have some challenges? Do you participate in group work or you observe things being done?

Feymann, one of the great physicists once said: "What I cannot create I don’t’ understand”. So you need time to redo what your teacher has done and derive the formula he or she derived in class on your own. You may even come up with a way of solving the exercises simpler than what others have used.

Finally, whenever you want to revise, do not start with reading theory but solve exercises related to the topic you want to revise. The exercise itself will show you which concept you didn’t understand well and now read it again. Some of you do not sleep now or even study without resting. But remember that what you need most is a fresh and quiet mind that can think and understand the question you want to solve. What matters most is not the quantity you have read in a day, instead the quality. Don’t simply read hard, read smartly.

So, may almighty God bless your preparations and guide you throughout this hard period.

Good luck!

The writer is a teacher of Physics at Liquidnet Family High School, Agahozo Shallom Youth Village.