Difficulty in transitioning to upper secondary physics? Here’s something to think about…

If your child is facing difficulties with pure physics in secondary 3, this might be the reason why.

In lower secondary, students learn simplified versions of physics concepts, which usually can be easily represented by an equation such as distance = speed x time.

Because of this, it is quite easy for lower secondary students can do well in exams just by memorising equations and substituting the correct numbers into the equation.

The problem arises when students mistakenly think that this is what is means to "apply concept", when in fact they are just memorising equations.

In upper secondary pure physics and beyond, no longer are the questions this straight-forward; and the basic equations taught to students are often used more like "building blocks" that are used to construct a larger equation that is unique to the scenario in the question. Students' ability to build the correct equation is in turn dependent on their ability to correctly visualise the scenario. THIS is the actual application of concept - i.e. to understand what the equation means, and how it describes the scenario in the problem.

If you found this helpful, please like and follow our page. I will be sharing some mini tutorials explaining some common concepts in the coming weeks.