The purpose of this study was to document and analyze teachers' and students' activities during physics practicals in order to gain critical insights into why students did not acquire the expected practical skills and how theory and practice interacted in the context of teaching for the practical examination in physics. The study involves three classes (n=116) and three physics teachers at three secondary schools in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Data obtained included observations from four physics lessons, five physics practical classes, and one laboratory demonstration, as well as from nine interviews. Data were analyzed and discussed in light of the teaching methods and barriers that seemed to inhibit students' understanding of scientific concepts. The study suggests several reasons why students failed to acquire basic scientific laboratory skills and knowledge. The teaching of physics is compartmentalized into "theory" and "practical" and these are taught as separate and unrelated entities. The formal examination system, which dominates the thinking of teachers and students alike, promotes this division and strongly influences the teaching methods employed by schools. Included in this study are: (1) an introduction to the study, research setting and participants; (2) literature review and research methods; (3) a description of the laboratory practical work performed in each school, along with the perspectives of teachers and students; (4) the analysis and interpretation of the data; and (5) conclusions and recommendations. Appended are transcriptions of the lessons, demonstrations, and interviews with students and teachers and a copy of the West African Examination Council Physics 1 Practical. (KR)