My top 3 tips for for studying smart for chemistry:
1)Practical assessments-make sure you know reliability, validity, accuracy, sources of error, possible areas for improvement, independent/dependent/controlled variables, risk assessment for all the experiments you have done in class, make sure you can master basic science skills such as drawing line of best fit, drawing experimental set up accurately, using numbered points in writing a logical procedure, understand the requirements of the exam(I.e. how much time, how many parts) and allocate your time accordingly, make sure you understand the chemical principle/theory behind why you did each experiment
2)Theory assessments and exams-make sure you PERSONALLY write a set of summarised notes according to each dot point of the syllabus in a concise but detailed manner-make sure you include appropriate diagrams as well, after you wrote the notes, make sure to start practising questions and CHECKING YOUR ANSWERS in textbooks-i.e. Roland Smith's Conquering Chemistry has an exam question section which is quite good, ask your teacher for practice questions and make links between dotpoints and across modules to reinforce your understanding. Throughout the year, you should be progressively cutting down your notes as you store more things into your long term memory-revise regularly. Before your final trial exam-you should try to get your hands on as many preliminary exams as possible to practice-and look at the marking guidelines, remember to practice under EXAM CONDITIONS. Make sure when you make notes you are at least referring to 3 different sources to synthesise your information. (colour-code and use mind-maps to make your notes engaging and easy to remember). In your notes, don't neglect to include all your experiments and second-hand investigations.
3)For other types of assessments such as group presentations, individual research assignments, second-hand investigations-you should strive to always include a comprehensive bibliography that indicates you have sourced your information not only from websites, but from journals/books as well, you should understand how to evaluate accuracy/reliability/validity in relation to the sources of information you are using, like other types of assessment, pay close attention to the marking criteria and make sure you fulfil it as much as possible, make sure your information is comprehensive, non-repetitive and answers the verb of the question: i.e. discuss, evaluate, compare, contrast, assess, examine (so for that matter, memorise what the main verbs used in your exam questions means).
The best and most efficient way to study for chemistry follows a similar principle for studying smarter, which is to make sure you are studying in a way that maximises your memory retention-for example, if you are a visual learner, you draw mind maps and diagrams more than you write paragraphs, remember to SUMMARISE, MEMORISE AND DON'T PLAGARISE, WITH PRACTICE AND CONSISTENT FOCUS, you can excel in chemistry.
If you study consistently in small chunks, chemistry will be in your long term memory and it is far more efficient than cramming the night before an exam-the more you practice, the better you will get at it. Hope this helps and I wish you all the best for your HSC. If you have any more questions, you are welcome to pm me