STRATEGIES TO DO WELL IN EACH SUBJECT (1 Viewer)

[AKONS]

G'day fellow Boser's!

Imagine a world where all you did was memorise formulas for Mathematics and not attempt even ONE practice question. What mark do you think you would get? Safe to say, it's likely it won't be a good one.

Although drastic, this situation shows how some strategies work better for learning and preparing for certain subjects and some work relatively worse.

What are your personal strategies for each of your subjects?

Mine are:

- Mathematics: 100% practice questions (although a healthy understanding of formulas and potential questions)

- Business Studies: Note taking from the textbook --> explaining the content in my notes to myself in the mirror --> past paper questions (mainly short answers+extended responses)

- Economics: Note taking from the textbook (+stats if needed)--> explaining the content in my notes to myself in the mirror (and memorising stats) --> past paper questions (mainly short answers+extended responses)

- Physics: I've been experimenting with two strategies:
1) Note taking from textbook --> past paper and practice questions (although explaining in mirror some concepts)
2) Khan Academy Video --> note-taking --> past paper and practice questions (although explaining in mirror some concepts)

- English: Finding quotes (under each theme) --> Brief Analysing (not all, can depend on question) --> memorising --> practice questions

I hope we can all help each other in finding the best way to study.
Cheers!

 

[Velocifire]

Damn, but what if the PP's (please no dirty minds) are a bit overwhelming at the start, esp for maths... and how do you start for a pea brain like me? Like I'm left dumbfounded after treating isolation like a bludge-fest and movie marathon session.

And can you hook me up with these practice questions/papers etc that you use to revise? (I share math English and Phys with you).

 

[AKONS]

Damn, but what if the PP's (please no dirty minds) are a bit overwhelming at the start, esp for maths... and how do you start for a pea brain like me? Like I'm left dumbfounded after treating isolation like a bludge-fest and movie marathon session.

And can you hook me up with these practice questions/papers etc that you use to revise? (I share math English and Phys with you).

G'day Velocifire!

Just a heads up as I'm still in preliminary and different strategies work for different people

Yes practice questions are difficult at the start! However as the old saying goes: no pain no gain I find the more questions you do (in your weakest areas) the difficulty of the topic subsides until it becomes almost second nature. I find that with Math exams, I blast through all the exam questions leaving me with around a third of the exam time to check at least.

Also by practice questions I'm also including textbook questions as well as past paper questions although I am very curious what strategy you use Velocife. Could you include it below?

Hope this helps

 

[Velocifire]

Idk crying in corners?

 

[AKONS]

Idk crying?

Hahahah love the way you think!!!

But yeah I also had a hard time adjusting to Coronavirus schooling. Although it had the reverse effect of me being super productive at home... although at the cost of a lot of my mental and social health (dont mean to sound dramatic :/)

Also just realised we graduate in the same year!

I'd recommend using THSC (i think thats the name) for past papers as they seem to have a good amount, however networking with friends in the higher ranked schools can also be a source.

 

[Velocifire]

NO I'm being serious mate, I haven't got to you but I'm pretty sure everyone on here knows my story.

 

[AKONS]

NO I'm being serious mate, I haven't got to you but I'm pretty sure everyone on here knows my story.

Actually Velocifire I've seen you mention it a couple times but I'm not sure what it is? Out of curiosity mate what happened? Don't worry I can keep a secret

 

[Velocifire]

Nah I don't want to tell, sorry I've already told enough ppl and I'm trying to break out of it.

 

[Etho_x]

G'day fellow Boser's!

Imagine a world where all you did was memorise formulas for Mathematics and not attempt even ONE practice question. What mark do you think you would get? Safe to say, it's likely it won't be a good one.

Although drastic, this situation shows how some strategies work better for learning and preparing for certain subjects and some work relatively worse.

What are your personal strategies for each of your subjects?

Mine are:

- Mathematics: 100% practice questions (although a healthy understanding of formulas and potential questions)

- Business Studies: Note taking from the textbook --> explaining the content in my notes to myself in the mirror --> past paper questions (mainly short answers+extended responses)

- Economics: Note taking from the textbook (+stats if needed)--> explaining the content in my notes to myself in the mirror (and memorising stats) --> past paper questions (mainly short answers+extended responses)

- Physics: I've been experimenting with two strategies:
1) Note taking from textbook --> past paper and practice questions (although explaining in mirror some concepts)
2) Khan Academy Video --> note-taking --> past paper and practice questions (although explaining in mirror some concepts)

- English: Finding quotes (under each theme) --> Brief Analysing (not all, can depend on question) --> memorising --> practice questions

I hope we can all help each other in finding the best way to study.
Cheers!

Like your attitude hahaha! For me I'm the same with Math, practice problems are really my go to.

I don't write up notes for majority of the concepts in Math since I feel as if Math is not a subject which heavily relies on massive chunks of theory or information in general (unlike Chemistry, Biology etc.). I usually find myself being able to answer most kinds of math questions on the basis that I've covered the concepts in the first place.

For Chemistry and Biology, I usually combine my notes from a range of sources and then use the textbooks I have to apply my knowledge if I'm unsure of a particular concept. Majority of the time this doesn't happen though as some of the concepts can be relatively straight-forward.

English is just English hahaha. Recently I've been doing practice short-answer q's for my upcoming short-answer response exam on some of the texts I've studied this term, but I don't do anything out of the ordinary to study for English.

For Drama, again there's not really much I can do besides date all of my lessons in a logbook and improve on "dramatic techniques" and what-not.

Overall, my personal strategies are alright, but I reckon they need a lot of tweaking for next year and the years ahead as I am still trying to find what works best for me.

 

[anthony___]

Preparing for an exam is like training for a marathon.

How do you train for a marathon? You run.

How do you prep for an exam? Past questions.

Here's a hint: if you're finishing your notes a week or two weeks prior to your prelim/trial/HSC, you're wasting your time.

Past papers. Simple as that.

 

[pikachu975]

For me, maths ext 1 + maths ext 2 + biology + physics = content first priority then past papers. Personally doing past papers before learning the content well will prepare you for those questions, but as soon as a question that requires in depth understanding of small details within topics comes, then you'll be stuck instantly. Of course if you're cramming and need as many marks as possible, then past papers is great for maths, but if you have a lot of time I'd definitely recommend learning the content in depth THEN moving to past papers. Also, before past papers you could possibly do a few textbook questions to get the basics down.

 

[Velocifire]

For me, maths ext 1 + maths ext 2 + biology + physics = content first priority then past papers. Personally doing past papers before learning the content well will prepare you for those questions, but as soon as a question that requires in depth understanding of small details within topics comes, then you'll be stuck instantly. Of course if you're cramming and need as many marks as possible, then past papers is great for maths, but if you have a lot of time I'd definitely recommend learning the content in depth THEN moving to past papers. Also, before past papers you could possibly do a few textbook questions to get the basics down.

Wowow Bio and Phys together?

I rarely see that! I only see people do:
No Science at all
"Dodgy Science" like Investigating or EaES
One Science
Chem Bio, Chem Phs
Three Sciences

 

[pikachu975]

Wowow Bio and Phys together?

I rarely see that! I only see people do:
No Science at all
"Dodgy Science" like Investigating or EaES
One Science
Chem Bio, Chem Phs
Three Sciences

Yeah just pick whichever one you like - I liked learning how humans/animals worked so I really liked biology, and physics had interesting concepts and maths in it.

 

[ultra908]

Wowow Bio and Phys together?

I rarely see that! I only see people do:
No Science at all
"Dodgy Science" like Investigating or EaES
One Science
Chem Bio, Chem Phs
Three Sciences

bruh why is investigating dodgy

 

[throwaway2318]

Most of the subjects I do have been mentioned here, but I do want to add that personally, for Modern History, I always write down notes as I go (since there is definitely no point doing all that before trials). In saying that, and if it works for you, make sure you include a bunch of quotes and stats, since they always make your answer better.
Also, I've always made essay plans for each dot-point for Modern as well (except the surveys), and it's really helpful with revision!