Study tips, a guide to studying and FAQ about studying (2 Viewers)

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Requested by;

i admire your advice on this forum could u please make a special thread with all your tips to succeed thanks

Study Less Study Smart

Break your study time in chunks with breaks
― most students lose focus at 25 minutes
― it’s a mistake to keep going once you do, since you won’t actually learn anything and you’ll hate every minute of it
― so when you start losing focus take a 5 minute break
― do something nice like talking to someone or listening to music
― it’s something you practice so with time you’ll be able to work for more time without losing focus
― in the end of the study session have a big reward you look forward to

Create a study area
― environment highly affects the way you act. Bedrooms are for sleeping, kitchens for eating: you’ll feel sleepy in your bedroom and hungry in the kitchen. So if you have a study area, it’ll be easier to start studying and staying focused.
― study in a specific room like an office or school library if you can
― if you have to study in your bedroom use a specific object you only use for studying: a lamp/desk. Make it a no-distraction, away from your bed, blank walls area.

The more active the learning, the better
― 80% active learning 20% passive
― ask yourself: is it a concept or a fact?

― learning a concept: understand/grasp/know it

― put it into your own words
― really think about the meaning of it
― relate it with something you already know
― teach somebody else. Recapitulate what you’ve learned. Talk out loud even if you don’t have anyone to teach - talk alone. Or at anyone that listens.​

― learning a fact: memorize it

― use mnemonics
― Acronyms (e.g. colours of the rainbow RoyGBiv – red orange yellow green blue indigo violet)
― Coined sayings - anything popular or sayings you’ve heard since you were a child.
― Interacting images – work even better if they’re weird. Creative associations make you never forget specific details. (e.g. 1 gram of fat has 9 calories: picture a fat cat – each cat has 9 lives)​

― any time 2 things are highly similar but not the same you will get maximal interference!! USE mnemonics!! (e.g. afferent vs efferent neurons: SAME - Sensory Afferent Motor Efferent)

Be a part of study groups
― surprisingly others can help further your study

Recognising VS Remembering
― never confuse the two
― while reviewing a chapter you may recognise concepts but not actually know them
― and when you get to the test you won’t be able to remember any of it
― so quiz yourself without looking at it
― or stop in a page of your notes/textbook and ask yourself what is the concept immediately after and before it

Get your Sleep
― get ~8 hours so you don’t undo your studying
― this is how your brain stores permanent memories
― without it you’re ability to remember seriously decreases
― most people don’t even begin to take the advice but it’s simple: sleep better. Do better.

There’s 162 hours in a week. There is time.
― reflect on what you are doing with your time and what activities you have to prioritize to succed as a student

Ask your questions to class mates and teachers.
― teachers want you to succeed and it’s more than ok to ask your question in the teacher’s office or in the next class

How to use a textbook: SQ3R technique
Survey Question Read Recite Review

― Survey: skim through the entire chapter in a couple of minutes.
― Raise questions: e.g. what is osmosis? What is this graphic about? What is a prototype?
― it causes you to look for answers and you’ll find the information better once you actually study it after. If you intend to find something you learn it better.​

Start studying for tests early.
― don’t undo yourself. You should only be reviewing the days before the test. don’t leave it till the last minute!

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Re: Plane's Study Tips

Memory Tips and Techniques:
Know your personal learning style. The techniques which are appropriate for you will vary according to your learning style.

• Sensory or visual learners normally have a preference for practical approaches involving the use of images.
• Active learners tend to prefer to learn by physical activity such as manipulating materials.
• Reflective learners prefer theoretical and analytical approaches to derive meaning.
• Verbal learners opt for word based tactics.

Creating lists: this is the most basic technique. Distill your notes into a series of headings. Ding this helps imprint the knowledge and the end result is an overview of the subject allowing you to place your knowledge in the right context. This is suited to verbal or read-write learners. Numbering your lists can be useful for memory.

Making timelines: You can use timelines to plot the progress of events, procedures, or developments. These can be drawn as vertical or horizontal. They are particularly useful if a lecture has referred to a set of events.

Sketching Mindmaps: These are extremely visual and rely on their colour and shape to produce a memorable and attractive image. Some people use these in lectures or classes. For revision, they should be quick, legible and coherent. Concept maps can be as useful as outlining answers.

Drawing Diagrams: Diagrams can be used to show hierarchies, processes, or relationships. They can be used to build an answer outline. Sometimes they can even form a part of your formal answer. They are extremely useful to visual learners. However, take care when they are personal and only have meaning to you because they may not add value to any content in exams.

Posters and Post it notes: This is good for people who like to subliminally absorb information. It suits kinesthetic learners. The idea is to create an area full of posters to help embed the information into your memory a a part of your normal everyday world.

Use nonsense words and mnemonics: I will always remember the colours of the visual spectrum through Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain.

Use rhymes: We all know how memorable music is and how much it gets stuck in our heads. Use it. Create your own lyrics for a tune you know, or adapt rhymes that you’ve known since childhood. Nursery rhymes are really great for this.

Listing: Knowing how many points there are meant to be can hep you work out if you’ve forgotten something.

Practice: Keep going over the material.

Revisit your notes with memory techniques in mind.

Chunking: Chunk the information (break it up into smaller and more manageable pieces).

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[plane]

Re: Plane's Study Tips

Vocabulary Tips:

1. Read, read, and read.
The more you read especially novels and literary works, but also magazines and newspapers - the more words you'll be exposed to. As you read and uncover new words, use a combination of attempting to derive meaning from the context of the sentence as well as from looking up the definition in a dictionary.

2. Keep a dictionary and thesaurus handy.
Use whatever versions you prefer in print, software, or online. When you uncover a new word, look it up in the dictionary to get both its pronunciation and its meaning(s). Next, go to the thesaurus and find similar words and phrases and their opposites (synonyms and antonyms, respectively) and learn the nuances among the words.

3. Use a journal.
It's a good idea to keep a running list of the new words you discover so that you can refer back to the list and slowly build them into your everyday vocabulary. Plus, keeping a journal of all your new words can provide positive reinforcement for learning even more words - especially when you can see how many new words you've already learned.

4. Learn a word a day.
Using a word-a-day calendar or Website or developing your own list of words to learn is a great technique many people use to learn new words. This approach may be too rigid for some, so even if you do use this method, don't feel you must learn a new word every day.

5. Go back to your roots.
One of the most powerful tools for learning new words and for deciphering the meaning of other new words is studying Latin and Greek roots. Latin and Greek elements (prefixes, roots, and suffixes) are a significant part of the English language and a great tool for learning new words.

6. Play some games.
Word games that challenge you and help you discover new meanings and new words are a great and fun tool in your quest for expanding your vocabulary. Examples include crossword puzzles, anagrams, word jumble, Scrabble, and Boggle.

7. Engage in conversations.
Simply talking with other people can help you learn discover new words. As with reading, once you hear a new word, remember to jot it down so that you can study it later and then slowly add the new word to your vocabulary.

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Re: Plane's Study Tips

Transition Words:

To repeat any ideas just stated:
- In other words
- That is
- To repeat
- Again

To illustrate an idea:
- For example
- For instance
- In particular
- To illustrate
- In this manner
- Thus

To announce a contrast, a change in direction:
- Yet
- However
- Still
- Nevertheless
- On the other hand
- In contrast
- Instead of
- On the contrary
- Conversely
- Notwithstanding
- In spite of this

Time:
- At once
- In the interim
- At length
- Immediately
- At last
- Meanwhile
- In the meantime
- Presently
- At the same time
- Shortly
- In the end
- Temporarily
- Thereafter

To restate an idea more precisely:
- To be exact
- To be specific
- To be precise
- More specifically
- More precisely

To mark a new idea as an addition to what has been said:
- Similarly
- Also
- Too
- Besides
- Furthermore
- Further
- Moreover
- In addition

To show cause and effect:
- As a result
- For this reason
- Thereafter
- Hence
- Consequently
- Accordingly

Conclusion:
- Overall
- In short
- In brief
- On the whole
- In summary
- To sum up

More Examples of Transitions:

Illustration

Thus, for example, for instance, namely, to illustrate, in other words, in particular, specifically, such as.​

Contrast

On the contrary, contrarily, notwithstanding, but, however, nevertheless, in spite of, in contrast, yet, on one hand, on the other hand, rather, or, nor, conversely, at the same time, while this may be true.​

Addition

And, in addition to, furthermore, moreover, besides, than, too, also, both-and, another, equally important, first, second, etc., again, further, last, finally, not only-but also, as well as, in the second place, next, likewise, similarly, in fact, as a result, consequently, in the same way, for example, for instance, however, thus, therefore, otherwise.​

Time

After, afterward, before, then, once, next, last, at last, at length, first, second, etc., at first, formerly, rarely, usually, another, finally, soon, meanwhile, at the same time, for a minute, hour, day, etc., during the morning, day, week, etc., most important, later, ordinarily, to begin with, afterwards, generally, in order to, subsequently, previously, in the meantime, immediately, eventually, concurrently, simultaneously.​

Space

At the left, at the right, in the center, on the side, along the edge, on top, below, beneath, under, around, above, over, straight ahead, at the top, at the bottom, surrounding, opposite, at the rear, at the front, in front of, beside, behind, next to, nearby, in the distance, beyond, in the forefront, in the foreground, within sight, out of sight, across, under, nearer, adjacent, in the background.​

Concession

Although, at any rate, at least, still, thought, even though, granted that, while it may be true, in spite of, of course.​

Similarity or Comparison

Similarly, likewise, in like fashion, in like manner, analogous to.​

Emphasis

Above all, indeed, truly, of course, certainly, surely, in fact, really, in truth, again, besides, also, furthermore, in addition.
​

Details

Specifically, especially, in particular, to explain, to list, to enumerate, in detail, namely, including.​

Examples

For example, for instance, to illustrate, thus, in other words, as an illustration, in particular.​

Consequence or Result

So that, with the result that, thus, consequently, hence, accordingly, for this reason, therefore, so, because, since, due to, as a result, in other words, then.​

Summary

Therefore, finally, consequently, thus, in short, in conclusion, in brief, as a result, accordingly.​

Suggestion

For this purpose, to this end, with this in mind, with this purpose in mind, therefore.​

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Re: Plane's Study Tips

The Complete Literary Technique List by Absolutezero

^This is good.

 

[plane]

Re: Plane's Study Tips

Site that you can type in the definition of a word and get the word

Site for when you can only remember part of a word/its definition

Site that gives you words that rhyme with a word

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[donkily]

Re: Study Tips

Maths study tips:

Maths is a skill based subject where "looking at notes" isnt the most beneficial way to study. It is crucial that you know your basics in maths inside out. I know it sounds ridiculous but if you are a yr 9 student, you should of already had known your basics from yr 4. A number of students struggle in maths because they do not know their basics and especially from a very young age, they do not practice mathematics enough to meet that minimum standard required to do well in mathematics in the later years. Think of it like a ladder, once you fall of the first step, it's harder to get to the next step on the ladder. Essentially applies for maths. In maths, whether it'd be yr 11 or yr 12, you need to have those basics thoroughly covered or else it will be much more difficult to progress into the harder questions. This sounds beyond cliche but the best way to study maths is by "practice". To do well in maths it's recommended you stay ahead. Most top maths students go to super accelerated tutoring where they are one year ahead of their peers but in my opinion, I would not recommend you doing that as a)you are more likely to forget the content by the time you redo it at school (unless you apply that knowledge consistently every now and then but I would doubt people have the time for that as they will have other things to focus on and time is very limited for a HSC/prelim student with study and extra curricular commitments) b) you're not as likely to focus on school work when needed. I would recommend staying ahead peers and school by at least a school term. In the school holidays you should be focusing on the easier-medium level questions (and maybe some harder questions if you wish). By the time you get back to school you can focus on the harder stuff and your core weaknesses in mathematics. Ask people for help in maths, you have this forum and your school teachers to help you in maths whenever needed and it's crucial that you understand the core principles behind what you struggled with in maths. Also do past papers. Past papers are literally a replica of what you will be doing in your school exams and the external HSC. If you are a prelim maths student, I'd suggest you do yr 12 past papers topic by topic since yr 11 content is usually reassessed and every now and then when you are studying a "new" topic at school, you can go through the yr 12 past paper and do the harder questions whenever needed. Also try doing those questions which morph multiple topics in one question

To summarise this:

a) It is important that you know your basics before going to do practice questions for maths. If you struggled with junior maths then focus on that first before progressing into senior maths. Focus on the easier questions before progressing onto the harder questions
b) Maths is a skill based subject where practice is the most effective way of studying
c) Stay ahead of school by at least a term (as opposed to like a year ahead)
d) By the time you get back to school, it is crucial that you focus on your weaknesses such as the questions you struggled with, the harder questions and questions which involve 2 or more topics in one question. Ask people for help whether it'd be your tutor, your friend, your maths teacher, this forum, etc and they can lead you in the right way and explain the "first principles" of those concepts you struggled with (this includes silly mistakes)
e) Do past papers every now and then

Note: If you are a prelim maths student I would doubt you would get questions which involve 2 topics in one question. Also for yr 11 you should be doing yr 12 past trial papers topic by topic when you are at school so by the time you are doing your HSC trial, you have covered almost every single past paper (not essential but helpful in my opinion since you are covering a wide range of questions)

Best of luck to all

 

[donkily]

Re: Study Tips

Studying for English Advanced:

Since English is a very "time consuming" subject for most students, I will be splitting this part up into several sections and make posts a bit more detailed. I am not an english Extension student however I think this method applies to english extension as well as advanced

 

[donkily]

Re: Study Tips

Before you start discovery at school (during term 3-4 school holidays):

-It is crucial that you read the syllabus and that you break it down into the most important features. Read up briefly the context of the text and make up an A4 page of "context notes". As you read your prescribed text it is crucial that you briefly identify quotes/sections you think may be useful
-Look at a whole bunch of discovery related texts and analyse them in terms of the syllabus/rubric. Blit's guide to choosing discovery related texts and the discovery ORT thread on the ATAR notes website have lots of discovery ORT's that you could look at when finding a related text and enhancing your skills at the short answer response. Looking for a good ORT takes a very long time
-Look at sample essays, creatives and short answer responses
-Read widely. This is your only chance. You don't need to look at academic HSC stuff, you can look at things such as newspaper articles, short stories that interest you, etc. You will probably not have the time to do so during school
-Start your creative earlier than everyone else. Everyone has done a creative of some sort in the past however writing one effectively takes a lot of time so it's crucial that you start early so then you can save time later on. Need a discovery creative idea? Think about your personal, social or historical context (which is addressed in the discovery rubric). Usually the best creatives are retold from personal experience whether it'd be your own experience or someone else's

 

[donkily]

Re: Study Tips

During term 4 at school

-Match up excerpts you study in class with the syllabus/rubric. Listen for occurring themes and make notes of those emphasised by teacher.
-Record all your quotes and themes whether it'd be using a table, palm cards, flow charts, etc. Also make sure you recorded the name and title of your papers and where you put them
-As soon as your teacher goes through something in class (such as short answer response) do it as exam prep immediately as soon as you get home. Not only does this prepare you for exams but your knowledge is reinforced immediately so you wont forget what you learnt
-Get feedback from a teacher/tutor consistently. Don't wait till 2 weeks before half yearlies when it's exam prep period, it's crucial to start early so then you don't need to "cram" later on
-Plan to get your discovery creative down by the end of the term. Get it perfected and reperfected until it's 15/15 and start rote memorising that and adapt it to certain stimuli
-Get your discovery essay and ORT done by the end of the term to save time as well. Get it perfected until it's 15/15
-Treat your essat like an artwork which requires perfection and reperfection
-By the end of the term you should be ready to start doing paper 1 trial questions for the AOS

 

[donkily]

Re: Study Tips

During end of year holidays:

-You've already covered most (if not all) of discovery, now it's time to start doing AOS paper 1 trials
-When you start doing AOS paper 1 trials, I recommend having your creative, essay in front of you so then you can memorise it better
-It is crucial that you read the syllabus for Module A and that you break it down into the most important features. Read up briefly the context of the text and make up an A4 page of "context notes". As you read your prescribed text it is crucial that you briefly identify quotes/sections you think may be useful
-Look at sample Module A essays and take note of their writing style as you want to make your writing skills better
-After you do a paper 1 trial, get it marked and learn from your mistakes
-Redo the whole trial paper until you get full marks on that trial paper
-Focus on specific weaknesses. E.g. if you are weak at poetry, look at some sample discovery poems on the internet and try answering them like how you would in short answer responses and try linking them to another short answer text you struggle with besides a poem (i.e. different medium has to be used)
-Again read widely. Also read academic scripts (only in the holidays) since you'll be preparing for half yearlies once you get back to school

 

[donkily]

Re: Study Tips

During term 1 at school:

-Match up excerpts you study in class with the syllabus/rubric. Listen for occurring themes and make notes of those emphasised by teacher.
-Record all your quotes and themes whether it'd be using a table, palm cards, flow charts, etc. Also make sure you recorded the name and title of your papers and where you put them
-Prepare for half yearlies. Most schools will do a discovery essay so try to write at least 3 per week
-After you finish Module A, write essays which cover the whole rubric
-Perfect those Module A essays of yours until they get 20/20

Half yearlies tip:
-Do not memorise discovery essays but rather memorise all points (and prepared paragraphs) which cover the whole rubric
-For your creative make sure it is worth 15/15. Ask lots of people to give feedback on it and after that rote memorise it and practice adapting to stimuli
-For short answer response, learn all your language techniques and constantly practice. Also work on specific unseen texts you are weak at

 

[donkily]

Re: Study Tips

Term 1-2 school holidays:
-It is crucial that you read the syllabus for Module B and C and that you break it down into the most important features. Read up briefly the context of the text and make up an A4 page of "context notes". As you read your prescribed text it is crucial that you briefly identify quotes/sections you think may be useful
-Practice writing Module A essays, get feedback on them and work on your weaknesses from there on
-Look at sample Module B and C essays to improve your own writing
-Read widely, this is possibly the last and final chance you can read widely because next holidays it's time to study for trials
-Look into related texts for Module C. This should be somewhat easier than discovery and make sure it covers the whole rubric for discovery

 

[donkily]

Re: Study Tips

Term 2:

-Match up excerpts you study in class with the syllabus/rubric. Listen for occurring themes and make notes of those emphasised by teacher.
-Record all your quotes and themes whether it'd be using a table, palm cards, flow charts, etc. Also make sure you recorded the name and title of your papers and where you put them
-For Module B, if you are doing short texts such as yeats, TS elliot or Speeches, it is crucial that you focus on which specific text you struggle with the most and write a essays on thise
-For Module B, write essay paragraphs/thematic paragraphs which cover all of the syllabus and memorise those. The BOSTES can ask you any poem/speech
-Make sure that when you write a Module B essay, it is 20/20 and use that as a guide to write all your other essays effectively
-At the end of the term, you should write Module C essays which are 20/20

 

[donkily]

Re: Study Tips

Term 2-3 holidays

Since most schools have trials around this time, it is crucial that you revise efficiently for english. This includes perfecting and reperfecting your essays until they're 20/20 and then writing practice essays as you want to practice answering questions and thesis statements

 

[donkily]

Re: Study Tips

Term 3:

I will not talk about trials in this time frame as you should already know what you should do. After the trials, when you get your results from school, it is crucial to do a self evaluation on your performance in trials and how you could've improved in those areas (i.e. if you got 19/20 in an essay try improving that to 20/20). Remember although you may be disappointed in your results there is still heaps on time to improve until the HSC so keep grinding

 

[donkily]

Re: Study Tips

Tips on succeeding in the sciences (physics, chemistry and biology)

Disclaimer: I am not a biology student however I believe that biology is a very theoretically dense easy science

HSC science isn't just about conceptual learning, but also knowing all this "impacts on society and environment" as well as "history of science" stuff. There is also a number of numerical calculations required in the subjects as well. Studying for the sciences isn't similar to studying for maths or english. There are many ways to study for this subject such as

a)writing notes and revising them
b)Doing past papers and practice exams
c)watching videos
d)studying weaknesses

But the question is, which one should I integrate in my studying pattern? I would say all of them

Lets look further into how you should go about approaching studying the sciences

Edit: I will make this post more detailed later on when I have the time

 

[donkily]

Re: Study Tips

During the term 3-4 holidays:

Now you all just finished your prelim yearly exams and you're quite burnt out and you think to yourself "what should I do these school holidays". In my opinion, during the school holidays, I recommend you revise your scientific skills. Yes, they're every single HSC science student's worst nightmare and they will come up in your half yearlies, trials and especially your prac exam. Since HSC physics and (especially) chemistry require basic knowledge from prelim, it is crucial that you revise these skills thoroughly. You need to be really good at this sort of stuff or else, you're going to fall behind in HSC chemistry. Revising your scientific skills and revising prelim chem should be all within the first week of the school holidays

Now that you've finished revising on scientific skills and prelim physics+chemistry, you can now focus on something else during the remaining time during the school holidays. Given that you have a week worth of the holiday left, it is important that you self learn the whole first modules for all 3 sciences. Wait, how do I do this? Firstly start off by watching videos. Youtube channels such as letslearnscience explain these concepts well and these difficult concepts aren't easy to visualise without the help of youtube videos. As soon as you have finished one 10minute-20 minute video which covers one dotpoint in the syllabus, I'd recommend you look at past student notes, whether they'd be a state ranker or a band 6 student, look at their notes and start making your own notes from theirs (and use multiple sources as well such as multiple past student notes and the textbok). This reinforces what you just learnt and you're not as likely to forget later on. Again do this repeat process for every single dotpoint in the syllabus for Module 1 of HSC chemistry, physics and biology. By now you have already self learnt the whole first module of HSC physics, biology and chemistry which saves you so much time later on when you're at school

 

[donkily]

Re: Study Tips

During term 4 at school:

Since you've already finished the first module of the sciences, it is now crucial that you take a different studying approach. Pay attention in class as this will reinforce what you just learnt in the school holidays. Every day after the teacher has gone through a specific dotpoint with you such as biopolymers, it is crucial that (when you go home) you look at the super detailed notes you made in the school holidays and start summarising that by cutting down on all the unnecessary information and writing what you just need for the exams. Also look at past papers sites like Dan964's THSC and look through the specific exam questions of what you just learnt that day, do the question, check if you were right or wrong and if you're wrong figure out why you were wrong. Understand the "first principles" of why you were wrong. If you are doing short answer and extended response questions, it is crucial that you write down the answer the question by addressing the verb and at the end having an evaluation. You should then bring this to your physics/chemistry/biology teacher for feedback and ask them "how many marks does this deserve" "how do I gain extra marks for this part" etc. If you haven't fulfiled the whole criteria it is important to redo the question and keep asking for feedback until you have filled the whole criteria

 

[donkily]

Re: Study Tips

During the end of year holidays:

This is your last ever mega break before your HSC begins. TAKE FULL ADVANTAGE OF IT. What do you mean by this? Remember what I said about studying in the term 3-4 break:

Self learn the whole first modules for all 3 sciences. Wait, how do I do this? Firstly start off by watching videos. Youtube channels such as letslearnscience explain these concepts well and these difficult concepts aren't easy to visualise without the help of youtube videos. As soon as you have finished one 10minute-20 minute video which covers one dotpoint in the syllabus, I'd recommend you look at past student notes, whether they'd be a state ranker or a band 6 student, look at their notes and start making your own notes from theirs (and use multiple sources as well such as multiple past student notes and the textbok). This reinforces what you just learnt and you're not as likely to forget later on. Again do this repeat process for every single dotpoint in the syllabus for Module 1 of HSC chemistry, physics and biology. By now you have already self learnt the whole first module of HSC physics, biology and chemistry which saves you so much time later on when you're at school

Since that school holiday was only worth 2 weeks, the summer holidays are completely different. You know have 6 weeks to take advantage of the time. Think about this: by term 2, teachers would probably be rushing almost 2 terms worth of content in that one term because of HSC trials and you'll probably fall behind. So in this school holiday, you need to prevent yourself from falling behind during the next few terms and to do this you must do the exact same thing I quoted above but instead of doing it for 1 Module per HSC science (i.e. 1 module in HSC physics) you should be doing double of that since you have a lot of time and it would be time wasted if you didnt use it efficiently like how most students wouldnt. Also you should be doing exam questions on the first Module (I mean lots) and be revising on your core weaknesses in that Module during that time (since you've practically learnt it twice and reinforced your knowledge 2-4 times in total)