-
Finished your HSC? Check out our University Discussion, Non-School forums or help out next year's HSC students! -
YOU can help the next generation of students in the community! Share your trial papers and notes on our Notes & Resources page
Study methods? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter confvsed
- Start date
Sciences: making notes, doing past papers (however I only did like the mc and select calculations and other questions - no point doing multiple seven markers if no one is going to mark them for you), editing notes after learning new content in the papers and throughout the year, kept repeating that and memories the finer details in notes a few days before exams.
English: make an essay, get feedback from teachers and tutor, edit through that feedback, memorise, write in the exam and adapt to the question, after the mark comes back read feedback, edit essay through feedback, get someone to mark it if possible, write in the next assessment (probably a trial) and adapt to the question and practically repeated that through the three trials and then edited it one last time prior to the HSC.
Business studies: did some mc and short answers (no essays, just knew some case studies and bullshitted the rest from memorising the content from notes)
Maths: Cambridge textbook for learning the formulas and application, then a crap tonne of past papers from selective schools and HSC
English: make an essay, get feedback from teachers and tutor, edit through that feedback, memorise, write in the exam and adapt to the question, after the mark comes back read feedback, edit essay through feedback, get someone to mark it if possible, write in the next assessment (probably a trial) and adapt to the question and practically repeated that through the three trials and then edited it one last time prior to the HSC.
Business studies: did some mc and short answers (no essays, just knew some case studies and bullshitted the rest from memorising the content from notes)
Maths: Cambridge textbook for learning the formulas and application, then a crap tonne of past papers from selective schools and HSC
pikachu975
Premium Member
English: Edited quotes after each trial (we had 3) and assessment and memorised this
Physics: Memorised content constantly as content is essential and is more important than papers because you can't do the exam if you don't know the content! Also did many past papers at tutoring/for homework as study.
Biology: Memorised content constantly from my book and sometimes made palm cards which helped. Also did past papers and submitted work to my teacher for feedback. Luckily he marked our stuff so didn't need a tutor as I think getting stuff marked is essential.
3U/4U: Try understand the content then spam past papers!!
Just to add to the great responses above (I don't know what you are studying so this may or may not help)
History: If possible read widely from different historians around your topics (PM me if you need pointing in the right direction for this). Keep up with your notes and try to eliminate any extra content that won't be useful when writing essays. When editing my notes for the HSC I found I had way more statistics/historians quotes than I would realistically be able to use in an essay. Write practice essays and get someone (like your teacher) to read over them and give you feedback.
Languages: Try to study consistently. I did French and found I couldn't cram for this. Whatever you learn in Yr 11 will carry into Yr 12 so putting in the effort now will pay off. Watch tv shows in the language you are studying, write practice responses and try to expand your vocab as much as possible.
Maths: Try to learn the yr11 content as thoroughly as possible as this will carry on into year 12. Plus do past papers (as jazz and pikachu have already mentioned). Even if you haven't finished the course you can go through and pick out the questions for the topics you have already completed.
History: If possible read widely from different historians around your topics (PM me if you need pointing in the right direction for this). Keep up with your notes and try to eliminate any extra content that won't be useful when writing essays. When editing my notes for the HSC I found I had way more statistics/historians quotes than I would realistically be able to use in an essay. Write practice essays and get someone (like your teacher) to read over them and give you feedback.
Languages: Try to study consistently. I did French and found I couldn't cram for this. Whatever you learn in Yr 11 will carry into Yr 12 so putting in the effort now will pay off. Watch tv shows in the language you are studying, write practice responses and try to expand your vocab as much as possible.
Maths: Try to learn the yr11 content as thoroughly as possible as this will carry on into year 12. Plus do past papers (as jazz and pikachu have already mentioned). Even if you haven't finished the course you can go through and pick out the questions for the topics you have already completed.
captainhelium
water enthusiast
Just remember that optimal study methods vary for each person. Some are visual learners and learn best when diagrams are drawn whereas some require taking down copious amounts of notes. Try to experiment with different study methods and determine what is best for you.
Personally, I was an odd case since I learnt best when I just read and focussed on my textbooks without taking notes every time. It was only once I felt comfortable with the theory of my subjects that I took down notes with my textbook next to me. However, while this process was very effective for me, it was extremely time consuming and may not be the best approach for everybody.
Also, remember that most subjects require different ways of studying in order to ace them. For example,
English:
- Best thing to do is to actually read your texts if time allows for it, trying to actively search for certain ideas and quotes/techniques which you can use in your essays
- Create a technique/quote bank for each module so you can easily remember them before exams and insert them into your essays
- Practice writing essays before exams - this has a twofold effect in that you are seeing whether you can write your essays out within the time limit and also see whether you are comfortable in adapting to various questions.
- Have a large vocabulary of connecting words in order to ensure that your essays do not sound repetitive (words like elucidate, enunciate, propagate etc.)
Mathematics:
- For all levels of maths, whether it be General, 2U, 3U or 4U, the best way to study is to do practice papers. Try to do as many as you can (preferably at least 10 before HSC).
- Although practice papers are very important, it is also important to brush up on the 'theory' a little every now and then just to refresh your mind.
- Be consistent with maths; do a bit every day.
Sciences:
- Biology is one of the biggest memorisation games in the HSC. If you do Bio, please try to revise a little every day so you aren't confronted with a whole heap of info that you have to memorise the day before. This can cause unwanted stress and isn't particularly healthy.
- Chemistry and Physics is a bit more mathematical than Biology so you have to kind of treat it as math as well. Remember that Chemistry and Physics do have some theory that you will have to memorise as well.
- Remember your practicals!. This is often overlooked and are usually in exams.
I didn't do humanities lol so I'm not sure if I'll be able to help you there.
Good luck and hope that helps!
Personally, I was an odd case since I learnt best when I just read and focussed on my textbooks without taking notes every time. It was only once I felt comfortable with the theory of my subjects that I took down notes with my textbook next to me. However, while this process was very effective for me, it was extremely time consuming and may not be the best approach for everybody.
Also, remember that most subjects require different ways of studying in order to ace them. For example,
English:
- Best thing to do is to actually read your texts if time allows for it, trying to actively search for certain ideas and quotes/techniques which you can use in your essays
- Create a technique/quote bank for each module so you can easily remember them before exams and insert them into your essays
- Practice writing essays before exams - this has a twofold effect in that you are seeing whether you can write your essays out within the time limit and also see whether you are comfortable in adapting to various questions.
- Have a large vocabulary of connecting words in order to ensure that your essays do not sound repetitive (words like elucidate, enunciate, propagate etc.)
Mathematics:
- For all levels of maths, whether it be General, 2U, 3U or 4U, the best way to study is to do practice papers. Try to do as many as you can (preferably at least 10 before HSC).
- Although practice papers are very important, it is also important to brush up on the 'theory' a little every now and then just to refresh your mind.
- Be consistent with maths; do a bit every day.
Sciences:
- Biology is one of the biggest memorisation games in the HSC. If you do Bio, please try to revise a little every day so you aren't confronted with a whole heap of info that you have to memorise the day before. This can cause unwanted stress and isn't particularly healthy.
- Chemistry and Physics is a bit more mathematical than Biology so you have to kind of treat it as math as well. Remember that Chemistry and Physics do have some theory that you will have to memorise as well.
- Remember your practicals!. This is often overlooked and are usually in exams.
I didn't do humanities lol so I'm not sure if I'll be able to help you there.
Good luck and hope that helps!
Martin_SSEDU
Active Member
Everyone has summed up some pretty specific methods so I'll just give something new,
One interesting method could be looking for a study partner/group to help with the routine of studying often.
Whilst I didn't necessarily study with someone on a subject all the time, I often had some friends I could rely on to study with at libraries, or at school and that kept me really motivated.
One interesting method could be looking for a study partner/group to help with the routine of studying often.
Whilst I didn't necessarily study with someone on a subject all the time, I often had some friends I could rely on to study with at libraries, or at school and that kept me really motivated.
Hi,
Mathematics: Whether it is General, Advanced, Extension 1 or Extension 2 you need to practice. If you are given homework - DO THE HOMEWORK. The only way you can do well for this subject is by doing practice exams. Use HSC textbooks that contain past HSC papers and complete questions from them based on the topics you are studying. I usually aim to do the harder questions because it is these questions that are at the end of the paper which distinguishes you from a Band 4 to a Band 5/6. I recommend doing past papers. If there is a question you don't understand - ask your teacher for the working out. Make a list of all the topics you don't understand and practice more questions on the weak areas everyday.
Humanities: As a humanities girl (Modern History, Business Studies and compulsory Studies Of Religion 1) you will be faced with doing essays in a matter of 40 minutes. What I recommend for each subject - based off experience - is to do the following:
- Make your notes early. I CAN'T STRESS HOW IMPORTANT THIS IS!!! Don't leave it to the last minute. I did that for Modern History - it wasn't pretty. However, I was lucky and received 3rd in the exam with a solid band 5. Funniest thing was I misread a question and stuffed up the essay basing it on a different question (given two questions to choose to answer and I answered 21b but my response was suitable for 21a). Make sure you know what the question is asking you - from my experience that is what costed me a band 6 in the prelim exam : (.
- Do as many essay questions and hand them up to your teacher to mark and provide feedback. This is essential for business reports, business essays and most importantly Modern History essays. You have to be able to answer 3 essays and complete WWI in 3 hours, which is 45 minutes per section, for the HSC.
- Look back at your assessments and see where you went wrong. Try not to make the same mistakes again. Ask your teacher about where to improve.
English: The person I recommend is Strawberrye - she is frigging amazing and I am going to post her thread because it is that damn amazing! It has helped me and it will definetly help you. There is a reason she is a moderator. What you need to is that you should practice writing up essays. Always have your teacher to mark them and make the improvements. Do this until it is perfect and move onto the next essay for practice. Also I would recommend finding some related texts early for the HSC course - there is only so many "leave it to the last minutes" that can save your ass for an assessment task. If you are doing year 12 for 2018 I suggest working on your creative writing before half yearlies - just to have one less stressor. If you are foinf year 12 in 2019 ignore this tip then. For English try to do unseen questions and see how you can write under exam conditions without seeing a question or having a pre-prepared response in your mind.
For every subject - Time yourself. It is one thing to say "oh yeah I wrote an 20/20 essay for practice" but it is another thing to say "oh yeah I wrote a 20/20 essay that I can write under time conditions". Make sure with mathematics you complete majority of the paper. Don't go to the last page first - this is because if you complete majority of the paper you are guaranteed 80% minimum if you have done every question correctly. Use these websites which contain papers for Maths, Sciences, Humanities, etc. Opt for the higher ranked school papers - you will not believe how much it can help you in terms of your performance in exams.
https://thsconline.github.io/s/yr11/ (also has Year 12 stuff).
http://yr11.web.fc2.com/#Chemistry (year 11 only for majority of the subjects I saved it on Chemistry - which I dropped).
Strawberrye's Thread READ IT:
http://community.boredofstudies.org...r-year-studies-yr-11-12-99-atar-graduate.html
Also please do give yourself time to relax. Burning out is never good. Make sure you assign some time for rest and recover. Leave a night or morning free of study even!!! I leave every Saturday morning or afternoon to relax for a good 6 hours. Also talk to your friends and family too - they can provide you with support.
All the best.
Mathematics: Whether it is General, Advanced, Extension 1 or Extension 2 you need to practice. If you are given homework - DO THE HOMEWORK. The only way you can do well for this subject is by doing practice exams. Use HSC textbooks that contain past HSC papers and complete questions from them based on the topics you are studying. I usually aim to do the harder questions because it is these questions that are at the end of the paper which distinguishes you from a Band 4 to a Band 5/6. I recommend doing past papers. If there is a question you don't understand - ask your teacher for the working out. Make a list of all the topics you don't understand and practice more questions on the weak areas everyday.
Humanities: As a humanities girl (Modern History, Business Studies and compulsory Studies Of Religion 1) you will be faced with doing essays in a matter of 40 minutes. What I recommend for each subject - based off experience - is to do the following:
- Make your notes early. I CAN'T STRESS HOW IMPORTANT THIS IS!!! Don't leave it to the last minute. I did that for Modern History - it wasn't pretty. However, I was lucky and received 3rd in the exam with a solid band 5. Funniest thing was I misread a question and stuffed up the essay basing it on a different question (given two questions to choose to answer and I answered 21b but my response was suitable for 21a). Make sure you know what the question is asking you - from my experience that is what costed me a band 6 in the prelim exam : (.
- Do as many essay questions and hand them up to your teacher to mark and provide feedback. This is essential for business reports, business essays and most importantly Modern History essays. You have to be able to answer 3 essays and complete WWI in 3 hours, which is 45 minutes per section, for the HSC.
- Look back at your assessments and see where you went wrong. Try not to make the same mistakes again. Ask your teacher about where to improve.
English: The person I recommend is Strawberrye - she is frigging amazing and I am going to post her thread because it is that damn amazing! It has helped me and it will definetly help you. There is a reason she is a moderator. What you need to is that you should practice writing up essays. Always have your teacher to mark them and make the improvements. Do this until it is perfect and move onto the next essay for practice. Also I would recommend finding some related texts early for the HSC course - there is only so many "leave it to the last minutes" that can save your ass for an assessment task. If you are doing year 12 for 2018 I suggest working on your creative writing before half yearlies - just to have one less stressor. If you are foinf year 12 in 2019 ignore this tip then. For English try to do unseen questions and see how you can write under exam conditions without seeing a question or having a pre-prepared response in your mind.
For every subject - Time yourself. It is one thing to say "oh yeah I wrote an 20/20 essay for practice" but it is another thing to say "oh yeah I wrote a 20/20 essay that I can write under time conditions". Make sure with mathematics you complete majority of the paper. Don't go to the last page first - this is because if you complete majority of the paper you are guaranteed 80% minimum if you have done every question correctly. Use these websites which contain papers for Maths, Sciences, Humanities, etc. Opt for the higher ranked school papers - you will not believe how much it can help you in terms of your performance in exams.
https://thsconline.github.io/s/yr11/ (also has Year 12 stuff).
http://yr11.web.fc2.com/#Chemistry (year 11 only for majority of the subjects I saved it on Chemistry - which I dropped).
Strawberrye's Thread READ IT:
http://community.boredofstudies.org...r-year-studies-yr-11-12-99-atar-graduate.html
Also please do give yourself time to relax. Burning out is never good. Make sure you assign some time for rest and recover. Leave a night or morning free of study even!!! I leave every Saturday morning or afternoon to relax for a good 6 hours. Also talk to your friends and family too - they can provide you with support.
All the best.
strawberrye
Premium Member
Haha just being honest dude and glad to have endorsed you.Lol thank you for the free endorsements hahaAll the best for your HSC
Thank you for the kind wishes too! General Tips: (Effective way to sprint through your study in a deep learning mode)
I always start from the last chapter because it requires the knowledge built up to answer the questions.
Hence, I would get a hindsight of what the previous chapters are about and what is the most important elements.
Plus, I will quickly flip through the entire chapter and highlighting all the subtopics before starting the hardcore revision sesh. Similarly, another way to quickly pinpointing all the keypoints in a chapter.
Also, draw a table with 3 columns: [1] Content of all topics [2] Progress [3] Questions
The rationale is to break down the revision time into hours unit, every 3 hours you should be doing something different and return to the questions next round. If you are repeating yourself in the same thing, you must have delved on too long which builds up fatigue and is not productive.
I always start from the last chapter because it requires the knowledge built up to answer the questions.
Hence, I would get a hindsight of what the previous chapters are about and what is the most important elements.
Plus, I will quickly flip through the entire chapter and highlighting all the subtopics before starting the hardcore revision sesh. Similarly, another way to quickly pinpointing all the keypoints in a chapter.
Also, draw a table with 3 columns: [1] Content of all topics [2] Progress [3] Questions
The rationale is to break down the revision time into hours unit, every 3 hours you should be doing something different and return to the questions next round. If you are repeating yourself in the same thing, you must have delved on too long which builds up fatigue and is not productive.
Last edited by a moderator: