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Are notes necessary? (1 Viewer)

fnsndgfg

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So trials are around the corner and I'm starting to worry about my study technique. For all of my subjects, I have been writing notes throughout the year, however, they are messy and have gaps in them. In the past, I have never even bothered reading my notes and just jump into doing as many past questions as possible and using the textbook if I have any problems. This has worked for most of my subjects (Ext math, physics, Visual Art). However, my main concern is economics, my economics notes are extremely weak with many topics not even touched. I have been doing past papers and only been averaging 60%, should I attempt to rewrite a whole set of notes or continue to pump out past papers?
 

jimmysmith560

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Notes are important as they allow you to gain a thorough understanding of the content of a subject, including important concepts that have a high chance of being assessed in exams. Past papers give you the opportunity to apply your knowledge to exam questions and your results give an indication of how well you've understood the content as well as the extent to which you are able to effectively apply this knowledge to the papers. Regarding Economics, I think it is evident that you need to consolidate your knowledge of the content as that will allow you to improve your performance not only in the past papers, but also in your trial exam. Having and going through good quality notes constitutes a great way of consolidating your knowledge. Considering that trials are near and the fact that your Economics notes are not as good as you want them to be, a good idea would be to download extensive and/or concise pre-made notes so that you don't have to waste time completing your own notes. After you go through such notes, you should get back to completing past papers and see how you go.

Here are links to notes that you can use:


I hope this helps! :D
 

AKONS

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I agree with jimmysmith560.

One thing I'd like to emphasise. Notes aren't THAT important at this point. Don't spend too long on them. Just download someone else's, have a good understanding and then just do past papers.
 

fnsndgfg

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Notes are important as they allow you to gain a thorough understanding of the content of a subject, including important concepts that have a high chance of being assessed in exams. Past papers give you the opportunity to apply your knowledge to exam questions and your results give an indication of how well you've understood the content as well as the extent to which you are able to effectively apply this knowledge to the papers. Regarding Economics, I think it is evident that you need to consolidate your knowledge of the content as that will allow you to improve your performance not only in the past papers, but also in your trial exam. Having and going through good quality notes constitutes a great way of consolidating your knowledge. Considering that trials are near and the fact that your Economics notes are not as good as you want them to be, a good idea would be to download extensive and/or concise pre-made notes so that you don't have to waste time completing your own notes. After you go through such notes, you should get back to completing past papers and see how you go.

Here are links to notes that you can use:


I hope this helps! :D
Thank Jimmy, appreciate the help. What you said makes a lot of sense.
 

Life'sHard

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The best artists are the ones that steal. Just use someone else's notes. For chem, phys and maths in general, past papers are good enough. You don't really need notes but maybe that's just me.
 

CM_Tutor

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... In the past, I have never even bothered reading my notes and just jump into doing as many past questions as possible and using the textbook if I have any problems. This has worked for most of my subjects (Ext math, physics, Visual Art). ...
Bear in mind that the act of preparing notes can itself be good for consolidating knowledge and understanding. It may be that you would have struggled more with the past papers had you not prepared the notes, not withstanding that you didn't consult them subsequently. It may be that as you were writing the notes on paper, you were also "writing" them into you memory.

That's not to say that you should set out to make notes on economics now - you are best placed to decide on what study methods / approaches best suit you, and past papers are very important for the overwhelming majority - but that it may be worth reflecting on the value that preparing notes has had in the past.
 

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