Year 11 and 12 Study Tips (2 Viewers)

[_Anonymous]

So as Prelims are slowly approaching, I was looking for some 'study tips'.

Nowadays I usually wait until the last two-three days (a week if it's Math) to study for an upcoming test. I usually do my assignments on the last day (very bad, I know). Although you guys may think I have the worst style for studying (which I probs do), it hasn't impacted me much negatively results wise. I still get A's for core subjects and the occasional B's for subjects I don't care much about. But this is all because of the timing of tests and assignments (and the content we get tested on). Usually for the junior years of HS (in our school at least), the tests and assignments are a bit spread apart for us (not all the time, we sometimes have assignments and tests for 2 subjects on the same day, or 4 assignments due in 1 week) which means we can freely study for a subject whenever we want and not worry about other subjects at the same time. But this won't be the case in Year 11 and 12 I'm assuming.

Senior students have told me they have several TESTS for different subjects on the same day, which always leaves me wondering "How do you study for all of that?". On the other hand, I do "study" but that's mainly for Math since it's probably the only subject in junior years where studying for it helps. And by studying I mean doing homework which is usually 1-2 exercises a day.

1) So with all that set aside, what should I start doing to make sure I don't fall behind in Years 11 and 12? People have told me there can be several tests in a day for 2-3 subjects and I'm guessing studying 2 days before the actual day isn't going to help at all. Should I be studying for these tests 2-3 weeks before the actual date?

2) For Math, how do people study to achieve the best marks? Would only doing homework be enough or are there other types of things I can do? Right now, the main subject which gives us a lot of homework is Math (1-2 exercises per lesson), so I was wondering how many exercises do you do in MX1 for homework? My teacher said it can be up to 3 per lesson. If that's the case, do you guys do ALL the questions in each exercise or does your teacher give specific questions for you guys to do?

3) Say for example you have 3 exercises to complete as homework for Math in one night, but then you also have homework from 3 other subjects. How do you manage that?

4) Say you get notifications from 4 subjects in this case (Physics, Chem, Bio and MX1) and you have the tests for each of them on the same day in 3 weeks or something. How do you study for all these subjects? Do you prioritise 1 subject for each day or do you do a bit of studying for each subject each day until the test date i.e. 1 hour for Math, 1 hour for Chem, 1 hour for Bio etc.

5) In senior years, what kind of homework do they give you for Science subjects? Right now we rarely have any homework (idk if it's just my school or not). Unlike Math where it's easy to study for, how do you study for Bio, Chem and Physics? Do they give you homework everyday similar to Math where you learn content in class and apply that knowledge by doing textbook work in home or is there little homework? If it's the latter, how do you study effectively for any upcoming test on either of those three Sciences? Do you just memorise notes everyday until the test date (seems a bit boring doesn't it?)

6) Same question applies to English. How do you study effectively for it? Do you memorise quotes from books? Do you read more books? People tell me English is a subject which you can't really study for, which I agree with. So how do you guys study for it in Year 11 and 12? I'm guessing they give a lot of homework, so will completing those tasks be sufficient enough for exam prep?

 

[Jaxxnuts]

All in here mate

http://community.boredofstudies.org...y-tips-guide-studying-faq-about-studying.html

 

[Sp3ctre]

1. You should probably be doing all your homework, especially for maths, otherwise you fall behind the whole class easily and the stuff you learn next lesson may not make any sense to you
2. At my school, we get at least one exercise to do everyday, but the questions are chosen specifically for us. When we finish a whole topic, we get extra homework for revision of the whole topic including past HSC questions.
3. You can't manage that, that's why you should ideally do all your homework the day it's set, but make sure you complete it before it's due, otherwise your other homework just topples up.
4. Year 11 half-yearlies and yearlies are all done within 2 weeks. You should start reviewing for exams 2 weeks before you sit it, starting from the subject you're weakest on.
5. I barely get homework from physics and chemistry and we don't have the best teachers either, that's why I have to review all the content after each lesson in the textbook and make notes for important points. You're probably not going to remember everything you get taught after a while, that's what your revision is for in the 2 weeks before your exam. You start memorising the stuff you forget.
6. People study for English differently. I not only memorise my quotes, but memorise 4 paragraphs for each exam, but I only use the best three that are able to be adapted to the essay question. And no, English is the only subject I don't do homework for because I hate English. For me, the only exam prep I need for English is writing a draft essay before the actual exam, there are online resources to help you with most texts too.

 

[Jaxxnuts]

5. I barely get homework from physics and chemistry and we don't have the best teachers either, that's why I have to review all the content after each lesson in the textbook and make notes for important points. You're probably not going to remember everything you get taught after a while, that's what your revision is for in the 2 weeks before your exam. You start memorising the stuff you forget.
6. People study for English differently. I not only memorise my quotes, but memorise 4 paragraphs for each exam, but I only use the best three that are able to be adapted to the essay question. And no, English is the only subject I don't do homework for because I hate English. For me, the only exam prep I need for English is writing a draft essay before the actual exam, there are online resources to help you with most texts too.

I think the best way to memorise all the content for phys and chem (before the exam comes) is to apply your stuff regularly which can be done through making notes every week (or day) and going through past trial/HSC papers and doing those questions on a daily (or weekly) basis (also advantageous if your school uses past HSC questions for half yearlies and/or trials)

With regards to "English Homework", if you don't do it, it won't have a major impact on your English results, mainly because all your teacher might get you to do is summarise a chapter, or look for some quotes, or translate shakespeare into english, etc which isn't helpful for exam and internal assessment prep although I would highly recommend reading your texts as well as looking for quotes for every chapter/act/scene which matches what you find in the rubric

Hope this helps

 

[Sp3ctre]

I think the best way to memorise all the content for phys and chem (before the exam comes) is to apply your stuff regularly which can be done through making notes every week (or day) and going through past trial/HSC papers and doing those questions on a daily (or weekly) basis (also advantageous if your school uses past HSC questions for half yearlies and/or trials)

With regards to "English Homework", if you don't do it, it won't have a major impact on your English results, mainly because all your teacher might get you to do is summarise a chapter, or look for some quotes, or translate shakespeare into english, etc which isn't helpful for exam and internal assessment prep although I would highly recommend reading your texts as well as looking for quotes for every chapter/act/scene which matches what you find in the rubric

Hope this helps

His HSC grad year is 2019 so I didn't mention doing past HSC questions, but that will be very useful for Year 12. Most of the content you learn in physics and chemistry won't be directly tested in the HSC, so HSC past papers won't really help you in Year 11.

 

[Jaxxnuts]

His HSC grad year is 2019 so I didn't mention doing past HSC questions, but that will be very useful for Year 12. Most of the content you learn in physics and chemistry won't be directly tested in the HSC, so HSC past papers won't really help you in Year 11.

Sorry my bad

I mean I'm sure OP can do past HSC questions (Since some of the stuff in the old syllabus like Le chatelier's principle, equilibrium, magnetic fields, etc are still in the new syllabus) but only for the relevant sections

For prelims there are past prelim papers on THSC

 

[_Anonymous]

2. At my school, we get at least one exercise to do everyday, but the questions are chosen specifically for us. When we finish a whole topic, we get extra homework for revision of the whole topic including past HSC questions.

4. Year 11 half-yearlies and yearlies are all done within 2 weeks. You should start reviewing for exams 2 weeks before you sit it, starting from the subject you're weakest on.

6. People study for English differently. I not only memorise my quotes, but memorise 4 paragraphs for each exam, but I only use the best three that are able to be adapted to the essay question. And no, English is the only subject I don't do homework for because I hate English. For me, the only exam prep I need for English is writing a draft essay before the actual exam, there are online resources to help you with most texts too.

Thanks for your help, just got a few more questions.

How do I make sure I study thoroughly for all 5 of my subjects within 2 weeks? So would it be better to study 2-3 days for a single subject and then move on to the others or should I study like an hour of each subject everyday until the exams?

And basically doing Math homework is sufficient practice for Year 11 and 12 exams? What if one day you don't have homework or you've completed it all and have a lot of spare time; what do you do then (in Year 12 I guess it's better to do Past papers, but what about Year 11)?

Also for Year 11 and 12, do they let you know what the English essay question will be for the exam before you sit it? Otherwise how do you memorise 4 paragraphs without knowing what it'll be about?

 

[_Anonymous]

I think the best way to memorise all the content for phys and chem (before the exam comes) is to apply your stuff regularly which can be done through making notes every week (or day) and going through past trial/HSC papers and doing those questions on a daily (or weekly) basis (also advantageous if your school uses past HSC questions for half yearlies and/or trials)

With regards to "English Homework", if you don't do it, it won't have a major impact on your English results, mainly because all your teacher might get you to do is summarise a chapter, or look for some quotes, or translate shakespeare into english, etc which isn't helpful for exam and internal assessment prep although I would highly recommend reading your texts as well as looking for quotes for every chapter/act/scene which matches what you find in the rubric

Hope this helps

Thanks for your help. What do you mean by "looking for quotes for every chapter/act/scene which matches what you find in the rubric"?

 

[Jaxxnuts]

Thanks for your help, just got a few more questions.

How do I make sure I study thoroughly for all 5 of my subjects within 2 weeks? So would it be better to study 2-3 days for a single subject and then move on to the others or should I study like an hour of each subject everyday until the exams?

And basically doing Math homework is sufficient practice for Year 11 and 12 exams? What if one day you don't have homework or you've completed it all and have a lot of spare time; what do you do then (in Year 12 I guess it's better to do Past papers, but what about Year 11)?

Also for Year 11 and 12, do they let you know what the English essay question will be for the exam before you sit it? Otherwise how do you memorise 4 paragraphs without knowing what it'll be about?

I think one crucial technique to studying 5 subjects in 2 weeks is to basically time yourself. One of the methods I found out was to (in particular if you don't go to maths tutoring) get ahead of your peers in maths by at least a term where in the school holidays you are doing basic-medium level questions (and even harder if you wish) and also look through past papers and do the questions you know and whatever you struggle with (in particular the harder questions) you leave it for the school term. When you get back to school and are doing maths, in maths class (hopefully your teacher isn't aware of this. Although some teachers may allow this depending on how strict they are) you look at past papers and do the last question at the end of all the maths exams. That way you won't need to focus on maths when you are studying at home. Pretty time efficient isn't it? (but will depend on teacher). You can do maths in a noisy environment since it's just practice and problem solving but doesn't seem to work for other subjects

Basically be on top of your stuff. If you do humanities, you should know how to write an essay/report and get 20/20 as well as know your content back to front as well as case studies

For sciences, it's the same as humanities

For English, you just need to know your quotes, analysis, how to write a B6 essay and practice writing from there (As well as getting feedback and improving from it)

Thanks for your help. What do you mean by "looking for quotes for every chapter/act/scene which matches what you find in the rubric"?

Break down the rubric (for HSC 2019 the rubric will change due to the new syllabus). Look at every sentence and see for what it is asking e.g. is it asking how themes are examined in the text? Does that make sense?

 

[pikachu975]

So as Prelims are slowly approaching, I was looking for some 'study tips'.

Nowadays I usually wait until the last two-three days (a week if it's Math) to study for an upcoming test. I usually do my assignments on the last day (very bad, I know). Although you guys may think I have the worst style for studying (which I probs do), it hasn't impacted me much negatively results wise. I still get A's for core subjects and the occasional B's for subjects I don't care much about. But this is all because of the timing of tests and assignments (and the content we get tested on). Usually for the junior years of HS (in our school at least), the tests and assignments are a bit spread apart for us (not all the time, we sometimes have assignments and tests for 2 subjects on the same day, or 4 assignments due in 1 week) which means we can freely study for a subject whenever we want and not worry about other subjects at the same time. But this won't be the case in Year 11 and 12 I'm assuming.

Senior students have told me they have several TESTS for different subjects on the same day, which always leaves me wondering "How do you study for all of that?". On the other hand, I do "study" but that's mainly for Math since it's probably the only subject in junior years where studying for it helps. And by studying I mean doing homework which is usually 1-2 exercises a day.

1) So with all that set aside, what should I start doing to make sure I don't fall behind in Years 11 and 12? People have told me there can be several tests in a day for 2-3 subjects and I'm guessing studying 2 days before the actual day isn't going to help at all. Should I be studying for these tests 2-3 weeks before the actual date?

Yeah you should be doing that but I've crammed for like every assessment and trial 1 the night before (late nights gg) due to loads of homework and bad time management. Anyway for the trials right now I've crammed for english but the other subjects I've got a few days which is good, so I'd recommend studying 2-3 weeks before. You can still do good cramming, everyone's different.

2) For Math, how do people study to achieve the best marks? Would only doing homework be enough or are there other types of things I can do? Right now, the main subject which gives us a lot of homework is Math (1-2 exercises per lesson), so I was wondering how many exercises do you do in MX1 for homework? My teacher said it can be up to 3 per lesson. If that's the case, do you guys do ALL the questions in each exercise or does your teacher give specific questions for you guys to do?

Homework plus past papers. Maths homework is the most useful I think and we get past papers for homework not exercises (we get exercises for 4u). For 4u we get specific questions. Past papers are always the best method and redo questions you did wrong.

3) Say for example you have 3 exercises to complete as homework for Math in one night, but then you also have homework from 3 other subjects. How do you manage that?

We had lots of homework so I've stayed up late like everyday I don't think I've slept before 11 pm on a school day rip

4) Say you get notifications from 4 subjects in this case (Physics, Chem, Bio and MX1) and you have the tests for each of them on the same day in 3 weeks or something. How do you study for all these subjects? Do you prioritise 1 subject for each day or do you do a bit of studying for each subject each day until the test date i.e. 1 hour for Math, 1 hour for Chem, 1 hour for Bio etc.

Well we had this but we were loaded with homework so had to cram, but I'd probably focus on my weaknesses. Probably learn the content for each subject by checking the syllabus and see which dot points you don't know. After that do past papers and read marking guidelines to see what to put in answers. Hand questions into teachers for feedback.

5) In senior years, what kind of homework do they give you for Science subjects? Right now we rarely have any homework (idk if it's just my school or not). Unlike Math where it's easy to study for, how do you study for Bio, Chem and Physics? Do they give you homework everyday similar to Math where you learn content in class and apply that knowledge by doing textbook work in home or is there little homework? If it's the latter, how do you study effectively for any upcoming test on either of those three Sciences? Do you just memorise notes everyday until the test date (seems a bit boring doesn't it?)

Bio our homework was like do syllabus notes and a HSC question for those points and sometimes prac report. For physics we had loads of HSC questions throughout the year and sometimes notes and he would collect those and mark it then give solutions in class. Also for bio and phys trial 1 I printed the syllabus for each subject and highlighted every point I 100% KNOW, if it's iffy then circle. Shows you which ones you need to study and then I just read through my notes for those to cram then do the exam. Now that we've had a trial I just gotta do that process again but it'll be shorter since we've had one trial, so there's more time for papers. I like palm cards to study they're effective too, so are summary sheets.

6) Same question applies to English. How do you study effectively for it? Do you memorise quotes from books? Do you read more books? People tell me English is a subject which you can't really study for, which I agree with. So how do you guys study for it in Year 11 and 12? I'm guessing they give a lot of homework, so will completing those tasks be sufficient enough for exam prep?

Idk to be honest if you have all your quotes and analysis done (or prepared essays if you do that) then you can print it out or do it on palm cards, then just memorise them. Also idk who told you that you can't study for english... how are you meant to write essays? We got HEAPS of english homework throughout the year, some of it was helpful and it was compulsory but I guess do the homework (if it's optional) if it seems helpful for you. But basically memorising quotes and analysis personally then I can answer the question more easily (compared to when I used to memorise essays) and also doing practice responses helps.

Answers in quote

 

[_Anonymous]

I think one crucial technique to studying 5 subjects in 2 weeks is to basically time yourself. One of the methods I found out was to (in particular if you don't go to maths tutoring) get ahead of your peers in maths by at least a term where in the school holidays you are doing basic-medium level questions (and even harder if you wish) and also look through past papers and do the questions you know and whatever you struggle with (in particular the harder questions) you leave it for the school term. When you get back to school and are doing maths, in maths class (hopefully your teacher isn't aware of this. Although some teachers may allow this depending on how strict they are) you look at past papers and do the last question at the end of all the maths exams. That way you won't need to focus on maths when you are studying at home. Pretty time efficient isn't it? (but will depend on teacher). You can do maths in a noisy environment since it's just practice and problem solving but doesn't seem to work for other subjects

Basically be on top of your stuff. If you do humanities, you should know how to write an essay/report and get 20/20 as well as know your content back to front as well as case studies

For sciences, it's the same as humanities

For English, you just need to know your quotes, analysis, how to write a B6 essay and practice writing from there (As well as getting feedback and improving from it)


Break down the rubric (for HSC 2019 the rubric will change due to the new syllabus). Look at every sentence and see for what it is asking e.g. is it asking how themes are examined in the text? Does that make sense?

I got it, thanks a lot for your help. But why do you think that Math teachers may be a bit reluctant to let you do the last questions in past papers? Are past papers something teachers frown upon or something?

 

[_Anonymous]

Answers in quote

Thanks a lot for your help. You mentioned about memorising essays, does that mean the school gives you the essay topic for the test? Or do they give you enough information in the test notification sheet for you to be able to make up an essay of your own and memorise it?

 

[Jaxxnuts]

I got it, thanks a lot for your help. But why do you think that Math teachers may be a bit reluctant to let you do the last questions in past papers? Are past papers something teachers frown upon or something?

idk if my comment made sense or not but it's just that some teachers want you to pay attention in class and do what they say as opposed to doing your own thing. I mean say for e.g. you did english in maths class, how would your maths teacher react?

Thanks a lot for your help. You mentioned about memorising essays, does that mean the school gives you the essay topic for the test? Or do they give you enough information in the test notification sheet for you to be able to make up an essay of your own and memorise it?

Have a look at sample past essay questions. Of course it won't be revealed and you would go in blind answering a questions that you may not of had seen before

 

[_Anonymous]

Have a look at sample past essay questions. Of course it won't be revealed and you would go in blind answering a questions that you may not of had seen before

Oh i get it, but won't memorising old essays be a waste of time since it may be completely irrelevant to the exam? Or do you mean have a look at techniques and learn from that, if that's the case I understand.

 

[Sp3ctre]

Thanks for your help, just got a few more questions.

How do I make sure I study thoroughly for all 5 of my subjects within 2 weeks? So would it be better to study 2-3 days for a single subject and then move on to the others or should I study like an hour of each subject everyday until the exams?

And basically doing Math homework is sufficient practice for Year 11 and 12 exams? What if one day you don't have homework or you've completed it all and have a lot of spare time; what do you do then (in Year 12 I guess it's better to do Past papers, but what about Year 11)?

Also for Year 11 and 12, do they let you know what the English essay question will be for the exam before you sit it? Otherwise how do you memorise 4 paragraphs without knowing what it'll be about?

1. Yes, I would spend a few days focusing on one subject, then once you have completed that subject, move on to the other. Some people may have different opinions, but I like to keep my mindset on one subject rather than 3 or 4 at once.

2. Doing all your homework PLUS making sure all your questions are answered and you understand them. If you don't have hw or you've completed it all, you should probably just work on another subject if you need to. If not, I would get into the habit of making a summary book for all the topics you've learnt and compiling a list of formulas and proofs for each topic.

3. Some schools let you know the question beforehand, some don't. You don't need to memorise all 4 paragraphs word for word, but just your central topic for each paragraph, quotes and techniques. If you're good with your techniques, then there's no point putting time in memorising them as you'll simply know what technique(s) are used upon looking at the quote.

The point of writing 4 paragraphs (keep in mind you don't have to do this, you could simply just write 3, or walk in with no prep if you really wanted to) is to choose the 3 that are the most relevant to the question. If all of them don't link to the question at all (which I doubt will happen), then your ability to adapt to new questions will come in. That's probably what English studying is comprised of most, just look up a bunch of past questions and figure out how you can adapt your paragraphs to what the question is asking for.

 

[Jaxxnuts]

Oh i get it, but won't memorising old essays be a waste of time since it may be completely irrelevant to the exam? Or do you mean have a look at techniques and learn from that, if that's the case I understand.

Unless it's a broad question and it's "adaptable" then you can do it

However it is recommended you avoid it because there is a risk of them asking something not in the memorised essays

You should be brushing up om quotes and analysis and applying it to many different types of essay questions so then you cover all the aspects of the rubric/syllabus that could be asked

 

[_Anonymous]

Unless it's a broad question and it's "adaptable" then you can do it

However it is recommended you avoid it because there is a risk of them asking something not in the memorised essays

You should be brushing up om quotes and analysis and applying it to many different types of essay questions so then you cover all the aspects of the rubric/syllabus that could be asked

3. Some schools let you know the question beforehand, some don't. You don't need to memorise all 4 paragraphs word for word, but just your central topic for each paragraph, quotes and techniques. If you're good with your techniques, then there's no point putting time in memorising them as you'll simply know what technique(s) are used upon looking at the quote.

The point of writing 4 paragraphs (keep in mind you don't have to do this, you could simply just write 3, or walk in with no prep if you really wanted to) is to choose the 3 that are the most relevant to the question. If all of them don't link to the question at all (which I doubt will happen), then your ability to adapt to new questions will come in. That's probably what English studying is comprised of most, just look up a bunch of past questions and figure out how you can adapt your paragraphs to what the question is asking for.

Right I understand what you guys. Just wondering, how do you know which quotes from the book you should memorise? I'm assuming the exam notification sheet will say something about what you should focus on or something of that sorts? But then again, how do you know which quotes to memorise for the final HSC exam? If it's a question no one knows about, then what if the quotes you memorised don't come into use on the actual date, are you screwed then?

 

[pikachu975]

Oh i get it, but won't memorising old essays be a waste of time since it may be completely irrelevant to the exam? Or do you mean have a look at techniques and learn from that, if that's the case I understand.

Test both methods in year 12. Some people get really good by memorising essays and adapting to any question as their essay is written well and some do better with quotes.

 

[pikachu975]

Right I understand what you guys. Just wondering, how do you know which quotes from the book you should memorise? I'm assuming the exam notification sheet will say something about what you should focus on or something of that sorts? But then again, how do you know which quotes to memorise for the final HSC exam? If it's a question no one knows about, then what if the quotes you memorised don't come into use on the actual date, are you screwed then?

You just memorise quotes for themes e.g. 2 themes for an essay so 12 quotes possibly. You can adapt to ANY question if you know your text well.

 

[Jaxxnuts]

Test both methods in year 12. Some people get really good by memorising essays and adapting to any question as their essay is written well and some do better with quotes.

You just memorise quotes for themes e.g. 2 themes for an essay so 12 quotes possibly. You can adapt to ANY question if you know your text well.

tbh I feel that adaptation can only happen if like u have more than 2 "broad" essays all of which cover the whole rubric/syllabus and you continuously adapt to various questions on a regular basis (including "curveballs")