Dr Blurg: Trial (& HSC) Study Tips

STRATEGY #1

Throughout the year you have been doing a huge amount of work on the HSC booklets.

I tried to do my part by writing comments to highlight any questions that contained tricks, needed a specific approach/strategy or were challenging for the class as a whole.

Now it is time to make those booklets, those comments and all that hard work to pay dividends.

This works for Pre-Trial and Pre-HSC.

It is a tried-and-tested Dr Burg approved method of study.

1) Get out all the HSC booklets from the year (even if you haven't done them, this is still a valuable exercise).

2) Get some paper (draw up 2 columns), a pen and 2 highlighters of different colour.

3)Start with one Focus-Area booklet (I'd start with 9.6.7 and work backwards to 9.2.1).

4) Click on the link to the comments - the links are at the bottom of this post below strategy 4.

5) Go through the HSC booklet and look at all the questions that I specifically made a comment on.

6) Read the question. See if you can remember the trick, the strategy, the problem or just the key things to say for this question. Check my comment - see if you have an "ahhh, that's right" moment.

7) If you remembered all the tricks, strategies, and are happy with that Q - move on.

8) If you thought to yourself "I know that topic pretty well, but I'd better check this again to remind myself those tricks" then highlight that question one colour. Also make a note of the Focus area, year and Q # in one column of your paper (“revise”).

9) If you thought to yourself "I really need to do this again" highlight this in the other colour and make a note (Focus area, year, Q#) in the second column (“redo”) on your paper. You can also do this for questions you got no/v.low marks for first-time around if you wish.

10) Don't revise or redo the questions now, just keep working through the focus areas as above.

11) Once you have reached the end you will have a list of questions to revise and a list to redo.

12) In your Chemistry study time redo the "redo" questions – using whatever resources you need until you understand the concept/question. Then it can be shifted into the revise column.

13) At the end of study sessions (or for a pre-bedtime-routine) read over the "revise" questions.

14) Why this strategy can work:

a) It is thorough. All the important concepts have been covered in HSC questions so you are covering the course by looking at the questions.

b) It is study. By revising the questions and comments you are bringing all the strategies, concepts, tricks back into your short/medium term memory and strengthening their place in your long-term memory.

c) It is high-gain. By redoing the questions that trouble you, you are focussing the bulk of your time into the areas where you can make the biggest improvements.

STRATEGY #2

1) Focus-area by focus-area make a list of the things &/or questions that you DO NOT want to see in the Trial/HSC. I.e. you are making your own personal “HSC-paper-from-hell”.

2) Study those topics as though you *knew* that the list was the exact paper you were going to have to sit.

3) You have just negated your “HSC-paper-from-hell” and have turned your weaknesses into strengths.

STRATEGY/TIP #3

At the end of the Literacy/Numeracy assessment I noted to you all that there were a few questions that very few students submitted (Q4, Q7, Q9, Q11, Q14, Q17, Q19, Q21, Q23, Q24, Q26, Q27, Q37, Q38) At the time I remarked how I really need some extra assessment information on those topics and that it was lucky that there was an assessment exam coming up.
I found it interesting that when I marked the 9.4.2 and 9.4.3 HSC booklets that the students who had done the essays on the Haber process, impacts of the Haber process, AAS techniques, AAS trace elements and pollution wrote very good extended response answers on those topics. Make of this what you will, but I am still happy to check, correct and provide feedback on ½ page essays…

STRATEGY #4

This is really an ‘exam-room’ tip that I thought of when writing the 9.3.4 Feedback.

You need to get in the mindset (to be hyper-aware) that that you need to distinguish yourself. The only way to distinguish yourself is through what you write. No matter how much you know - if you don’t include detail, address the verb, define terms etc, there is no way of distinguishing you from someone who knows nothing. Ask yourself :