Trials preperation (1 Viewer)

[NizDiz]

Hi guys,

I've been doing past papers for the past week, and chemistry is my worst subject. The way I go is Read everything before then do the test and done 3 now, but seem to be forgetting certain for question. How do I fix this? Even by doing three, I've not been able to write solid answers. Mathematically, I'm good, but for those 3+ markers, seem to fail it. I know I should do more paper, but how do I have all the stuff (syllabus notes) in my head? Similar with Physics but not as bad.

All help appreciated. Thanks guys

 

[nightweaver066]

Plan your response before starting to write. Underline key terms and scribble notes on the side.

Make sure you try to answer the questions as directly as possible. Many students tend to go off on a tangent trying to write down everything they know thinking they're answering the question when they're actually not.

Read the marking criteria and see what they're looking out for with that type of question. Make a mental note of it if a similar question pops up.

 

[someth1ng]

Also, remember what each verb means.

 

[bedpotato]

Try doing 2/3 papers with your notes so you can write proper answers for those 3+ mark questions. And the papers after that, do them without your notes.

 

[cadd1ct]

Hmm, from my experience doing lots of trial papers is very tedious especially for chemistry extended responses as they are quite annoying to write out (especially in full sentences).

When I go through trial papers I like to just do dotpoints for the extended responses with brief summary points and headers and then convert it to full sentences later on a computer, which makes it faster and allows you to have a soft copy, handy for revision. Also, by doing this, you practice planning your response and after doing a lot, you can eventually skip that step and head straight into full sentences but still manage good structure and logical flow. There are a few things you can do with extended response:

i) Get into a habit of guessing the marking criteria i.e figure out what you need to write to score full marks... if you can predict that, then you can save a lot of time and effort. e.g if a question asks you to describe the principles of AAS for 2 marks, then you might only need to refer to the absorption spectrum theory and the fact that absorption is directly porportional to concentration... but if it were 3 or 4 then maybe you need to describe the method briefly as well as justify why certain things are done e.g why is the cathode ray lamp the same element as the one to be atomised.
ii) Compare your response with a friend (or ask a friend to look at it) and get them to critique it. Ask them to give a mark and justify it e.g you should have included an equation here when mentioning combustion of ethanol
iii) General rule of thumb is that any 3+ markers will need a few equations to support your response... remember it is a chemistry exam

If possible, try to get some quality sample answers from a top student and try to understand how they plan and respond. You should also take note of the level of detail they might be going in to.

Good luck with trial preparation!

 

[NizDiz]

Yeh cool thanks guys, helps heaps How do u go about memorising the whole syllabus? Just like you said above or otherwise?

 

[luvglee4lyfe]

Yeh cool thanks guys, helps heaps How do u go about memorising the whole syllabus? Just like you said above or otherwise?

By understanding the whole syllabus, "memorising" comes natural and you just write what you know in the exam.