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March 30, 2024, 02:03:14 am

Author Topic: Should I read Biology content from Laptop screen or VCE books?  (Read 2473 times)  Share 

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babne

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Should I read Biology content from Laptop screen or VCE books?
« on: December 20, 2021, 07:02:55 pm »
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I am kinda struggling with Bio 3/4, reading this heavy contents.

My question to the experts are, can I use the display screen and switch between the browser to read the content or should I read from my school Biology books. Say for example, nucleic acids, should I read the details from books  and underline key points? How to make notes or highlight in the book pages?

caffinatedloz

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Re: Should I read Biology content from Laptop screen or VCE books?
« Reply #1 on: December 20, 2021, 07:53:01 pm »
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3/4 bio is very content-heavy. I used a hard copy textbook (which I did not actually highlight on) and made hard copy notes. My way of learning was just to make notes and frequently summarise and retype them in order to get the information to stay in my head.

However, you know yourself best so I think you should do whatever has worked for you in previous years. If underlining would help you- why not! However, I would say find an efficient way or reading and processing the information that you can keep up with all year. You'll want plenty of time available to spend on practice exam questions. Those were by far the best things I did to help me solidify concepts after I had a basic understanding.

SnekiSnek

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Re: Should I read Biology content from Laptop screen or VCE books?
« Reply #2 on: December 20, 2021, 08:12:56 pm »
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Obligatory 'I am not a bio student' statement

Like caffinatedloz said, you are the one who knows the best way for you to understand content and learn. There's nothing wrong with combining study methods (reading the content onscreen and making hardcopy notes or vice versa). Go for whatever works best for you, and best of luck for next year!
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babne

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Re: Should I read Biology content from Laptop screen or VCE books?
« Reply #3 on: December 20, 2021, 08:43:58 pm »
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Thanks so much to both you, for giving the insights. Really appreciate your words.

However, caffinatedloz, "...plenty of time available to spend on practice exam questions". By which month next year, you recon, I should have finished the content for practicing exam questions? So that I can get a rough idea to focus.

caffinatedloz

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Re: Should I read Biology content from Laptop screen or VCE books?
« Reply #4 on: December 20, 2021, 08:57:06 pm »
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Thanks so much to both you, for giving the insights. Really appreciate your words.

However, caffinatedloz, "...plenty of time available to spend on practice exam questions". By which month next year, you recon, I should have finished the content for practicing exam questions? So that I can get a rough idea to focus.

I personally used a strategy I definitely would not recommend as I accelerated biology so it was my only 3/4 subject. 10 days before exams I realised I had done shit-all and spent two days typing out all my notes. Then I spent seven days doing checkpoints (a book made up of a mixture of generic content questions and past VCAA questions sorted by topic). After that I did one more practice exam. Then on the last day before the exam I did absolutely nothing. Worked out fine (43 was not bad given the very low effort year) but definitely not recommended.

For chemistry (which I did during Year 12), I finalised my notes over the September holidays and began doing checkpoints during the second week of the holidays. Then I spent the time in October and early November soley focusing on practice exams (and reading examiners reports).

So, it's never too late to start trying but if you can get the content mastered by September (or even earlier) I'd say that puts you in an amazing position to do your best.

Golgi Apparatus

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Re: Should I read Biology content from Laptop screen or VCE books?
« Reply #5 on: December 20, 2021, 10:26:04 pm »
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It may also help if you do past exam questions throughout the year, on the topics you have already covered - you don’t have to finish the content before you start. This means you are getting really good preparation for the exams by being exposed to a lot of past questions, and also preparing for sacs by practising applying what you have learnt.

This may be easier if you have something like checkpoints or studyclix that orders questions by topic, but you could also just search through past exams (available on the VCAA website) for questions you can do (they’re often somewhat in order of the study design for bio). You could also ask your teachers if they have any resources - mine had PowerPoints of of harder past exam questions for some topics.

Some people say that this ‘ruins’ past questions for when you start doing full exams, as you may remember the questions/answers. If you’re worried about this, maybe try doing older exams and save the newer, more relevant ones for the exam period.

I wish I’d done more exam questions through the year, but I found it really hard as I would spend all my time doing homework or studying for sacs and have none left for this. It might help if you set aside the same slot of time each day (doing one subject a day) so you can get into a routine.

Sorry this got a bit lengthy, but I hope it helps. Let me know if you have any more questions!
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babne

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Re: Should I read Biology content from Laptop screen or VCE books?
« Reply #6 on: December 21, 2021, 07:27:52 pm »
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Thanks to both caffinatedloz & Golgi.

As this is my first time ever VCE final for Bio and Further, all of the inputs really helpful moving forward. You do not need to be sorry Golgi  :).

Once I get on hold of the subjects, probably end of January I will star doing questions from checkpoints and other topic related questions. Then I will not be scared of the real questions, i believe.