HSC Modern History Question Thread

[sudodds]

Hi,
I suppose I am mostly asking Susie here because I think she has experience with this? But if anyone else has an opinion please chip in!
When doing notes in Modern I feel like I am wasting time. Our teacher presses us to type our notes under the syllabus headings, and I feel like I am remembering none of it. I hate reading and would much rather drawing/speaking/practicing with content, but I feel if I don't type down all the info/content needed I will miss/forget something.

Another aspect I suppose is that our teacher regularly skims over our notes, making sure we are relatively up to date, and are structuring them the way she wants. She is an amazing teacher in terms of skills/marking/depth of knowledge, but is not very flexible in her ideas, and I don't think she would appreciate me doing a different format of notes that she has been accustomed to teaching for years. In our lessons, she basically reads/explains stuff from the textbook and expects us to be on our laptops typing up the most important points of what she is reading.

So, I guess the overall problem is, I don't like writing huge chunks of text for notes because I can't remember them, and am a bit apprehensive of whether my teacher will accept any other way of doing them.

Thanks for any help!

Hey! Thats unfortunate that you don't think your teacher will accept you attempting a different way of study that may suit you better. I was lucky, and my teacher was totally supportive of me changing up my study habits - I didn't write notes for any of my subjects as, like you I just don't find any use to them. I don't learn from reading, so why should I devote so much time to creating notes for a study habit that didn't work for me? Instead, I devoted my time to doing practice responses, which my teacher graciously read over every time, giving me tips on how to improve every step of the way. I found this method so much more useful, as it meant that I was not only learning content, but learning how to apply the content to ensure the maximum amount of marks. Keep in mind though that when I say I did practice responses, I did A LOT more than the average student, to the point where I made up the time it would have taken to write the notes, and some. Even though I didn't write notes, I still devoted more time to studying the subject than many in my class who did keep up with notes, so that is probably a factor as to why I still was able to retain all the information that I needed. If you only plan on writing one or two essays before an assessment task, then this method won't work. At the same time though, I found that with this method I was focusing on the important information, rather than the superfluous fluff around events that don't really matter as they can never be used to argue a point, but they still insist on teaching you anyway.

If your teacher does press you to write notes, remember that this doesn't have to be the only way to study. Yes, it may take more time, but just because you have to write notes, doesn't mean you can't write practice responses, have study sessions/discussion with other students, or make graphs/diagrams.

All in all though - if this method of study isn't working for you, then you need to change it up. Otherwise, you're just wasting time that you could be using to study the subject effectively!

Hope this helps!

Susie

[prickles]

At the same time though, I found that with this method I was focusing on the important information, rather than the superfluous fluff around events that don't really matter as they can never be used to argue a point, but they still insist on teaching you anyway.

Thanks so much! This ^ really stood out to me, because when practicing, I find that I'm not even using some of the content, rather focusing on the bigger issues.
Yes, I realise that if you don't do notes, you would still have to do the equivalent time in other ways of studying. I love drawing and making symbols/maps/diagrams/timelines etc and can understand these way better, so I might try summarising the content in drawings and some writing, and also doing lots of practice. I'm already doing 2-3 practices a week, but may need to step this up a bit 
Thankyou so much for your help!

[owidjaja]

Thanks so much! This ^ really stood out to me, because when practicing, I find that I'm not even using some of the content, rather focusing on the bigger issues.
Yes, I realise that if you don't do notes, you would still have to do the equivalent time in other ways of studying. I love drawing and making symbols/maps/diagrams/timelines etc and can understand these way better, so I might try summarising the content in drawings and some writing, and also doing lots of practice. I'm already doing 2-3 practices a week, but may need to step this up a bit 
Thankyou so much for your help!

Hello there (I realised I may be a bit late whoops)!
Tbh, I don't think your teacher should be pressing everyone to type notes- it just depends on everyone's study method. Personally, I like making my notes that way because I just feel organised. One method my teacher recommended is to use palm cards and have a syllabus dot point on one side and general knowledge (condensed to around 5 dot points) on the other side- well, this is for the WW1 section since you don't need to remember quotes.

If you're a visual person, mind maps are great for that. I've seen awesome mind maps to show a link between events (which is great for any 'explain' short answer questions). Colour coding is also a great system. I would choose different colours for dates, historical figures and names of significant events. And personally, it took me 2 years to figure out how I should write my study notes. It is tiring to rewrite everything but at least you're rewriting important information- kinda like wrote learning!

Hope this helps (I get too passionate about study techniques lol).

[madzster2000]

HEY!

I'm studying Modern history, and I have a few questions. As I'm doing my notes I'm finding that I'm overloading information from both my teacher and my textbook...(1)do you have any tips on how to regulate what information is necessary. Also for the core syllabus, I have extra information on PEACE MOVES. (2) WOuld you reccomend keeping this information, to use as extra statistics in Chaning Attitudes or should I save the time and get rid of these notes and just focus on what is specifically on the syllabus?

Thanks.

[LochNess Monster]

Dear Madzter2000,

I'm currently studying Modern History too! (So just a student like you). 

But I think while overloading content and information is easy to do, it's important to keep it organised to stay on track.
Like you said, it gets overwhelmingly difficult with both teacher and textbook.

What I normally do is take notes from the teacher but these "notes" aren't study notes as such. They are just in my workbook to layer and consolidate extra information. Since what my teacher does is normally give an overview of the topic and then let us discuss the event or person as a class, it's super interesting for different perspectives and points.

This is what I jot down during class.

But for textbook, I would recommend just reading it. You can make little post-it notes and stick them in important pages you need to refer back to, but textbook is IMAO much too dense to study from.

I totally recommend SYLLABUS SYLLABUS SYLLABUS. These are the only things you will and can be tested on,

Don't throw out your old notes. Keep them handy as an extra but make sure syllabus is your main chunky part.

Extra info on Peace Moves for Changing Attitudes will be great for a unique source analysis when it comes to the exam (as long as they are your notes and not the teacher's for the whole class) go for it!

Furthermore, since I'm doing Nazi Germany later on, I'm finding it useful (cause I'm starting to like history more) to read little excerpts on WWI to keep it fresh and read novels on what Weimar Germany was like.

Hope this helps! It was a bit long, wasn't it? 

[Mada438]

HEY!

I'm studying Modern history, and I have a few questions. As I'm doing my notes I'm finding that I'm overloading information from both my teacher and my textbook...(1)do you have any tips on how to regulate what information is necessary. Also for the core syllabus, I have extra information on PEACE MOVES. (2) WOuld you reccomend keeping this information, to use as extra statistics in Chaning Attitudes or should I save the time and get rid of these notes and just focus on what is specifically on the syllabus?

Thanks.

Hey there!
As modern history is such a content heavy subject, I'd recconmend that you do structure your notes based on all the syllabus dot points.
This is what i do and i find it really helps!

[prickles]

Hey,
Pretty lame question - but would shells and gas be considered offensive or defensive weapons?
Thanks!

[Mada438]

Hey,
Pretty lame question - but would shells and gas be considered offensive or defensive weapons?
Thanks!

Not lame at all!
I'd say gas is definitely an offensive weapon, for flushing out the enemy.
But shells can be both offensive and defensive. They can be used to bomb an enemy position before you attack, or they could be used to kill enemies who are charging at your position

[prickles]

Not lame at all!
I'd say gas is definitely an offensive weapon, for flushing out the enemy.
But shells can be both offensive and defensive. They can be used to bomb an enemy position before you attack, or they could be used to kill enemies who are charging at your position

Ok, thanks heaps!

[owidjaja]

HEY!

I'm studying Modern history, and I have a few questions. As I'm doing my notes I'm finding that I'm overloading information from both my teacher and my textbook...(1)do you have any tips on how to regulate what information is necessary. Also for the core syllabus, I have extra information on PEACE MOVES. (2) WOuld you reccomend keeping this information, to use as extra statistics in Chaning Attitudes or should I save the time and get rid of these notes and just focus on what is specifically on the syllabus?

Thanks.

Hey there!
Sorry for the late response, but to be honest, I'd condense statistics and quotes to maybe around five per topic. This is because you're not writing an essay so you don't need too many quotes. I'd stick to memorising really short quotes such as 'They shall not pass' with the Battle of Verdun- short quotes like those can enhance your short answer responses. As for knowing how to regulate which information is useful or not, of course, keep the notes your teacher has given you but whenever I make notes, I always think of cause and effect with my information. For example, I would have information about the Ludendorff Spring Offensive (i.e. date, summary of tactics/strategies) and my last few points are the impacts of the offensive (e.g. impact on morale, therefore the collapse of Germany). Through this, I can make strong links between events, which are extremely important in your responses.

Hope this helps!

[nicolej]

Hi,
I was wondering what a band 6 response would look like for the question: "Outline the strategies and tactics used to break the stalemate on the Western Front" -  I am aware that most of this information depends on which sources are included, but despite this, what info is needed + how much would I have to refer to the three main battles; Verdun, the Somme and Passchendaele in aresponse.
Thank you.

[Mada438]

Hi,
I was wondering what a band 6 response would look like for the question: "Outline the strategies and tactics used to break the stalemate on the Western Front" -  I am aware that most of this information depends on which sources are included, but despite this, what info is needed + how much would I have to refer to the three main battles; Verdun, the Somme and Passchendaele in aresponse.
Thank you.

Hey! Welcome to the forums!
So pretty much in the modern history syllabus the syllabus point you're referring to says "overview of strategies and tactics to break the stalemate including key battles: verdun, the somme, passchendale"
If i was you, in a response i'd structure it with 3 main body paragraphs; one each for verdun, the somme and passchendale. In each paragraph i'd talk about the unique strategies and tactics that either side used to attempt to break the stalemate. For example, when talking about verdun, your main focus would be on the german strategy to "bleed the french white" and how they planned to kill 3 french for every german casualty and not win the battle but rather engage in a war of attrition with the french that would put them out of the war.

Hope this helps!
If you need anymore help, let me know! 

[theyam]

Hi guys,

Could you someone please give me some direction on how to approach this essay qn (min 1k words):
What role did the Treaty of Versailles play in the instability in the Weimar Republic?

What do you think should be the main points I should be focusing on, because there a lot of perspectives on what caused the instability of the Weimar Republic.

Thank you~
From theyam

[owidjaja]

Hi guys,

Could you someone please give me some direction on how to approach this essay qn (min 1k words):
What role did the Treaty of Versailles play in the instability in the Weimar Republic?

What do you think should be the main points I should be focusing on, because there a lot of perspectives on what caused the instability of the Weimar Republic.

Thank you~
From theyam

Hey there!
I'm doing Weimar Germany too! I don't know much about Weimar Germany at the moment, but whenever I'm stuck with forming a structure for my essay I divide it into social, cultural, economic and political impacts- that way, you can divide your information into these four categories.
For example: inflation of prices ----> Economic
                      unstable government ----> Political

Hope this helps!

[fantasticbeasts3]

Hi guys,

Could you someone please give me some direction on how to approach this essay qn (min 1k words):
What role did the Treaty of Versailles play in the instability in the Weimar Republic?

What do you think should be the main points I should be focusing on, because there a lot of perspectives on what caused the instability of the Weimar Republic.

Thank you~
From theyam

hi theyam! is that all of the question? or is there a specified time period?

anyway, owidjaja has given a pretty good structure already. :-) separate your paragraphs into political, social and economic factors. while the Treaty of Versailles did play a large role in the instability of the Weimar Republic, it was not the main reason for its collapse. you can start off the essay with political factors, as that's where the ToV comes in. you can also talk about Stresemann's work with foreign relations, occupation of the Ruhr, etc. in this paragraph. you can also talk about social developments, which for a short amount of time, it that unstable in the Weimar Republic. you can also argue that although the ToV caused instability, economic factors were!!! huge!!!

paragraph order doesn't matter, as long as you address the Treaty of Versailles in your first body paragraph. :-)

hope this helps!