Hello again,
I'm wondering the best strategy in general to prepare for trial exams. Of course doing past papers is the best thing to do that, but do you have some tips in terms of memorising content? (WWI, Weimar and Speer)
I don't particularly want to rote learn things (although I can easily do it), but if the best strategy is to rote learn it, how would you suggest I tailor my memorisation program.
Thanks!
Hey! There are so many ways to go about this. If rote learning is something you can easily do, you're in a very fortunate situation! So many brains shrivel up and don't soak in any information when it's being fed like that. However, I totally understand that it is boring.
Here are some things that I found helpful:
Visual Timelines: I'm usually not a visual person, but I had an assignment for my personality study that required me to make a visual timeline. It actually became an incredible study tool for the trials and the HSC. The personality study is such a small little unit, you need your notes to reflect the succinctness of the topic. I thought it helped so much for me when I was studying Albert Speer, that I decided to create one for my National Study too. I made them into big posters and hung them near my desk and on the outside of the shower looking in (creepy, effective).
Memory Sheets: By this I mean, one piece of paper per topic (laminated, if you're a laminating fan like myself) that puts down the most vital little hints you'll need in an exam. By this I mean, include historian quotes, important dates and any information of that type that won't panic you before an exam, but it can very easily be that last thing you look at before walking in.
Teaching others: I was fortunate to have a friend in my class who just could not understand how Hitler came to power. Hey, I wasn't too crash hot either at one point. But when I tried to explain it to her, I found that I needed to make connections between information I had gathered but hadn't yet pooled together. Teaching someone what you know is honestly more effective than anything else I can recommend. Obviously, finding a person to teach isn't always easy. So teach your bathroom mirror, or dog, if you can't find a friend willing to learn.
Weaknesses: Work out what the weaknesses are in your knowledge. Is there a syllabus dot point that you just don't get? It isn't sticking? Read/watch as many resources on that dot point as possible. You have options in the exam for the national study, but you don't want to risk two options for an essay coming up and you panicking over both. In fact, you don't want to panic over either. You want to have a bit of luxury to choose your strongest question!
WW1: Don't worry about the content as much as you should concern yourself with source analysis. Really make sure that your source analysis plan is strong. If you have a template you use, make sure it is well planted in your memory. Make sure you've got a bank of great vocab to whip out in a source analysis. You need to know content, absolutely. But the most important marks will come from analysing sources. So be ready!
I hope this gives you a few ideas about how to approach your studying. Let me know if you actually do any of these, and if they worked for you! These are all things I did.
What is your strategy for rote learning? Just saying things out loud until they stick?
Good luck