By when should I have finished revising all the content?

[vashappenin]

Hey all,
I need your help. By when should I have finished revising all my psych content? I'm currently going over the CNS and PNS stuff for  a SAC next week, and I'm also doing research methods atm. I plan to start studying memory next week. Is this too late?
By when should I have started doing practise exams?

Thanks

[Ravit]

I kinda of in the same position as you just going over cns and ones for a sac next week, I read over and highlighted the memory area of study in the holidays, I'll probably try to complete it by early may with a good set notes done.
Which leaves about a month and half for exams and revision with would be plenty I believe, as for starting practice exams you should be going through them whilst you study for your sacs, as most sac questions are derived from previous exams.
If not start exams when your confident with the sections your covered, so if you want start some exams and answer questions for states of consciousness, sleep and the brain stuff, then when you finish memory do the left over questions.
And then spend the rest of the time doing exams under timed conditions.
hope this helped

[vashappenin]

Thanks for that!

[1ne]

Im halfway through Chapter 4.. finished chapter 5, 2 and 3. I'm kinda stressed out. Is it still possible to finish the course with one month spare? I need to do chapter 1 and the rest of the stuff. Should I focus on just reading, understanding instead of doing learning activities. What are your techniques for finishing the course, chapters etc.  I'm thinking of doing notes for chapter 2 and 3 by this week. Also how long does it take for finishing the chapters. Thanks

[vashappenin]

Don't stress out! You still have around two months which is plenty!
Ok, well make sure you understand and read everything, and maybe if you're struggling to understand something do the learning activities? Alot of the learning activities are irrelevant, but if you want to do them, focus mainly on completing review questions. In saying that, I've heard many people say that learning activities are pointless, so maybe just go over and study the content, and then so some practise exam questions that relate back to the area of study.
Go by the study design on the VCAA website (http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/vcaa/vce/studies/psychology/psychologysd2010.pdf), pages 22-25, because that's what will be assessed.
Chapter 1 is reserch methods. On p22 of the study design, there is a whole outline on which research methods you should know.
"The research methodologies and ethical principles considered in this unit are:
• experimental research: construction of research hypotheses; identification of operational independent
and dependent variables; identification of extraneous and potential confounding variables including
individual participant differences, order effects, experimenter effect, placebo effects; ways of
minimising confounding and extraneous variables including type of experiment, counterbalancing,
single and double blind procedures, placebos; evaluation of different types of experimental
research designs including independent-groups, matched-participants, repeated-measures; reporting
conventions
• sampling procedures in selection and allocation of participants: random sampling; stratified
sampling; random-stratified sampling; random allocation of participants to groups; control and
experimental groups
• techniques of qualitative and quantitative data collection: case studies; observational studies; selfreports; questionnaires; interviews; brain imaging and recording technologies
• statistics: measures of central tendency including mean, median and mode; interpretation of
p-values and conclusions; reliability including internal consistency; validity including construct
and external; evaluation of research in terms of generalising the findings to the population
• ethical principles and professional conduct: the role of the experimenter; protection and security of
participants’ rights; confidentiality; voluntary participation; withdrawal rights; informed consent
procedures; use of deception in research; debriefing; use of animals in research; role of ethics
committees'

So just go by those I guess; that's what I'm also doing atm.
My main technique for finishing course is going by the study design, writing up notes and memorising/studying them, then doing relevant exam-style questions.
Try and go over the chapters every night if you can, and make sure you dedicate a lot of time on the weekends.
Once you write the notes you'll feel good, so make sure you do them as quickly as you can so you have time to go over them.
Since I have a SAC coming up, I'm just going over my notes as thoroughly as I can atleast 1-2hrs a night, bit by bit. Then I plant to do any relevant questions.

REMEMBER THE MOST IMPORTANT THING: STAY POSITIVE AND MOTIVATED, AND FEEL GOOD EVEN IF IT IS SOMETHING MINOR YOU'VE ACCOMPLISHED, THEN YOU'LL FEEL LESS STRESSED

I hope I've helped you out

[1ne]

You have helped immensely. Thanks a lot nd I really appreciate. I'm sort of confused on the study design notes thing.. is there a chance that they will asses something which is jot on the study design?

[vashappenin]

No problem! I wanna give people advice when they need it because I know how important it is for me to get responses from others when I need it too, youknow?
Referring back to you question, then do this. Write your notes based on the chapter headings/subheadings, but keep referring to the section in the study design for each AOS that says 'Key Knowledge', and make sure you've answered or covered everything on there.
I don't really know about that, but I'm guessing if it's anything related, then it could possibly be assessed? But if it's some random thing that's not even related, then I doubt it. Might wanna ask someone who knows 

[Genericname2365]

Well I heard in a different subject's lecture last year (this would apply here) that they can't really ask any exam questions that aren't on the study design. However, there may be a chance that some questions may be a bit iffy with regards to relevance - I'm not sure, although I think it's unlikely. Shouldn't be any random questions though.

Also, some of this may have been known to you already but here are some suggestions in the Grivas textbook under elaborative rehearsal that may help you encode information effectively into long-term memory.

How can you process new info? Here are some suggestions:
•   Make sure you understand the new information by restating it in your own words
•   Actively question new information
•   Think about the potential applications and implications of the material
•   Relate the material to info you already know, searching for connections that make the new info more meaningful
•   Generate your own examples of the concept, especially examples from your own experience

[Ravit]

Don't rush into finishing chapters just because you want to course over with so you can jump into practice exams.
Remember that your answers in practice exams will draw upon content you learn during chapters,if most of this learnt content is not well consolidated in your brain it's likely you wont score well on prac papers, which will only stress you out even more.
Focus on preparing a excellent set of notes like vasha said, these should be like your bible, add diagrams and images to your notes to make them more engaging and informative. Read these notes repeatedly, and if you like to wrote learn, you make summary of these notes.
And as you do exams keep an error log book in which you can record the answers you didn't answer well, therefore next time you are approached with a similar question you will remember how to answer it. And it would help going back to your notes and engraining the information for the section in which you loose marks for during your exams.
And lastly, KEEP a glossary, I was told by totaled a guy who got 50 in psych that a glossary is essential in psych and that constant revision of key terms and their meanings is critical in answering questions effectively.
Sorry this post became really long.
Hope it helps.

[monkeywantsabanana]

Make sure you do go to a lecture because it really helps solidify what you've done! You might learn other things that you didn't know about too!

I started my practice exams a month before the exam, I did ~1-2 a day, it saves you from being swamped with exams the week prior.

[1ne]

Thanks for the advice. Would three weeks be sufficient to finish chapter 1, 6, 7 and 8 before starting to previse and doing prac exams. Also would u recommend going to a free lecture since I can't afford the connect education lecture, if so which one is best? Thanks a lot for advice.

[Scooby]

monkeywantsabanana, how many exams did you do?

[monkeywantsabanana]

Thanks for the advice. Would three weeks be sufficient to finish chapter 1, 6, 7 and 8 before starting to previse and doing prac exams. Also would u recommend going to a free lecture since I can't afford the connect education lecture, if so which one is best? Thanks a lot for advice.

I have no clue what those chapter contain now... Sorry. I learnt nothing from my teacher. In class, I would ignore the teacher and do my own theory. Our teacher's timetable gave us 2 weeks for exam preparation which I thought was not enough so yea...
I'm not sure about free lectures, but I'd recommend Connect. It's super comprehensive and their notes are great. I tried Pathway to Genius for Unit 3 and didn't like it. It depends... If you can't get to Connect, try to see if you can grab hold of Adrian's practice exam. It was really similar to the VCE exam.
Also, I'm not sure about NEAP lectures but the revision booklets: "SMART STUDY REVISION" were great as well. For me, I stayed away from TSSM because their revision booklet was horrid.

Make sure, as it says above, write out a glossary! It's one thing having one given to you, it'd make your life so much easier making your own and learning from it.

monkeywantsabanana, how many exams did you do?

For Unit 3, I did around 30-35. I made sure I did the "shit" (excuse my French) ones first, then the ones like NEAP and VCAA (obviously) towards the end of the revision period.

ALSO! CHECKPOINTS! Get them. You can do random questions whenever you want.

If you're using the OXFORD textbook, I can't stress how terrible that book is. If you can, try get your hands on the Grivas. (:

[shaiga95]

Monkeywantbanana, What exams are most similiar to the VCAA exam and what exams are more difficult than others?

[Scooby]

monkeywantsabanana, how many exams did you do?

For Unit 3, I did around 30-35. I made sure I did the "shit" (excuse my French) ones first, then the ones like NEAP and VCAA (obviously) towards the end of the revision period.

ALSO! CHECKPOINTS! Get them. You can do random questions whenever you want.

If you're using the OXFORD textbook, I can't stress how terrible that book is. If you can, try get your hands on the Grivas. (:

How many of them were from the current study design?

Lucky I've got the Grivas book then