Should I make notes?

[SS1314]

How important are making notes for chemistry?

Should I make my own or just buy them?

Also, what company notes do you recommend? Is TSFX any good?


Thanks

[Evolio]

Hello! 

I would say taking notes is not as important as doing practice questions in Chemistry. Chemistry is an application subject so focusing on practise questions would be more beneficial than making notes. However, this does not mean that notes are useless.

I'm doing Chemistry 3 4 but the same thing principle applies here. Around the time I was studying for my SAC, I found that making my notes alongside doing practice questions really helped. I was filling in my gaps by making my own notes, by collating all the information from different resources and then condensing and summarising them into my own words so that the content made sense to me. However, I was also doing practice questions so it's sort of a double benefit.

I found making my own notes to be helpful because they making them forces you to consolidate your knowledge by putting it into your own words. I haven't used TSFX so I wouldn't know but I used all the company notes my school library provided. I mainly used my Heinmann textbook, A+ Notes and the AtarNotes complete course notes and I would also add in stuff I found through researching online to clarify my doubts.

I hope this helps.

[SS1314]

Hello! 

I would say taking notes is not as important as doing practice questions in Chemistry. Chemistry is an application subject so focusing on practise questions would be more beneficial than making notes. However, this does not mean that notes are useless.

I'm doing Chemistry 3 4 but the same thing principle applies here. Around the time I was studying for my SAC, I found that making my notes alongside doing practice questions really helped. I was filling in my gaps by making my own notes, by collating all the information from different resources and then condensing and summarising them into my own words so that the content made sense to me. However, I was also doing practice questions so it's sort of a double benefit.

I found making my own notes to be helpful because they making them forces you to consolidate your knowledge by putting it into your own words. I haven't used TSFX so I wouldn't know but I used all the company notes my school library provided. I mainly used my Heinmann textbook, A+ Notes and the AtarNotes complete course notes and I would also add in stuff I found through researching online to clarify my doubts.

I hope this helps.

Thanks for your response

I would just like to add that I am talking about Chem 3/4 (which I am doing next year) not 1/2

[thatdumbstudent]

How important are making notes for chemistry?

Should I make my own or just buy them?

Also, what company notes do you recommend? Is TSFX any good?


Thanks

Hellooooo

I agree with Evolio. I would also like to add the fact that I trialled not taking notes for chem in term 1 last year and just using my teacher's ppt when reviewing stuff and highlighting some bits of the textbook but that did not end well :/

I guess it really depends on the person. I am someone who would come back home and make my own summary notes when I found out that not taking them didn't work for me. Taking notes make me recall my info a lot better and I tend to forget stuff often and don't want to fidget around the teacher's resources. Chem is a lot of applying your knowledge so I would say practising questions are more important than taking notes. However, I would not practice questions without understanding the contents either. Some of my classmates don't take notes but make flashcards for each topic so maybe that'll work to. Some of them use onenote (very useful!)

I bought some company notes like atarnotes but I ended up forgetting about it and didn't use it at all (whoops!) I like the Heinemann textbook's summary after the review questions. They very concise but if you're confident in your content then maybe consider that? My college dux last year also said they did not take notes at all and only highlighted the textbooks, the dux before that took notes... so it really does vary between individuals :-) trial and see what's best for you!
 + good luck for chem, it's a 3/4 subject i really enjoy (probably my most favourite) and its so fun! (year 11 chem was a bit dull for me)

[colline]

Should I make my own or just buy them?

Just to add on to Evolio and thatdumbstudent's really detailed responses - the thing with most commercial notes is that they're condensed summaries which pick out the important theoretical knowledge and write it up in a digestible format, which is great for getting down the basics. BUT the problem is that the format of these notes make rote-learning very appealing. However, VCAA tests students beyond their memorising ability and will actually see whether you've understood the concepts and know how to apply them to all sorts of situations. For this reason, I do not recommend buying commercial notes as they are inadequate in getting you through the exam. If you want to learn the basic theory, there are resources for free online.

I liked using the Heinemann textbook as it incorporates examples and real-life application. The chapter review questions were also quite helpful (though quite basic in comparison to the exam). If you must buy commercial resources, I recommend only buying exams and maybe topic tests.