VCE Unit 3 and 4 Chemistry Study Guide 2013 - what should the format be?

[AllAboutTheLGs]

Thushan I reckon one book for Notes + a short test after each topic, alongside a book for just practice exams + detailed solutions (about 8-12 depending on length, since they are 2.5 hour exams now 10 should probably be sufficient), would be good.

You could make the notes book unit 3 and unit 4 combined, with either a short 30-40 minute test after each topic with both SA and MC, ie. One test for chromotography, one for biochemistry etc, or a longer test/"mini exam" after each Area of Study. The answers and solutions don't have to be detailed due to the nature of notes, as those alone should suffice.

Then with the exam booklet, you'd have your exams in order of difficulty, all with the new 2.5 hour format, with detailed solutions as usual.

[thushan]

Thushan I reckon one book for Notes + a short test after each topic, alongside a book for just practice exams + detailed solutions (about 8-12 depending on length, since they are 2.5 hour exams now 10 should probably be sufficient), would be good.

You could make the notes book unit 3 and unit 4 combined, with either a short 30-40 minute test after each topic with both SA and MC, ie. One test for chromotography, one for biochemistry etc, or a longer test/"mini exam" after each Area of Study. The answers and solutions don't have to be detailed due to the nature of notes, as those alone should suffice.

Then with the exam booklet, you'd have your exams in order of difficulty, all with the new 2.5 hour format, with detailed solutions as usual.

Not a bad idea, but the problem is that the detailed solutions are meant to be question specific - so the student doesn't have to extrapolate information from the notes - plus it'd be annoying to have to refer to the notes book to interpret the detailed solution.

So it's a toss up between Basic/Advanced and Tests/Exams.

[vashappenin]

 

So it's a toss up between Basic/Advanced and Tests/Exams.

Maybe you should get some sort of poll happening so people can vote on it

[thushan]

So it's a toss up between Basic/Advanced and Tests/Exams.

Maybe you should get some sort of poll happening so people can vote on it

Now there's an idea. Poll up!
While everyone's here - there's a tute in 10 minutes Skype convo opened.

[Stick]

I would certainly not buy your Chemistry books next year if any of these suggestions were to go ahead.

What's your actual concern regarding these suggestions? You've outright dismissed them without stating any reasons.

Fair enough, I was a bit harsh and I didn't outline any reasons. I really didn't mean to come across as mean and I'm very sorry that I didn't consider my position more carefully. I'm going to delete my other post right away, because it wasn't called for.

I just think a lot of these ideas are getting a bit fiddly and that's probably why I wouldn't buy them. When I buy a book, I just want it to be simple and easy to use. I have no problems as long as the idea isn't too conflicted.

[thushan]

I would certainly not buy your Chemistry books next year if any of these suggestions were to go ahead.

What's your actual concern regarding these suggestions? You've outright dismissed them without stating any reasons.

Fair enough, I was a bit harsh and I didn't outline any reasons. I really didn't mean to come across as mean and I'm very sorry that I didn't consider my position more carefully. I'm going to delete my other post right away, because it wasn't called for.

I just think a lot of these ideas are getting a bit fiddly and that's probably why I wouldn't buy them. When I buy a book, I just want it to be simple and easy to use. I have no problems as long as the idea isn't too conflicted.

No worries mate.

Check my original idea about Basic + Advanced and Tests + Exams. Neither of those are fiddly; they're quite simple structures.

[paulsterio]

Thushan, would you like to propose the solution which I talked to you about yesterday? I reckon it'll work quite well!

[thushan]

Thushan, would you like to propose the solution which I talked to you about yesterday? I reckon it'll work quite well!

Yeah, I quite like that idea!

[pi]

I'm going to delete my other post right away, because it wasn't called for.

Please don't, it makes half the thread incomprehensible if that happens =.= Just because the post is a little in the -ve doesn't mean you should delete it at the expense of the flow of the thread (it also looks rather childish).

Restored you post (I removed my -1 as you've admitted to being overly harsh) so the thread makes sense again.

[watto_22]

I would probably just aim for the Advanced and skip over the basic - but I do agree that this format opens it up to a larger audience, though.

That's because you are a high achieving student. Most are not.

My feeling is that just about everyone who is keen enough to buy these books is going to be towards the upper end of ability.
Surely there are not many people who are really enthusiastic about a subject (especially chem) who are really not very good at it; and so surely then there wouldn't be very many people who would buy the 'Basic' book.
For this reason, I think the tests/exams layout would be a better model

[thushan]

I would probably just aim for the Advanced and skip over the basic - but I do agree that this format opens it up to a larger audience, though.

That's because you are a high achieving student. Most are not.

My feeling is that just about everyone who is keen enough to buy these books is going to be towards the upper end of ability.
Surely there are not many people who are really enthusiastic about a subject (especially chem) who are really not very good at it; and so surely then there wouldn't be very many people who would buy the 'Basic' book.
For this reason, I think the tests/exams layout would be a better model

Hmm. Fair point. However, even if they are high achieving students, they need to start off with basic problems to get good at the basic concepts and problems, so they can do those problems faster. Then only should they tackle the harder problems - they'd be able to tackle them better because their basic foundations are more solid - this is why I'm more of a fan of the Basic/Advanced book.

However, looking at the responses, I think it seems a good idea (I won't make a final decision JUST yet) to write a Topic Test Book and an Exam Book, with all of the tests being graded in order of difficulty. The exams will also be graded in difficulty, except Exam 1 will of course be slightly harder than Test 1, but on the easy VCAA, or a TAD easier (to get the students warmed up to exam mode) than VCAA.

[Lasercookie]

Thushan, would you like to propose the solution which I talked to you about yesterday? I reckon it'll work quite well!

Yeah, I quite like that idea!

What was the idea that you and Paul discussed?

[thushan]

Thushan, would you like to propose the solution which I talked to you about yesterday? I reckon it'll work quite well!

Yeah, I quite like that idea!

What was the idea that you and Paul discussed?

Ask Paul.

[thushan]

OK - I'm going with a TEST book and an EXAM book. Decision made.

Going to make difficulty levels more explicit in the next book:

Level 1 = Introductory, below VCAA standard. Purpose is to grasp basic concept and practice solving simple calculations very quickly. Basic recall of information.
Level 2 = Easy VCAA standard. More meaty problems, but somewhat multi-step.
Level 3 = Medium VCAA standard. Yet more meaty, multi-step problems.
Level 4 = Hard VCAA standard. Complex problems, requires deep understanding.
Level 5 = Extremely hard, potentially beyond VCAA standard (in terms of thinking, not content). Requires a very instinctive understanding and strong problem solving skills. THIS WILL BE EXPLICITLY STATED IN THE BOOK.

There will be about 20-25 tests in the test book, graded in order of difficulty from Level 1 to Level 4.
There will be 3 2.5 hour exams, graded in order of difficulty from Level 2 to Level 4, and Exam 4 will be about 3 hours and will be Level 5 (this will be the Challenge paper).

[paulsterio]

Well, after reading this and deliberating about how to set out my physics book, I've decided to go with my idea (which I hinted at earlier). My book will come in two volumes. I will price it at around $40 or $45 (to be decided after consultation with other authors and the publisher...etc.) and when you make a purchase, you will be purchasing both volumes.

Volume 1 will contain all the questions and Model Solutions
Volume 2 will contain all the detailed solutions

So instead of having to buy two separate books, you can just buy one single pack - I also think it's good because it's more convenient for people and it's more economical because you will pay a lower price than the price for 2 books.