Best way to study for chem??

[McFleurry]

Title says all: anyone got any good suggestions?

Thanks

[Stick]

I have a summary book which I keep for theory, but really your best bet is to just keep doing practice questions.

[Shenz0r]

It differs for everybody, but I found doing heaps of questions to be insanely helpful, instead of writing sophisticated notes.

Lisachem and NEAP have quite a number of good resources.

Also, buy the ATARNotes Study Guide.

[curry_bro]

is tsfx good for theory as well?

and shenz0r, did you used to get all the textbook questions right during year 12? i always make a couple of careless mistakes in the heinemann textbook, which results in me getting part of questions wrong...

[teletubbies_95]

Do heaps of questions and write concise notes , not heaps of information that you have trouble remembering and use colors when writing your notes ( it helped in pysch and biol this year)


i dont think that helped at all ! sos.

the seniors know more than me

[nisha]

Just do heaps of questions. From every study guide you get your hands on. From every practise paper. Write notes as the bare-minimum but I have to stress UNDERSTANDING the content more than anything. Since the examiners have put in extended response type written questions, you will need to explain what you know. Its more important than ever know to demonstrate what you do know. And where others fail, this is where you get ahead. Definately go through Thushan's study guide. If you get the answers wrong, read his. Photocopy or rewrite it and understand what he's saying. Makes a hell of a difference.

[FlorianK]

It differs for everybody, but I found doing heaps of questions to be insanely helpful, instead of writing sophisticated notes.

Lisachem and NEAP have quite a number of good resources.

Also, buy the ATARNotes Study Guide.

This!
And carefully read the detailed solutions even those for questions that you got correct.

[Shenz0r]

is tsfx good for theory as well?

and shenz0r, did you used to get all the textbook questions right during year 12? i always make a couple of careless mistakes in the heinemann textbook, which results in me getting part of questions wrong...

I don't know, I really only ever did textbook questions during the first half of Unit 3. But I remember in the summer holidays, after not doing Chemistry for a month or two, I was really rusty and I was making a lot of careless mistakes. So don't fret.

Since Chemistry is a subject based on understanding rather than rote-learning (as opposed to Biology), I reckon hammering questions is a lot more efficient compared to note-taking.

Just do heaps of questions. From every fucking study guide you get your hands on. From every practise paper. Write notes as the bare-minimum but I have to stress UNDERSTANDING the content more than anything. Since the examiners have put in extended response type written questions, you will need to explain what you know. Its more important than ever know to demonstrate what you do know. And where others fail, this is where you get ahead. Definately go through Thushan's study guide. If you get the answers wrong, read his. Photocopy or rewrite it and understand what he's saying. Makes a hell of a difference.

It might be good if you construct a logbook of all your errors throughout the tests and the practise exams that you go through as well. Helps reduce a lot of careless mistakes by exam-time, and it could mean the difference between a 40 and a 45.

During Year 12, I'd read deeply into every practical SAC beforehand, and do as many relevant questions from NEAP, Checkpoints, and Lisachem. Before every SAC, you want to do enough questions so that you'd be confident enough to tackle even the hardest questions from that topic.

When it comes to practise exam time, just crank out the practise exams and keep developing the logbook. You don't have to be incredibly specific. My format was something like:

VCAA [Year]
MC
10. Incorrectly balanced half-equation, forgot MnO4 has charge of -2
SA
1a. Le Chatelier's principle = Partial opposition. Draw concentration graph to check.

[sin0001]

Understanding the concepts & practicing heaps. To achieve really high marks though, you also need luck on the exam day

[curry_bro]

@sin0001 i suppose you need a little bit of luck on the day of any exam to score well but i have developed a policy which i try sticking to, so that i get into the exam with a good mind set. hard work>luck:D
@ shenz0r: that is comforting. i really want a 42 raw in chem, if not higher, so i do appreciate any advice. yeah i think im going to have to tackle chem a little differently than i did biology, because chem seems to be moreso about application, and less regurgitation (which underscores vce bio imo).

i already have a chem log book (due to the copious number of mistakes ive already made in AOS1 of the textbook... urgh). i had a log book for bio as well, and it really helps in perfecting your conceptual knowledge, as well as your exam technique.

[ShiCarnt]

in my experience thoroughly understanding the concepts was the most important part, theres not really much memory work for chem. in my experience note-taking from the book sufficed when done properly. i personally have difficulty with concentrating for long enough to complete a trial exam so just focused on trying to properly understand how everything worked rather than churning through question after question and exam after exam

[Nobby]

Just do heaps of questions. From every fucking study guide you get your hands on. From every practise paper.

I would be weary of doing this as you can sort of become a robot and instinctively just do the steps for different questions without really thinking about them, which can become a problem when a different type of questions comes your way and you a) don't know how to do it and/or b) race through it like its another type of q and get it wrong.

[Shenz0r]

I would be weary of doing this as you can sort of become a robot and instinctively just do the steps for different questions without really thinking about them, which can become a problem when a different type of questions comes your way and you a) don't know how to do it and/or b) race through it like its another type of q and get it wrong.

You can iron this out with good exam technique though, and by making effective use of your error logbook.

[AllAboutTheLGs]

I personally:

1. spammed questions, especially stoich. Continuous spamming made stoich almost like second nature for me, and I would start to cruise through these types of questions.
2. spammed practice exams. Did like 35 for Unit 3 and after a while some questions pop up twice and they just sort of stick in your brain. When I would get a question wrong I would ensure that I fully understoof the question, wrote out a good prepared answer and kept a mental note in my head.

for unit 4 where it was more concepts based I'd suggest focusing more time on understanding the concepts themselves rather than just drilling questions. This is what I failed at doing and ultimately led to my sub par exam 2 score :p