Learning activities? are they useful?

[upandgo]

is it beneficial to do them? my teacher set chapter 1 for holiday homework but as i'm working ahead i'm not sure whether to do them all or just stick with the textbook's practice exam questions?

[clarke54321]

is it beneficial to do them? my teacher set chapter 1 for holiday homework but as i'm working ahead i'm not sure whether to do them all or just stick with the textbook's practice exam questions?

Hey,

I'm also finishing legal studies this year and have been given the same homework. I find that they are helpful to solidify my knowledge on different sections before I move onto checkpoints. But it depends on the best ways you learn. 

[YellowTongue]

Your teacher set them, therefore you should do them.

Trust your teacher, he/she knows what they are doing (well, they should anyway....)

[HasibA]

Did legal this year, tbh they're 'alright'. Not really all that good and at times, far too specific for the Exam. If your teacher asked for it, defs do it, but focus more on exam questions, which cover chunks of the course, rather than Learning Activities which focus on specific cases/info. Good luck! Reading ahead is always good- especially for Legal!

[clarke54321]

Did legal this year, tbh they're 'alright'. Not really all that good and at times, far too specific for the Exam. If your teacher asked for it, defs do it, but focus more on exam questions, which cover chunks of the course, rather than Learning Activities which focus on specific cases/info. Good luck! Reading ahead is always good- especially for Legal!

Hi Hasib,

For legal 3/4 did you always stay one chapter ahead?

[HasibA]

Hi Hasib,

For legal 3/4 did you always stay one chapter ahead?

nah not really, because legal had a lot of content. However, i had the A+ notes by Cengage and made sure to read all of it (150 pages) within the first term- this set me up for success later on.

essentially, to do well in legal , two things must occur:
1) you know your content really well , to the extent you know where things overlap and connect. Also, know you case studies listed in the study design (which you should read) as well as some extra ones.
2) know how to structure your answers and how to clearly answer the WHOLE question.

good luck! Just do your holiday homework, and if you want, go ahead. Enjoy your holidays while you can and then work hard, effectively and consistency this year and you'd had a great shot at 45+, if not 50! It's really (comparatively) to do well in Legal, alongside the fact it's interesting for most people (found it a bit more boring than units 1/2)

[clarke54321]

nah not really, because legal had a lot of content. However, i had the A+ notes by Cengage and made sure to read all of it (150 pages) within the first term- this set me up for success later on.

essentially, to do well in legal , two things must occur:
1) you know your content really well , to the extent you know where things overlap and connect. Also, know you case studies listed in the study design (which you should read) as well as some extra ones.
2) know how to structure your answers and how to clearly answer the WHOLE question.

good luck! Just do your holiday homework, and if you want, go ahead. Enjoy your holidays while you can and then work hard, effectively and consistency this year and you'd had a great shot at 45+, if not 50! It's really (comparatively) to do well in Legal, alongside the fact it's interesting for most people (found it a bit more boring than units 1/2)

Great, thanks for the advice!

[upandgo]

Did legal this year, tbh they're 'alright'. Not really all that good and at times, far too specific for the Exam. If your teacher asked for it, defs do it, but focus more on exam questions, which cover chunks of the course, rather than Learning Activities which focus on specific cases/info. Good luck! Reading ahead is always good- especially for Legal!

thankyou!  i was thinking the same thing but i just wanted to be sure

[chasej]

Hi Hasib,

For legal 3/4 did you always stay one chapter ahead?

Personally I found reading ahead to be very useful for a content heavy subject like legal. Reading ahead meant I already knew and had notes on the content before class and thus class was basically a revision session which solidified my knowledge.

I think it's quite a powerful approach for content heavy subjects as it minimises tedious memorisation (for me at least) and allows you to focus on preparing for the assessments which is especially important in VCE.

[clarke54321]

Personally I found reading ahead to be very useful for a content heavy subject like legal. Reading ahead meant I already knew and had notes on the content before class and thus class was basically a revision session which solidified my knowledge.

I think it's quite a powerful approach for content heavy subjects as it minimises tedious memorisation (for me at least) and allows you to focus on preparing for the assessments which is especially important in VCE.

Yes, I agree, I took this approach for units 1/2 and I really benefited from it so I think I'll do the same for 3/4. 

[meganrobyn]

Go online, download and read through as many exams as you can, plus skim the Assessor's Reports. It's really important that you know the kinds of questions that are asked and can recognise an exam question from a non-exam question. Anything non-exam is just good for content consolidation and memory - plus, it can help you practise explaining your knowledge. But it's not the same as an exam question - and most of the textbooks have some really meh 'exam-style' questions.

Essentially, doing ANY question is good practice for SOMETHING (exam timing, expression, memorisation etc); you just need to be able to look at that question and know what precise it *is* that you'll be practising doing it, and then you can make your own educated decision about its value to you (eg in one topic you might need a lot of specific content revision, while in another not so much).