My first tip:
i made a post about this in the class of 2016 discussion but I'll copy it here:
People say "work smart not hard" really often, but it's easier said than done. Fortunately though, I recently had a friend who did some research in the education field and came up with a relatively solid way of doing this.
It's all about conceptual understanding.
Like for example in bio there was the term "action potential". Rather than reciting and rote learning "action potential is an electrical signal which bla bla bla", it would be actually better for you to:
1. Describe it in the simplest and fewest words possible "It is a signal that transmits a message from one thing to another"
2. Expand off that simple sentence "signal = electrical, one thing to another = receptor to effector / neruron to neuron"
3. Once you understand the entire concept, then place the label "action potential" on it.
So in the SAC/exam even if you forget the technical definition of a term, you would remember your basic sentence describing it and can branch off from there. (better-than-nothing attitude lol)
I don't personally understand the science behind this, but tl;dr, apparently the brain will be limited in understanding a concept if you place a name/label/term on it too quickly.
Why i think this is so important is because sooooo many people think you can just rote learn bio... but NO. my school gets at least one 50 in bio every year and I think this is partly due to how my teacher teaches. She makes sure that we understand how things work, then apply it. How? She got us to teach each other while learning new concepts and she quizzed us quickly at the start of each lesson.
So its highly unlikely you'll have this same teacher but you can apply this to your studying:
- teach others - friends, siblings, family members etc - teaching someone = you have to simplify the concepts down as much as possible, this makes it also easier to understand for yourself, especially in stressful situations. So in the exam even if you forgot the exact definition of something or the exact steps of a process,thinking back to your simplified explanations give you a starting point, and more often then not your brain will make the connections and you'll be able to answer any question.
- quiz yourself, get classmates to quiz each other - just to check whether you actually know it. Sometimes you think you know something, but if someone asked you in different ways, different words and phrasing it trips you up. This is where a lot of people go wrong in bio, so testing yourself minimises this problem.
How I studied bio in year 12
- I wrote no notes - I just did not have the time and I also found that it didn't work for me. Summarising the textbook etc didn't help me remember anything. During class, I would type down everything my teacher said. When I had any spare time, even just five minutes, I would read through these over and over. Soon enough, I had them memorised but this definitely was not the main way I studied bio. (next two tips were my main ways of study)
- I drew diagrams for absolutely everything. The best way to explain things is by using a diagram. a LABELLED diagram. Especially for topics like mitosis and meiosis, where steps can easily be confused, I basically drew a cartoon strip of the process. In the exam I pictured my drawings to remember information.
- I spent heaps of time doing practice questions, but even more time going through the answers. This is what I reckon is the best way to study. The worded questions is what trips people up in exams. By studying the sample answers in exam reports and the book Checkpoints, I realised that every question is nearly the same, you just have to change the key words to fit the topic. This way I had a template in how I wrote my worded answers which was really helpful in regards to time management in the exam.
- Use logic - the 2015 exam was weird. The last few questions were all about evolution and there hadn't been questions like them before. But with general knowledge and using pure logic, you could work your way through it. I remember freaking out when I saw the questions, but then I realised if i struggle then others will too. I calmed down and thought about what the examiner could examine us on. Ask yourself: what are the key areas of study? which one does this relate to? what topic within that area of study? what are they specifically trying to test?
With an understanding of those things, all my answers were clear and concise. (think about when your examiner is correcting the exams, they correct hundreds - long-winded confusing answers are not helpful at all. )
Last but not least,
I was thorough, but not excessive. If the teacher said I didn't need to know it, I didn't waste my time on it. The five subjects i did in year 12 were hectic, I had sacs every week and heaps of content to learn. At the start of the year I went through the study designs, wrote up a checklist of topics that were examinable and I made sure I knew it all by the exam date.Having extra knowledge is great if you have time, but in my case, although i learnt the bare minimum, I knew it inside out, back to front.
Also I'd recommend using:
-
http://bio.elevateeducation.com towards the exam date. The site/company had a detailed list of required knowledge, a timetable on how to study it all before the exam and ways to hep memorise things. I found it quite close to the exam so I couldn't use it to the fullest, but it was really helpful.
- AN - you already do but i must reiterate how helpful this forum is. Particularly Thushan and his glorious life-saving "exam-revision" notes. I met him at the AN lectures (are you going?) and talked to him on Facebook. If i ever had a question or needed advice I'd just Thushan and I'd get a great answer.
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