Pathways

[caitie145]

Hey!

For the HSC i am doing pathways (doing the HSC over 2 years) and i was wondering if i should be looking at the prelim stuff for the subjects that i will be doing next year. as well as i find that i still have so much work to do even though i am doing less subjects, i'm not sure how that happened; i guess i'm being more thorough or something? but i was wondering as a general idea what kind of notes i should be making, should i be bothering with for example writing notes on each act and scene of Hamlet or am i going overboard?

Thanks!

[RuiAce]

So firstly, are you saying you plan to split your HSC up into two years? I am assuming you have real life issues that you have to deal with then. (No need to disclose any information.)

Prelim English notes are generally useless. Keeping some how to write essay tips may be nice but quotes and stuff are just no.

Also, the band 6 English student who doesn't prepare/adapt essays generally remembers around 15 examples (i.e. quotes and corresponding techniques) per idea/theme/concept anyway. Because on the day you're only going to put down about 8 or so.

[jamonwindeyer]

Hey!

For the HSC i am doing pathways (doing the HSC over 2 years) and i was wondering if i should be looking at the prelim stuff for the subjects that i will be doing next year. as well as i find that i still have so much work to do even though i am doing less subjects, i'm not sure how that happened; i guess i'm being more thorough or something? but i was wondering as a general idea what kind of notes i should be making, should i be bothering with for example writing notes on each act and scene of Hamlet or am i going overboard?

Thanks!

Hey there Caitie!! Ditto with Rui, prelim English is just practice writing essays and answering questions, definitely don't need quotes or anything like that 

Most subjects preliminary content aren't accessible, it is more about learning the SKILLS you will need to get your HSC work done properly. Writing essays. Managing time in exams. Etc. English particularly is exclusively skills, there is no overlap. Most subjects sort of form a foundation that you build on; not specifically necessary but definitely very useful to know to make your HSC easier. You won't be directly assessed on it, but it forms the basis for your HSC content.

Then some subjects, the prelim content is accessible and continues directly on to the HSC. Math subjects are included here, and for me, so was Music 1.

Best bet is to ask your teacher their opinions  or of course ask us! English definitely don't stress about keeping notes, what other subjects do you do? 

[caitie145]

So this year i'm doing English Advanced, Extension english and Ancient history.
Next year i will be doing General Maths, PDHPE, Legal studies and Senior Science

thanks for the advice! i'm just concerned that now that i have more free time i'll be using it to waste time instead of actually doing productive work, like for ancient i'm writing general notes and then notes that also follow the syllabus and then handwriting them to consolidate the knowledge. I feel like this is just a waste of time though and i'm not actually progressing anywhere and i'm not exactly sure what to do.

[RuiAce]

So this year i'm doing English Advanced, Extension english and Ancient history.
Next year i will be doing General Maths, PDHPE, Legal studies and Senior Science

thanks for the advice! i'm just concerned that now that i have more free time i'll be using it to waste time instead of actually doing productive work, like for ancient i'm writing general notes and then notes that also follow the syllabus and then handwriting them to consolidate the knowledge. I feel like this is just a waste of time though and i'm not actually progressing anywhere and i'm not exactly sure what to do.

If you're not sure about what to do then you should be consulting your teacher for help.

However, if you want to gun, then I can say that for English Advanced you should be practicing lots of essays and submitting them to your teacher for feedback.

[jamonwindeyer]

So this year i'm doing English Advanced, Extension english and Ancient history.
Next year i will be doing General Maths, PDHPE, Legal studies and Senior Science

thanks for the advice! i'm just concerned that now that i have more free time i'll be using it to waste time instead of actually doing productive work, like for ancient i'm writing general notes and then notes that also follow the syllabus and then handwriting them to consolidate the knowledge. I feel like this is just a waste of time though and i'm not actually progressing anywhere and i'm not exactly sure what to do.

Any study strategy that sinks the content in is absolutely fine!! Just be honest with yourself, is what you are doing actually helping? Doing lots of practice questions is the best way to consolidate knowledge in my opinion, so answering lots of past Ancient questions might be a great idea!

Totally agree with Rui for English though, summarise your quotes and stuff on some easy to read study sheets, and then smash out practice essays and get feedback from your teacher, or even on our marking forums! 

[jakesilove]

So this year i'm doing English Advanced, Extension english and Ancient history.
Next year i will be doing General Maths, PDHPE, Legal studies and Senior Science

thanks for the advice! i'm just concerned that now that i have more free time i'll be using it to waste time instead of actually doing productive work, like for ancient i'm writing general notes and then notes that also follow the syllabus and then handwriting them to consolidate the knowledge. I feel like this is just a waste of time though and i'm not actually progressing anywhere and i'm not exactly sure what to do.

Just to chime in here, I think that it's really important to cater your study style to each of your subjects. It sounds like you're doing the right things; for History, writing out multiple sets of notes (with varying degrees of detail) can be seriously helpful, but also think about doing palmcards with just statistics and facts, maybe worksheets that you can fill in to help memorise stuff (explanations of all of these things can be found on the forums!) and then just generally spending time thinking about your thesis. Same goes for English; whilst you definitely need to spend time writing essays, memorising quotes etc., spending time just thinking about your thesis and the way you plan to structure an answer can be just as important.

As you say, since you have more time on your hands per subject it might be easy to feel like you're 'wasting time'. However, at the end of the day (and this is something that HSC students often forget) there is really only a limited amount of information you need to know. You could study one topic of the Ancient curriculum for the rest of your life, and still have lifetimes worth of content to learn and to include in a thesis. As such, striving for perfection isn't always the best approach. If you think you've studied enough, or written great notes, don't be afraid to go and watch something on Netflix, or head to the beach (loving this winter heat wave by the way, Climate Change be damned). Because of the structure of your HSC, you will definitely have more time on your hands, and to be honest that's probably a great thing. Hopefully, you will feel less stressed, have less pressure, and be able to prepare more thoroughly. And, if you ever need help in any of your subjects, or with studying in general, we're always here to help.

Looking forward to seeing you on the forums

Jake

[jamonwindeyer]

Just to chime in here, I think that it's really important to cater your study style to each of your subjects. It sounds like you're doing the right things; for History, writing out multiple sets of notes (with varying degrees of detail) can be seriously helpful, but also think about doing palmcards with just statistics and facts, maybe worksheets that you can fill in to help memorise stuff (explanations of all of these things can be found on the forums!) and then just generally spending time thinking about your thesis. Same goes for English; whilst you definitely need to spend time writing essays, memorising quotes etc., spending time just thinking about your thesis and the way you plan to structure an answer can be just as important.

As you say, since you have more time on your hands per subject it might be easy to feel like you're 'wasting time'. However, at the end of the day (and this is something that HSC students often forget) there is really only a limited amount of information you need to know. You could study one topic of the Ancient curriculum for the rest of your life, and still have lifetimes worth of content to learn and to include in a thesis. As such, striving for perfection isn't always the best approach. If you think you've studied enough, or written great notes, don't be afraid to go and watch something on Netflix, or head to the beach (loving this winter heat wave by the way, Climate Change be damned). Because of the structure of your HSC, you will definitely have more time on your hands, and to be honest that's probably a great thing. Hopefully, you will feel less stressed, have less pressure, and be able to prepare more thoroughly. And, if you ever need help in any of your subjects, or with studying in general, we're always here to help.

Looking forward to seeing you on the forums

Jake

ATAR Notes at 1am, you are a machine mate 

[jakesilove]

ATAR Notes at 1am, you are a machine mate 

The Board of Studies never sleeps, so neither do I...