Subject Selections - Legal Studies 3/4?

[silverstars]

Hi all,

I'm in Year 11 and is currently selecting subjects for Year 12 next year. I'm a bit indecisive as to whether or not I should pick up Legal 3/4. I currently do Studio Arts which is the only subject I'm considering to drop, as I have already decided to only keep one folio subject for next year (VCD) and have found Studio not being something I will further pursue my interests in. I consider myself a Humanities person and have contemplated about choosing Legal before, I think I can get a lot out of the subject and it'd be something relevant to life situations and potentially be advantageous to know about currently and later in life.

Therefore I just need so advice on the following aspects:

- Is Legal doable if I haven't done the previous units
- What resources should I look for to get an idea of the subject
- Study tips and general advice for doing Legal
- Anything else I should look out for.

Responses are much appreciated, thank you in advance. 

[Dem16]

Legal Studies 3/4 does not directly require knowledge from 1/2 so yes it is doable!
A book I have found very helpful is the A+ Study Guide.....it summarises everything you need to know with lots of practice exam questions.

[silverstars]

Thank you so much!

[clarke54321]

Hi all,

I'm in Year 11 and is currently selecting subjects for Year 12 next year. I'm a bit indecisive as to whether or not I should pick up Legal 3/4. I currently do Studio Arts which is the only subject I'm considering to drop, as I have already decided to only keep one folio subject for next year (VCD) and have found Studio not being something I will further pursue my interests in. I consider myself a Humanities person and have contemplated about choosing Legal before, I think I can get a lot out of the subject and it'd be something relevant to life situations and potentially be advantageous to know about currently and later in life.

Therefore I just need so advice on the following aspects:

- Is Legal doable if I haven't done the previous units
- What resources should I look for to get an idea of the subject
- Study tips and general advice for doing Legal
- Anything else I should look out for.

Responses are much appreciated, thank you in advance. 

Hi Silverstars,

As Debbie has pointed out, Legal Studies 3/4 can be done without the 1/2. Of course it is always better to have done the 1/2 of a subject before doing 3/4 for extra background knowledge but it is definitely not a problem.

To get an insight into the subject I would have a look over some past exams and examiners reports. In this way you are also exposed to the types of task words that you will have to learn and respond to as well as the content in general. Another alternative is to have a look over some Tmac Videos. TMac is a Victorian Legal Studies teacher who has a Youtube channel covering all of the topics studied in 3/4.

The most important thing in Legal Studies is doing practice questions. I can't emphasise this enough. The process I generally go through before a SAC is doing book work questions------>making notes----->doing practice VCAA questions------->doing practice SACs. By sticking to this routine I can ensure that I am always ready for SACs. Also, it is good to get frequent feedback from your teachers.

If you have any further questions throughout the year feel free to PM me.

Good luck with your subject selection!   

[silverstars]

Thank you so much for the advice! 

[Glasses]

I'd definitely recommend that you check out the Legal study design, and get a feel of what the subject entails. I personally love the subject, so hopefully you will too!!

You can definitely do legal without having done units 1/2. Some of the stuff you cover in 3/4 is just reiterating or expanding on stuff from units 1/2, but there is no assumed knowledge and you start from scratch - so I couldn't imagine it would be an issue.

With regards to resources, I've found the Justice & Outcomes Textbook to be great, as well as the A+ Notes and Legal Checkpoints. And although I haven't purchased it yet, I've heard the CPAP Guide is fantastic - (the author is actually active on the forums regularly [MeganRobyn]).

Probably one of the best pieces of advice I can give is not to try and rote learn the content. A lot of legal entails evaluating elements of Australia's legal and political systems, so memorising information won't be super helpful when it comes to answering the higher-mark questions. So I'd definitely recommend you regularly think and read about the strengths and weaknesses of the things your learning about, and how the different areas of study are interrelated - in addition to being able to apply and understand the information covered.

Best of luck!!

[silverstars]

Thank you so much! Will definitely look into those resources