Text Book Any Good?

[JamieLeaf]

Hey Guys,
After having my first chemistry 3 4 class, my teacher said that a lot of the content in VCE chemistry isn't even in the Heinemann Textbook. Throughout the holidays I have been reading through the Hienemann Textbook and have found the content alright. However, I am worried that I am not learning each topic completely. Could someone, preferably a former year 12 chemistry student, tell me whether the Heinemann Textbook contains most/all of the necessary content for VCE chemistry or whether I need to learn the content elsewhere?? Thanks!!

[Lear]

Hey Guys,
After having my first chemistry 3 4 class, my teacher said that a lot of the content in VCE chemistry isn't even in the Heinemann Textbook. Throughout the holidays I have been reading through the Hienemann Textbook and have found the content alright. However, I am worried that I am not learning each topic completely. Could someone, preferably a former year 12 chemistry student, tell me whether the Heinemann Textbook contains most/all of the necessary content for VCE chemistry or whether I need to learn the content elsewhere?? Thanks!!

I wouldn't say it doesn't have a majority of the content. It's quite comprehensive. There are just tiny bits that textbooks sometimes miss. This is why you use the study design  religiously. It ensures you don't learn the extra fluff textbooks include while also making sure you learn everything that can be assessed.

An example I found last year was  regarding this point in the Chemistry study design 'comparison of glucose, fructose, sucrose and the artificial sweetener
aspartame with reference to their structures and energy content'.  The heinemann Chemistry  12 textbook didn't answer this at all!
It's often the niche details that textbooks sometimes over look. But in general the heinemann textbook is pretty useful does cover all of the main ideas.

[Sine]

Hey Guys,
After having my first chemistry 3 4 class, my teacher said that a lot of the content in VCE chemistry isn't even in the Heinemann Textbook. Throughout the holidays I have been reading through the Hienemann Textbook and have found the content alright. However, I am worried that I am not learning each topic completely. Could someone, preferably a former year 12 chemistry student, tell me whether the Heinemann Textbook contains most/all of the necessary content for VCE chemistry or whether I need to learn the content elsewhere?? Thanks!!

I think most prescribed textbooks will cover the content well (including Heinemann which I used for the previous study design). The only problem would be that they overload the text with a lot of random stuff that you don't need to know - it does help with context though.

[Yertle the Turtle]

Hey Guys,
After having my first chemistry 3 4 class, my teacher said that a lot of the content in VCE chemistry isn't even in the Heinemann Textbook. Throughout the holidays I have been reading through the Hienemann Textbook and have found the content alright. However, I am worried that I am not learning each topic completely. Could someone, preferably a former year 12 chemistry student, tell me whether the Heinemann Textbook contains most/all of the necessary content for VCE chemistry or whether I need to learn the content elsewhere?? Thanks!!

I personally found the Heinemann textbook great, really useful, though (like all VCE textbooks) it did tend to fill things out with fluff. I didn't really feel like it missed much/anything out, though that may have been from having a teacher who used the textbook and then filled out, so I didn't notice any discrepancies. Like Lear said, use the study design as a checklist to make sure that you are covering everything, and by doing questions as well you will notice if their are any holes in what you have learnt.

[smamsmo22]

I used Heinemann last year and I thought it was pretty sufficient in covering all the required content (and at times, more than enough), but as the posters before me mentioned, the best approach is to let the study design be your no.1 guide (: If I could add anything though/recommend a different resource which was important for chem/Heinemann, it'd definitely be the VCAA checkpoints book (or at least VCAA practice questions), but this is more for being exam/SAC ready, rather than understanding basic theory. I don't know how much you're using the review questions in your textbook, but while they provide a good basis for application of the content, they really aren't exam standard.