Re: Successful Students Share your Thoughts - 09 Journey

[IntoTheNewWorld]

download TT's cheat sheet.
Then do Checkpoints =P

(I'm ignoring the thread title saying "Successful students")

[kenhung123]

thread closed

[naved_s9994]

'Physics, is like the futher maths of science'
It seriously isnt hard too score high, I would recommend going crazy over your Chemistry/English/Methods instead.

[tommyk221]

'Physics, is like the futher maths of science'
It seriously isnt hard too score high, I would recommend going crazy over your Chemistry/English/Methods instead.

Agreed. Just load up on trial papers to get some practice before exams and you'll be sweet.
(STAV, Insight, CSE and Neap are the best trials in my experience)

[appianway]

I'm not really sure how you define 'successful', seeing as we don't know our results yet... I got the top rank in my school though (I think it was because of my unit 4 grade...), so I'll try and answer your questions

What textbook do you recommend?

I used the Heinemann, which covered most of the material, but had a few mistakes. I've heard that Nelson explains the course pretty well though.

What study routines do you suggest? (Trials, notes, text book questions? etc)

Make sure you understand the content. Maybe do flow charts and draw some diagrams; perhaps design an experiment using the main ideas.

What additional study material do you suggest to purchase? (Checkpoints, A+, leading edge)

Checkpoints are pretty systematic, so they're good to use, even though they have quite a few errors. The A+ exams are OK, and the notes are a neat summary.

What to look out for in general topics or EXAM? (Rounding too early? Common tricks? Tricks you found annoying?)

To be honest, VCE physics ultimately boils down to how careful you are. This year, the students who possess the greatest aptitude for the subject might not get the highest marks - there weren't many questions which probed a deep understanding of the content, and plus, the VCE course's greatly simplified. Make sure that you're on top of your explanations, and check your work throughly. It's also really important that you understand that your grades aren't a reflection of your talent - it allows you to see the exam for what it really is, and lets you relax a little.

How do you handle the exam efficiently? (Time management, reading back to front during reading time etc)

I guess I've already said that you should be careful... and I'm not sure if you need to worry about exam technique yet! You'll find that you'll have plenty of time in the exam, so just make sure that you answer every question carefully and thoroughly.

Any special methods (tricks) to solve particular problem easily?

You're going to be given every single formula you need during the course, which is a shame, because it won't test how you understand the concepts. Work everything out with algebra before you sub in values, so that your working is dimensionally correct. You'll also find that this approach allows you to define things that you might not have thought of - for instance, if you're asked the initial angle of elevation, you'd be able to find out your answer if you rearranged the equation so that sin(theta) was on one side. You probably won't find any tricky questions in the VCE course though...

Any additional tips you would like to suggest to help future students!

Take it easy. It's a shame that the VCE course is so simplistic - it doesn't reward an aptitude in physics, but hey, that's something that you're going to have to deal with. Try and extend yourself... learn about more fascinating areas of the subjects whilst applying the basics from the 3/4 course.

[vcesuccess]

Thats a very generous reply appianway

[IntoTheNewWorld]

I suggest rearranging your formulas in every possible way on your cheat sheet beforehand to save time during the exam. This is particularly useful for the rather cumbersome gravity formulas.

[kenhung123]

Oh really? Normally I "assume" its really easy to rearrange so don't really bother. Seems like a good little trick though, thanks.

[NE2000]

I think it is safer and better for you to rearrange them quickly in the exam and then check whether you've got the same thing on the formula sheet. The reason I say this is because I think that if you make a mistake using a derived formula that isn't immediately recognized by the examiner then you take an extra risk with the method mark. I'm not sure about this, but it is really easy to rearrange them so it shouldn't cause a problem.

And just on that note, in Unit 3 you might come across a group of projectile motion formulae which are basically just derived from the origin principles, and I found it is probably best to ignore these and use your basic projectile motion principles.

[kenhung123]

Does this imply the addition of alternative constituents? E.g. replace a (acceleration) with v-u/t2-t1?

[crappy]

Make sure you master the detailed studies. If you're a student that is looking for a 40+ study score, you'll be on the verge of suicide if you realise you circled the wrong bubble or something. It hurts alot.

[kenhung123]

As in detailed study>core study?

[crappy]

As in detailed study>core study?

no no no. Just make sure you got the detail study down pat. The core study is much more important as thats where the bulk of the marks come from. Its because each MC question is worth 2 marks, so that means you could get everything right in core and lose 3 or 4 MC detailed study questions, and be out of the A+ range.

[kenhung123]

Oh gosh! 2 marks! You gotta be kidding me. I get what your saying...So detailed study has no SA?

[crappy]

Oh gosh! 2 marks! You gotta be kidding me. I get what your saying...So detailed study has no SA?

yeah its just multiple choice. But there is no need to worry, most of the detailed study questions are trivial if you are doing structures and materials for unit 3 and Sound for unit 4.

But I think at your school they pick relativity and photonics, I cant really remember.