DON'T READ YOUR TEXTBOOKS YOU'RE WASTING YOUR TIME

[password]

Dear VCENOTES   

throughout my schooling I have been given information in text books and stuff which I simply haven't needed. they may have been to make the book more interesting, to make it seem like a bigger book (more content) or to illustrate examples that will never to examined in the context of the example.

earlier this year I spent a frustratingly long time memorizing something in physics I never needed.

In year 12, I don't want any of this 'shit'

(or maybe these year 12 books don't have unnecessary content (apart from the obvious like job profiles in the nelson chemistry books) because they are meant for serious business)

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what can you tell me about the following textbooks about stuff that will be a waste of my time to learn [they are all for year 12's - the 3 and 4 versions of the books)

jacaranda physics
heinemean chemistry
essentials methods
methods math quest
nature of biology


thank you!
i'm sure your information will continue to be a valuable resource for future students.

[dekoyl]

SO YOU'RE SEEKING FOR ADVICE? I FOUND THE TEXTBOOKS ALL QUITE HELPFUL.
AND GOING A BIT FURTHER ISN'T GOING TO HURT

Jacaranda Physics: It's okay. I never found anything a waste of time. However, my teacher didn't really teach out of the book. It was a reference for me.
Heinemann Chemistry: All good.
Essentials Methods: All good.
Math Quest Methods: Dunno
Nature of Biology: Dunno

[kyzoo]

All textbooks have information that you don't need for an exam, it's up to you to decide what is redundant and what is not. You have to develop the information filtering skills to deal with it.

In a way its preparation for the real world - you will be bombarded with information and you won't have enough time to read, understand or memorize everything. Instead you need to choose what is important and what is a waste of time.

Please don't blame the book. Instead figure out how to cope with it.

[monokekie]

I disagree ith the headding... Textsbooks are valuable resources and are worth your read/reads. VCE textbooks are made accordingly to VCAA study designs, they are there for your reference and provide you with much valuable information about the course concepts. Its certainly true that you may not need all those information for an exam, but if you would like someone to tell you about what's actually needed, you'll need to ask an examiner.

or, try to become a psychic

[NE2000]

I reckon reading the spurious information in textbooks provides some depth to your knowledge and only aids understanding. Also, often in exams the questions will draw on common examples, which may sometimes be present in your textbook. If you want to score near the very high end in exams, it is best to cover all information, even that which may initially seem irrelevant.

For both methods books, there is very little present that won't be helpful. Jacaranda physics is quite good on staying on topic although there are some things that may not be useful. Heinemann chemistry is a good book and all the extra stuff will generally help more than harm. For biology in general as a subject it is good to know a lot of examples.

Of course, each book will have little sections where they go off into an area that won't be examined, but it's best to read through this initially but leave it out when making your notes. That way you don't spend too much time on it but you still have a general idea in case you can use that information in the exam somewhere.

[xXNovaxX]

What I tend to do, well what I DID more like it, was in year 11 I printed the study design and went through the whole book page by page for I.T, yes EVERY PAGE and circled the stuff/pages I need to know.

Well guess what, when I got to the end I needed like 330 of the 340 pages.....

In addition, you would tend to KNOW what you need or you don't need, even without the study design IMO. Because it really depends on the subjects (I don't use the box u listed). So yeah, but I figure for Mathematics especially you need to know it ALL (i think)

[schmalex]

In the essentials book it will have an asterix next to things you don't need to know. Problem solved.

[xXNovaxX]

That's so weird, your name is "password"
But I am sure there is another member on here called "username"

o.O too much VN is not good for me =.=

[QuantumJG]

With maths you really only need the book for the questions.

IMO, you should really only investigate something further if you initially don't get it.

So take physics for an example. You already have a great understanding of mechanics and kinematics, but you don't understand magnetic induction. Don't waste your time reading over mechanics and kinematics (try exam questions in them and then see how you are going with those topics) and spend your time getting yourself around magnetic induction.

So basically you are best off filtering than just avoiding your textbook. In uni I learnt this the hard way, I read EVERYTHING in my physics textbook for the first few weeks and burnt out from it. This year I hope to do this a bit better.

[appianway]

Maybe it's just me, but sometimes the textbooks are interesting to read. I found that with geography, especially because the book covered material ranging from unit 1 to unit 4.

[Fyrefly]

That's so weird, your name is "password"
But I am sure there is another member on here called "username"

o.O too much VN is not good for me =.=

Do you reckon his password is username?

[xXNovaxX]

LOL, *refer to attached image at this stage*

 

[NE2000]

So take physics for an example. You already have a great understanding of mechanics and kinematics, but you don't understand magnetic induction. Don't waste your time reading over mechanics and kinematics (try exam questions in them and then see how you are going with those topics) and spend your time getting yourself around magnetic induction.

Probably a good technique for uni where textbooks are huge. But I wouldn't recommend it for VCE, there are small details that you may miss. Skipping a section because "you know it already" could end up costing you those small marks that make up study score points (especially in a subject like physics).