Just thought I'd share some advice that I gave to another student who asked me via PM.
I find it really hard to express my ideas clearly as well as including key points. So how should I improve this? just read over my errors?
My Answer:"This is usually the biggest problem students (who know their stuff) come across when facing SA questions, more often than not it's because you know so much and want to include so much that you may actually miss crucial points whilst including some unnecessary information.... So I'll attempt to write out my thought process when I answered questions.
1. read the question - what topic is this testing? what part of the study design is it asking about? (use the other questions in the exam to also give you a hint - e.g. there's already 10 questions on meiosis, so this one might be more about mutations rather than the process of meiosis) What style of question is this? (lengthy explanation vs. keyword question)
2. outline (in your head or on paper for those big 4/5 mark questions) the important facts you know you need to include
3. re-read the question - does your outline answer the question?
4. if yes, write out your answer - preferably in a logical order --> using dot points actually makes answers a lot clearer - write it as if you are teaching someone with minimal bio knowledge (don't explain every word but do it as if you are teaching them) and I generally included a summary/conclusion sentence in the really long qs
e.g.
Spoiler
how does the nervous system transmit signals across the synapse?
1. an action potential arrives at the nerve terminal
2. the action potential stimulates the exocytosis of vesicles which contain neurotransmitters
3. neurotransmitters are released into the synapse and diffuse across the gap
4. neurotransmitters bind to receptors on the next neuron which initiates an action potential in the subsequent neuron
Therefore, neurotransmitters act as chemical messengers across the synapse allowing signals to be transmitted.
5. RE-read the question - have you answered it? can you see were the marks could be allocated? if yes move on... if no well fix it up
Aside from that, I reckon for revision now, reading over errors would be good. If you happen to have a copy of checkpoints - reading their sample answers is even better
How I approached checkpoints revision in the last few days before the exam was a bit like planning english essays
i.e. read question --> plan my answer to the question --> read the sample answer --> do I have the key points?
After a while, you'll notice a very logical way of expressing the details in your answer which you can mimic for the exam.
If you don't have checkpoints - have a look at sample answers of other practice papers - they are less detailed but should be just as good."
Hope that helps
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Topic: Biology 3/4 Exam Discussion (Read 52973 times)