Login

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

March 29, 2024, 07:33:25 am

Author Topic: VCE Biology advice!  (Read 3706 times)  Share 

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Owlbird83

  • BLAA 2020
  • Moderator
  • Forum Leader
  • *****
  • Posts: 553
  • Respect: +785
VCE Biology advice!
« on: July 22, 2019, 09:01:25 pm »
+16
VCE Biology advice!

Hi! I did bio last year, so I hope this will be help you in revising for the exam!  ;D

Practically everything I am going to write, you probably know already, but since you have clicked on this to read, I am guessing that you want another person’s point of view on what worked for them!

One of the things I learned last year was quality over quantity! Last year I read so many VCE Bio guides written by amazingly smart people on AN Not because I was procrastinating or anything. I concluded from them that you should take time after each practice exam you do, to thoroughly go through your mistakes to prevent them from happening again, and make sure you learn everything from them that you felt not completely comfortable with. I was so sure I’d do this because it seemed like a really important thing. I drew up a table so I could put in my score and the areas I need to work on and everything! For the first few practice exams I did, I wrote down my self feedback and stuff. However, I ended up getting too caught up in the amount of practice exams! Even after reading the guides that told me more practice exams does not equal higher score*, I still got caught up in trying to do as many as possible! The practice exam questions you have gotten wrong are like gold! Make sure you correct your exams and learn from your mistakes! Maybe have a reward for yourself after you go through the solutions for the exams, because otherwise, it’s more tempting to increase the number of exams completed rather than ‘waste’ time understanding your mistakes (for me anyway).
* I did around 20 practice exams and got a 42. My friend who was averaging almost the same as me for the SACs did around 12 practice exams and got a 48! (But she is also an amazing human/genius!).


Study design!! When you are revising for your exam, the study design is your guide! One thing I suggest is making a mindmap for every topic (or chapter from your textbook). But don't include any definitions or any explanations, just use single words or short phrases to remind you of everything you need to know about from that particular topic and the key words and concepts, just to make sure you aren't forgetting about anything. This is helpful to be able to identify my areas that you needed to work on because if a word you wrote down doesn’t really trigger any memories or understanding, you know you have to get back to it.

I was against writing notes, I used to think they were a waste if time, but I changed my mind. They are really time consuming, but in my opinion, it’s because the process of making is slow that they are helpful. I didn’t make notes for the whole year. I only started when I was revising, and I made up to immunity. I felt confident that I understood the content well, because my brain had a lot of time to absorb it slowly. Also, I still reckon notes are definitely not helpful when you are passively copying sentences! That is when note making is a waste of time. If you aren’t actively thinking about the stuff you are writing it won’t be that beneficial (in my opinion). Also, pick out only the vital key stuff to write down, try not to write down chunks.
Notes:
-Tonnes of colour!!
-Tonnes of diagrams!
-Less words!
-Follow study design (instead of textbook) There’s quite a lot of irrelevant stuff in there.[/li][/list]
-Make them pretty, but efficiently. I felt so excited after doing 2 pages of notes, because I felt so proud of them because they were not an eyesore and I wanted to write more!


Use the notes on AtarNotes!! In the notes section of this website there are tonnes of notes people have already made! These were so much more valuable to me that my textbook when revising, because they were a condensed version of the important stuff. In particular, I found Phoenixxfire’s notes really helpful!

Positivity is important and can give you more confidence and less nerves I think. Whether I felt it or not, when the topic of the bio exam came up, I tried to say something like ‘I’m so excited!’ (Because I loved bio) . But also, I reckon you can fool yourself into believing that you are excited rather than scared.

The exam! I was super nervous before the exam, so I brought a book and read outside in the courtyard for about an hour in the morning. I kept nervous-smiling at everyone, they probably thought I was crazy or something haha.
During reading time definitely skim through the whole exam, right up to the end, to make sure you know roughly the areas, and also how long it is. Also, it’s good to answer the multiple choice in your mind if you have time left, and then when you start you can quickly work through them when writing time begins, so you feel confident.

I hope this was somewhat helpful and you got something out of it!
Good luck with all your revising!  ;D
Have fun in the exam!  ;)


« Last Edit: July 22, 2019, 09:03:01 pm by Owlbird83 »
2018: Biology
2019: Chemistry, Physics, Math Methods, English, Japanese
2020: Bachelor of Psychology (Monash)

Comet striker

  • Forum Regular
  • **
  • Posts: 74
  • Respect: +15
Re: VCE Biology advice!
« Reply #1 on: July 23, 2019, 11:03:12 pm »
+3
Not because I was procrastinating or anything.
Yep Im def not procrastinating rn reading this guide
Anyway thnx for the helpful guide. Always gives me confidence and a slight nudge in the right direction.
Leaves from the vine
Falling so slow
Like fragile tiny shells
Drifting in the foam
Little soldier boy
Come marching home
Brave soldier boy
Comes marching home

kimokeeffe

  • Forum Regular
  • **
  • Posts: 55
  • Respect: +4
Re: VCE Biology advice!
« Reply #2 on: August 26, 2019, 05:44:00 pm »
+1
thanks !
this was actually super helpful :)

Owlbird83

  • BLAA 2020
  • Moderator
  • Forum Leader
  • *****
  • Posts: 553
  • Respect: +785
Re: VCE Biology advice!
« Reply #3 on: August 26, 2019, 07:10:55 pm »
0
Yep Im def not procrastinating rn reading this guide
Anyway thnx for the helpful guide. Always gives me confidence and a slight nudge in the right direction.


thanks !
this was actually super helpful :)


Thanks guys!! I'm so glad it was helpful!! ;D
2018: Biology
2019: Chemistry, Physics, Math Methods, English, Japanese
2020: Bachelor of Psychology (Monash)