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March 28, 2024, 11:20:21 pm

Author Topic: Reflections on doing units 1&2 in year 10  (Read 6344 times)

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J_Rho

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Re: Reflections on doing units 1&2 in year 10
« Reply #15 on: April 23, 2019, 06:01:34 pm »
+6
Subject: Biology 1/2 (Year 10)

Workload: Not a huge lot of work - but more then Year 10 subjects.

Was it interesting?: I found it almost always interesting. But there were a few dull areas as you'll find with any subject.

What did you expect:
I expected there to be more homework and for the content to be way harder.

What were you surprised by: I was surprised by how we had to lean so many different things in such depth.

What was the social environment like: Pretty good. However there was a divide between the Year 10's (there were 3 of us) and the Year 11's.

What would you do differently/keep the same?: I would have asked for help more and done more then the bare minimum cause now in 3/4 i'm having to work harder - for example learning about light independent/dependent stage of photosynthesis in 1/2 i didn't really pay attention and when learning more about it i have to work harder to understand cause i don't have a great understanding.
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English 30, Further Maths 33, Biology 33, Legal Studies 27, Psychology 32

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Ionic Doc

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Re: Reflections on doing units 1&2 in year 10
« Reply #16 on: April 23, 2019, 06:30:20 pm »
+4
Subject: Accounting 1/2 (Year 10)

Workload: Fairly moderate work load nothing insane

Was it interesting: Subjective to the individual, I guess if your interested in finance and want to pursue it as a career, accounting would be a great subject for u!

What did you expect: Not to sure to be honest . . . both my parents are in finance and they were really keen on me doing accounting but I genuinely hated it. I was expecting more calculations but I was bombarded with all this dreadful theory which never really stuck to me.

What were you surprised  by: Start of the year I was finding the content somewhat interesting but by term 2 everything changed. Content was very bland and dry, classed were tedious. I really thought accounting would be a lot more engaging but to me it was a horrible subject ( which I was a bit disappointed about)

What was the social environment like: Unfortunately my class was filled with idiotic year 11's who gave 0 shits about life. They were all good mates with the teacher which made the environment more like a social gathering than a class room. . .  ???
By the end of the year I was 100% going to drop accounting so I did not study for the exam at all!
I needed up getting 8% (lol) and to my surprise found out that I didn't get the lowest mark in the class  :o

What would you do differently / keep the same: Should've dropped the subject sooner . . . also put more effort in and gotten help from online and youtube instead of blaming the teacher for my lack of understanding. . .

anyways the lesson I learnt is to always choose the subjects your interested and passionate about instead of listening to your "finance background" parents. . .  ;)
2019/2020 - Psychology | Biology | Chemistry | Methods | Further | English
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hums_student

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Re: Reflections on doing units 1&2 in year 10
« Reply #17 on: April 28, 2019, 09:28:04 pm »
+6
Subject: Music Performance 1/2
(Year of completion: 2016)

Workload:
Incredibly low. Of course, this can vary from school to school. 

Was it interesting?:
The performance aspects were interesting. We got to choose our own pieces, had practicals twice a week, and mini performances every fortnight (keep in mind though this was how my teacher ran things, and every school does things different, especially at 1/2 level). The theory yes there's theory wasn’t. (See below)

What did you expect:
I had expected this subject, named music performance, to be 100% performance-based. Hence, I was really shocked to find that there’s a theoretical / written component to music perf as well.
Also, I had expected this to be a subject where I can use class time to get more practice done, except we didn't actually make much progress at school, no matter how much practicals we were given.

What were you surprised by:
I was surprised at how important theory was in music perf. Our final 1/2 exam didn’t even have a practical component - it was just a written exam. The theory wasn't hard, it was probably around AMEB Grade 2-3 (the hardest thing we ever learnt was perfect/plagal cadences - and we only needed to differentiate between the two, we didn't have to make our own). It just gets incredibly dull.

I also found this subject to be more biased towards contemporary/jazz musicians. For classical kids out there, you’ve been warned: this is very different to AMEB.

What was the social environment like:
Music perf definitely has one of the best social environments out of all possible VCE subjects. You’re always encouraged to talk and interact with other students, to get feedback on your performance and to give feedback to others. Being the only classical kid, I did solo while everyone else did group performance. I noticed that sometimes people get too involved in their group that they don’t talk to anyone else in the class.

If you’re thinking of doing music perf, make sure to use every opportunity to talk to others in your class, especially if you’re doing group! Being anti-social won't get you very far in this subject.

What would you do differently/keep the same?
I wish I had used year 10 to explore different styles of music. In year 10, I was preparing for my AMusA grading at the end of the year, so I was incredibly wrapped up in my own 'classical music bubble'. I saw music class at school as extra practice time - except it’s not.

Don’t expect to get much practice done at school - those times are for you to talk to your classmates and to learn more about their pieces. I don’t think music perf helped with my grading at all, but I did learn so much about other, more contemporary styles of music such as jazz. I wish I had used the year to gain a much deeper understanding of other music styles.

Note - I didn’t do music perf 3/4 as my school stopped running this subject.
2019-21: Bachelor of Arts (Politics & Int'l Relations / Economics)

caffinatedloz

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Re: Reflections on doing units 1&2 in year 10
« Reply #18 on: June 10, 2019, 06:57:15 pm »
+7
Subject:
1/2 Biology and 1/2 Religion and Society

Workload:
I found that biology was really content heavy and as much as I wanted to trying to thoroughly grasp every concept we touched on was too time-consuming. Things like the stages of photosynthesis/cellular respiration (as opposed to the broad ideas) and hundreds of examples of adaptations were things we were told explicitly that we did not need to know in depth, so I spent time learning about them more generally. It often felt as though I was creating work for myself like rewriting my class notes every night, finishing my entire biology basics textbook, taking Edrolo notes and textbook notes as well as completing every single question in the entire textbook. However, for me at least, working in this style paid off as I learnt the content in a long-lasting way that meant come exam time I did not need to do anything except minimal revision.

I found that religion and society was also quite content heavy, especially in Unit One, Area of Study One learning about the nine aspects and examples of each for the five main world religions. As it was an entirely year 10 class, our teacher was fairly good at reminding us to study consistently which definitely helped. I think that overall I found it less difficult than biology to keep up with the work.

Was it interesting?:
I found the area of study one in biology a bit dry, however, it only got better from there. Religion and society, on the other hand, was interesting from day one. It was very world based, history-based and ethics based and the way that we were allowed to interpret data really, really interested me.

What did you expect:
I think I expected to find the subject more difficult than I did and that it would be taken more seriously than my other subjects. To an extent, it was, however, our teachers were actually really chill.

What were you surprised by:
Like above, I was surprised by how relaxed the environment was.

What was the social environment like:
The year elevens in our class hated us, which was kind of to be expected, however, I was in a class with a lot of year tens in my class and we all grew quite close.

What would you do differently/keep the same?

I think that I would take the subject a lot less seriously and relax a bit more. I worked very hard and I probably could have taken things a bit more slowly.

lm21074

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Re: Reflections on doing units 1&2 in year 10
« Reply #19 on: November 05, 2019, 11:07:29 am »
+5
I did two this year: Psychology and HHD

Subject: Psychology Units 1/2

Workload: Moderate, leaning towards high (but this varies from school to school - my school didn't teach us some dot points). Psych is a pretty content heavy subject (I'm looking at you, Unit 2 AOS 2), but if you keep on top of things (e.g. staying up to date with notes), it should be very manageable.

Was it interesting?: I certainly think so! Compared to my Year 10 subjects, I thoroughly enjoyed psych. The content was really interesting and applicable to real life in Unit 1 where we learnt about the brain, nervous system and mental health. I loved the research investigations because it was a break from the usual test format of other SACs. Heck, I even enjoyed research methods (which is a very unpopular opinion). Unit 2 was all about visual and taste sensation and perception and social psychology (e.g. attitudes, prejudice and discrimination, bullying). I didn't really like social psychology because I found it quite dry (but a lot of people loved this AOS at my school!). The good thing about it though is that you can understand the behaviour of others a bit better and have more of an awareness about things like bullying and prejudice, for example. Psych is great for people who don't want to study pure sciences and have a subject that's relatable to them.

What did you expect: I think going into psych, I wasn't expecting it to have so much content. For one SAC, I had over 100 flashcards with key terms. There were also a lot of opportunities to rote learn content but thankfully the exams are moving more towards an application based approach which I think is great.

What were you surprised by: I'd say I was surprised by the speed in which we had to go through the content. Sometimes we'd be learning new content the lesson before the SAC.

What was the social environment like: It was quite a chill class. We never had table groups in this subject so everyone sat with their friends. I sat with the Year 10s in my class (who I became friends with) and a couple of Year 11s.

What would you do differently/keep the same?: Quite a number of things. I would be more organised and on top of my learning. I definitely should've started revision earlier in some instances and planned it so that I could feel less overwhelmed. I would've tried to socialise a bit more with the Year 11s too, but I felt a good sense of belonging in the class anyway.



Subject: Health and Human Development (HHD)

Workload: I feel like it was less than psych, but maybe it's because I loved this subject. I'd say moderate, but it definitely varies from school to school.

Was it interesting?: I found that this subject opened my eyes to our healthcare system and health inequalities in society. I tried to enjoy every aspect of it but I didn't have to try too hard to do so! I especially enjoyed learning about prenatal development because we went to a hospital and saw a newborn baby (and a placenta haha) and we also got to take care of a baby simulator which was hellish, but potentially useful for later in life. It cried 20 times (does a real baby do this?!) during the night so I'm glad I only got it for one!

What did you expect: I was expecting it to be a chill subject (it was), with a more humanities style feel like geography and history. I thought it would be dry and too humanities-esque, so I was considering dropping this subject before I even began :(. However, I enjoyed the content so much that I wouldn't consider dropping it at all.

What were you surprised by: Perhaps the class environment - it was chiller than chill. I will elaborate below.

What was the social environment like: Oh boy. It was crazy, but good crazy. I sat with another Year 10 on a table, while all the Year 11s sat (there was some standing and walking out of class too) together on different tables. This made social dynamics a little awkward at first, but slowly, I came out of my shell a bit. I felt a little segregated at the beginning, but got used to it quickly. This is because the Year 11s were all so funny and their conversations and antics were a fun distraction from work!

What would you do differently/keep the same?: I studied pretty hard in this subject and was on top of the work, so no regrets there. I guess I could've been a bit more social in class, but I was quite happy that I didn't have close friends in this subject so that I could work without talking too much.





« Last Edit: November 05, 2019, 03:38:57 pm by lm21074 »
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siqing

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Re: Reflections on doing units 1&2 in year 10
« Reply #20 on: November 23, 2019, 08:44:28 am »
+6
Subject: Physics and Chinese SLA

Workload:
Physics was okay, always a little bit stressful before tests but it didn't take too much time, a lot more content than other subjects but the revision/studying was similar to year 10 maths.
 Languages are always a struggle for me, the workload was huge especially because it was SLA and I was in the accelerated class (the teacher literally expects you to get over 40 SS). Not extremely content heavy (especially if you already know Chinese), but lots of homework and focus on preparation for 3/4.

Was it interesting?
Physics was pretty interesting, although challenging to wrap your head around the concepts. Really started to understand how the physical world works, and I just generally like science so this was an overall interesting subject.
I've been forced to do Chinese since I was a kid, and so I developed this hatred for the subject. I'm sure the culture is interesting, but I certainly did not like it, and plus Chinese as a VCE subject is all about how to write essays, reading comprehension, listening tests, and we didn't really talk about the culture or history.

What did you expect?
I used to think physics was way more complicated than it is. Obviously, it's still hard, but I shouldn't have overcomplicated it. As for Chinese, I really thought I would enjoy it more than I did. I definitely enjoyed the year below more, so I don't know what VCE did to the subject.

What were you surprised by?
Surprised myself by how much I actually liked physics. Out of all the sciences, physics is definitely my least favourite but it's not as horrible as I thought. And as for Chinese, I was so surprised by the level you had to be to excel in SLA. Definitely harder than SL, more competition too.

Social environment:
For both of them, they were solely year 10 classes. Physics was pretty good, I was with my classmates for school so we did well in group work and could revise together and ask questions. I did Chinese externally, so I wasn't with any friends and also couldn't really ask anyone any questions because most people actually spoke Chinese where as I prefer speaking English.

What would you do differently?
For physics, definitely should've done more practise questions before the tests. And I would've just dropped Chinese entirely given the chance, but probably should've socialised more too.
2020: global politics [41] / physics [47]
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eloisegrace

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Re: Reflections on doing units 1&2 in year 10
« Reply #21 on: April 13, 2020, 12:18:07 pm »
+7
I know this forum hasn't been posted on in a while but I didn't see a review on my early 1/2 subject so I thought I would add it.

Subject: Maths Methods 1/2 (Year 10)

Workload: Honestly, not much more than Year 10 maths. However, I definitely studied more and found other resources, and also prioritised it over my y10 subjects

Was it interesting?: I liked it. I had a good teacher and some great friends in the class. It was as interesting as maths can be, although I did enjoy most of it.

What did you expect: I expected there to be more set homework that the teacher would check.

What were you surprised by: I was surprised by how much a lot of the people in my class just slacked off. Towards the end of the year, it really felt like my teacher was only teaching like 5 of us (everyone else had learnt it in tutoring). I definitely recommend listening in class even if you have learnt the content, as me and my friends (the ones who listened) ended up doing better than most of the others.

What was the social environment like: It was pretty good. I had my friends who I would talk with and we would constantly help each other. However, I can't omit the fact how lots of people in my class were quite rude about the fact that I had never learnt the content before and how me and my friends would ask a lot of questions if we didn't understand something. I remember getting stares and eyerolls and people complaining in front of my face how annoying it was that some people (aka me) hadn't learnt the content.

What would you do differently/keep the same?: I don't think I would change much. I think I should have studied a bit more at the start of the year (did rly bad on my first SAT) however I did very well for the rest of the year and my focus and dedication has really helped me for 3/4 methods.
2020 - mathematical methods [42] | further mathematics [45]
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