hey everyone, as im sure we all know, end of year exams are just around the corner.
im currently doing 1/2 chem in year 10, so its my only vce subject as of right now. and as expected, im VERY nervous for the exams. Nearly everything ive learnt in remote learning has gone in one ear and out the next, and im not even sure where to start revising.
My nerves have gotten to me and Ive been putting off doing any revision or practice exams whatsoever. So i guess my question is, does anyone have any advice? Whether its about what/how to revise, or how to get myself in a more confident mindset, I would greatly appreciate any kind words.
Hey Krischuffer!
The first VCE exam can be quite scary - it certainly was for me - but ultimately your unit 1/2 exams are great learning experiences and not make or break situations. Even if you mess up your unit 1/2 exam a bit - you'll move on from it a bit wiser and with knowledge on where you need to improve. In addition I'd be pretty confident in betting that your anxieties about the exam are probably making you doubt yourself and that a lot more content has stayed in your head than you probably think.
In terms of what to do about revision I would recommend giving the study design a bit of a read (you can find it
here). Read through the different points you need to know and see if you can explain the necessary content to yourself (ideally without notes). If there is a point which you don't understand feel free to ask for clarification in the VCE chem thread, and if you come across something you don't know, pull out your textbook or class notes and add the relevant content to your notes. Using the study design in this way makes filling in areas you don't know far far more efficient then reading through the entire textbook. Just as a side note, since exams are pretty close and you want to be maximizing your efficiency, don't stop and revise your notes for every single study design point - only fix up/add to your notes for points which you don't know/understand.
After this, you should get right into doing any practice exams. Don't be scared of doing really badly - that's to be expected (in fact a friend of mine who got a 50 in chem was getting as low as 40% in some of his first practice exams). Try to do the exam roughly to time (its ok to spend a bit of extra time on your first couple practices) and most importantly mark it harshly or get your teacher to mark it. You won't earn anything by trying to award yourself generous marks here and there - marking honestly and harshly will help you see where you need to improve. Write down your mistakes and identify any areas of content that you should then go and revise. Also note any other ways you might need to improve (i.e. am i not reading the questions properly, am I not using examples, am i doing sig figs right, etc.) Give yourself time to work on this mistakes, and then sit back down do another practice.
Note that this after all, my recommendation of what I found worked for me - everyone studies differently so you might want to read other peoples advice.
There is a wealth of other exam and general chemistry study related advice and resources you can find
here. Amoung these resources is
a recent guide written by a user (angrybiscuit) who did chem last year and
another older guide written by user Vaike Not everything in these guides are going to be completly relevant to you now, but there is certainly plenty of great wisdom that will be usefull!
Hopefully there is some stuff here to help you and I look forward to seeing any questions you have as you get through some revision.
Good luck!
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