How did/do you study for Legal?

[werdna]

Just wondering how you high-scorers study for legal studies? What's the most useful and handy strategy you've used?

 

[saaaaaam]

I did a few different things. To start with I'd write my notes by hand in class. As the SAC was approaching I'd type up all those notes into a word document, make them neat etc. Once I'd done that with the class notes I'd read the relevant chapters of A+ Publishing's Legal Notes. If there was extra information to be added to my typed notes (as there often was) I'd add them. The last step before a SAC was to create flash cards/study cards for absolutely everything. That was how I tested my memory.

Then at the end of the year I had a set of typed notes from each area of study. I got them bound at Officeworks. I also had all my study cards. Between those two and the past VCAA exams I managed myself a 43 in Legal.

[eeps]

I did a few different things. To start with I'd write my notes by hand in class. As the SAC was approaching I'd type up all those notes into a word document, make them neat etc. Once I'd done that with the class notes I'd read the relevant chapters of A+ Publishing's Legal Notes. If there was extra information to be added to my typed notes (as there often was) I'd add them. The last step before a SAC was to create flash cards/study cards for absolutely everything. That was how I tested my memory.

Then at the end of the year I had a set of typed notes from each area of study. I got them bound at Officeworks. I also had all my study cards. Between those two and the past VCAA exams I managed myself a 43 in Legal.

Thanks for the advice! =D

[werdna]

Thanks!! Anyone else?

[eeps]

Although I'm doing Legal next year as well, so far I've written summary notes for each AOS. I highlight bits of information which I think are important - I'll probably do what saaaaaam did, and type them up before SACs and the exam. I've also done some textbook questions and the "A+ Legal Studies" questions. Legal's a rote-learning subject. Different techniques work for different people. Do what you feel allows you to maximise your study.

How are you going with Legal, werdna... what's your plan for Legal over the holidays? I'll probably just finish Unit 3 and *hopefully* start a bit of the Unit 4 course.

[werdna]

Look, probably the most effective aid for helping me excel in Legal was definitely the array of textbooks I possessed. Honestly, I didn't buy the A+ Legal Questions or the standard textbook, I used the Essentials book from Specalist Maths and it was a profound resource, leaving 'no stone unturned' in relation to the study design. In a nutshell, this is what got me over the edge and gave me the upper hand against other Legal students, maximising both my Study Scores in Legal & Spesh and my ATAR.

You didn't even do Legal......

Although I'm doing Legal next year as well, so far I've written summary notes for each AOS. I highlight bits of information which I think are important - I'll probably do what saaaaaam did, and type them up before SACs and the exam. I've also done some textbook questions and the "A+ Legal Studies" questions. Legal's a rote-learning subject. Different techniques work for different people. Do what you feel allows you to maximise your study.

How are you going with Legal, werdna... what's your plan for Legal over the holidays? I'll probably just finish Unit 3 and *hopefully* start a bit of the Unit 4 course.

I'm planning to get as much of Unit 3 done as possible too! Get heaps of questions done, and also start handwriting some notes.

[chrisjb]

Take the advice of the kids who got 45+ before you take my advice, but I say that a lot of it is just pure rote learning. Learn the concepts off by heart, learn the case studies to a fair extent and then answering the questions will be easy. I just made hand writen notes in class, used a whitboard that i have in my room to write a big huge list of case studies (most of which you will never even use) but just make sure that you know them and understand what they represent and why they are important. The other thing is to get case studies which aren't in the book. I personaly used about 3-4 case studies which weren't in the book on my exam and (although i haven't seen my exam score yet) it did seem to get me good marks on my sacs.

Also, a trap i fell into in a lot of my sacs and practice exams was writing too much and going into too much detail. Don't do this. Even though you may get a 2 mark question on something that you know 10 marks worth of crap about there's no point writing more than two marks worth of knowledge. This problem plauged me through the year and I reckon it was the number one way that I lost marks.

Also, just pay atention in class and you'll be fine.

Oh, yeah, and as andrewloppol said, learn the spesh study design and course off by heart before even thinking about starting on legal.

[eeps]

I remember that thread a while back about how doing Legal helps Spesh. xD

Quite a good read.

[werdna]

I remember that thread a while back about how doing Legal helps Spesh. xD

Quite a good read.

I cracked up reading your comment EPL, and I wasn't even around back then to know which thread you're on about!

[Liuy]

I did both Legal + Spesh, check again

Not this again LOL.

[andy456]

I didn't write my own notes for legal. I read the book several times and highlighted the important bits. Then used the notes available here to double check I had all the important stuff down.
Our teacher spammed us with current case studies every lesson. At least 2 cut outs from newspapers every legal lesson. That helped put things into perspective.

For the exam I just did a few prac exams because, to be honest, they are very boring. I read the textbook on the day and answered the questions how I thought they needed to be answered.
Then BAM 49.

But I think my style of learning, I take a lot in from just reading, doesnt apply to everyone so you need to know what type of learner you are and suss out how to become efficient.

[ech_93]

I'm not exactly a high scorer...
However, for every SAC i wrote up notes a couple days before. I would just make sure the notes included EVERYTHING from the chapters relevant to the SAC. I would also look through past VCAA exams and answers, and made sure i could answer all relevant questions in them. Finally, i used checkpoints, and again just answered all relevant questions.
I found that writing notes before exams helped the most as it helped me remember all the information easily.

In preparation for the exam... i followed a revision guide that my teacher found and gave us. The guide was really long, but it made sure i didn't miss any key topics. I finished the revision guide with about 30 typed up pages... Although it took forever to complete this revision it was definitely worth it.
I didn't do as many practice exams as i should have, which i think is what let me down.
I would recommend that you know as many examples/cases as you can!

As i said, i wasn't a high scorer, but i hope this helps in some way!
Good luck

[eeps]

From what I can gather it's really about note-taking/reading the textbook, making sure I know case examples and clearly understanding the information. Thanks for all the advice guys! =D

Is there a set percentage of how much of Unit 3 & 4 is on the end-of-year exam? - i.e. 40% Unit 3, 60% Unit 4 - or can that not be determined?.. it changes every year..?

[flash36]

I only got 45 so there's probably kids on here that are more pro than me, but chrisjb's approach was exactly the same for me. There are many things in legals you MUST know, for example the court hierarchy, and the way to know these concepts back to front without fail is to rote learn them; the lecturer I went to before the exam suggested this approach.

The way I did this was to type up comprehensive notes for each topic (probably 10 pages or so) before each SAC, studied it, and answered all the questions I could find from my teacher or my textbooks etc. Come the end of the year I had a set of great notes for each topic, which I combined to make notes for Unit 3 and 4 to use for exam preparation.

Also, what chrisjb said, just because you know 10 marks of information about a topic, doesn't mean you have to write it all if the question is worth 2 marks. I lost 3 marks for the year on my SACs, all due to running out of time/rushing the last question because I wrote too much. In addition to this, be concise with your answers, and write with some eloquence. Legal Studies is much like Business Management in that respect, having the knowledge does not guarantee you full marks; you need to directly answer the question and write in an orderly and clear fashion.

This will be discussed closer to the exam no doubt, but for the long question (8-10 marks), have a plan as to how you're going to answer it, and know everything you need to include in the answer. This avoids the chance of rambling on in your answer or forgetting a key point.

[saaaaaam]

From what I can gather it's really about note-taking/reading the textbook, making sure I know case examples and clearly understanding the information. Thanks for all the advice guys! =D

Is there a set percentage of how much of Unit 3 & 4 is on the end-of-year exam? - i.e. 40% Unit 3, 60% Unit 4 - or can that not be determined?.. it changes every year..?

I'm fairly certain that of the two options for the extended response one if from unit 3 and the other from unit 4. But that's all I know ... and it may change with the new study design?