Should I get notes for Methods 3/4?

[SS1314]

Should I get the Atarnotes notes for MM34 for next year? Do I even need to buy notes for a subject like Methods?

[Joseph41]

Depends! How do you feel about the subject at the moment?

[SS1314]

Depends! How do you feel about the subject at the moment?

I am actually going to be doing it next year. Sorry for the confusion

[angrybiscuit]

I am actually going to be doing it next year. Sorry for the confusion

This may be subjective but I feel like the ATARNotes Topic Tests would be more beneficial. If you want good reference book notes, then go for it! IMO, it's personal preference and it's more on how you personally study best 

[SS1314]

This may be subjective but I feel like the ATARNotes Topic Tests would be more beneficial. If you want good reference book notes, then go for it! IMO, it's personal preference and it's more on how you personally study best 

Thank you for the response

[Lear]

Should I get the Atarnotes notes for MM34 for next year? Do I even need to buy notes for a subject like Methods?

Wouldn't recommend buying any notes. Methods is not a subject where you need to make sure you have a ton of information to answer questions that might ask about fringe concepts. You should focus on making your own bound reference from your Methods textbook as it has all the information you need. I could only possibly recommend buying notes to those aiming for 25-30 to fulfil a prerequisite. Otherwise, notes are more of a disadvantage as I have seen students start to rely on 'that book they bought for information' without actually understanding formulas and concepts themselves through the textbook explanations. It is key not only to know formulas but also how they work so you can apply them to unfamiliar situations.

[SS1314]

Wouldn't recommend buying any notes. Methods is not a subject where you need to make sure you have a ton of information to answer questions that might ask about fringe concepts. You should focus on making your own bound reference from your Methods textbook as it has all the information you need. I could only possibly recommend buying notes to those aiming for 25-30 to fulfil a prerequisite. Otherwise, notes are more of a disadvantage as I have seen students start to rely on 'that book they bought for information' without actually understanding formulas and concepts themselves through the textbook explanations. It is key not only to know formulas but also how they work so you can apply them to unfamiliar situations.

What about for Biology? I am doing 1/2 this year and I have found that making notes is very tedious and time-consuming. Would you still recommend me writing my own notes?

[whys]

What about for Biology? I am doing 1/2 this year and I have found that making notes is very tedious and time-consuming. Would you still recommend me writing my own notes?

Hey. Bio is a subject that requires extensive knowledge of the content in order to ace application questions. It is unlike methods, which is more of a skill subject. With methods, buying notes isn't helpful because there isn't much to memorise. Things you do need to understand and memorise can easily be done so through practice questions and repetition. I only do bio 1/2, so can't comment much about 3/4. I do, however, do psych 3/4. Purchasing notes for subjects like content-heavy sciences can be helpful if you're not interested in writing your own notes. My personal advice is to write your own notes, because the purpose of writing notes isn't just to revise by going through them later. The whole point of writing notes is the process of doing so - condensing information in your own words to aid in understanding and application. It not only helps with memorisation, but it forces you to understand the information and therefore will enhance your meaningful retrieval of the info later. However, if you'd like to purchase notes for subject like bio, it can often be beneficial because you have a set of notes to refer to, and it gives you more time to do practice questions. I've never _not_ written my notes (except for my 1/2 subjects because I don't study for them at all lol) and I'll probably write notes for all my subjects next year too.

*Making notes doesn't have to be tedious or time-consuming. I often felt the same way when I used to write notes in earlier year levels because I would focus on making them pretty and would spend hours writing them. Notes only need to be functional and easy for you to understand. Often, this can just mean jotting down side notes from the powerpoints you go through at school and anything useful your teacher says, then going home and spending 5 minutes to tidy them up.

EDIT; keeping this relevant to the topic and board, although you need not write notes for methods, I think it would be useful to create summary sheets for each topic. That way, you have something to put in your bound reference for each topic, and it's good revision for sacs alongside spamming practice questions.

[Lear]

What about for Biology? I am doing 1/2 this year and I have found that making notes is very tedious and time-consuming. Would you still recommend me writing my own notes?

Didn't do bio but I suspect it isn't too different to Chem. I bought notes from other students and also company notes to compile and make my own notes. In my opinion you shouldn't rely completely on other people's notes.

[SS1314]

Hey. Bio is a subject that requires extensive knowledge of the content in order to ace application questions. It is unlike methods, which is more of a skill subject. With methods, buying notes isn't helpful because there isn't much to memorise. Things you do need to understand and memorise can easily be done so through practice questions and repetition. I only do bio 1/2, so can't comment much about 3/4. I do, however, do psych 3/4. Purchasing notes for subjects like content-heavy sciences can be helpful if you're not interested in writing your own notes. My personal advice is to write your own notes, because the purpose of writing notes isn't just to revise by going through them later. The whole point of writing notes is the process of doing so - condensing information in your own words to aid in understanding and application. It not only helps with memorisation, but it forces you to understand the information and therefore will enhance your meaningful retrieval of the info later. However, if you'd like to purchase notes for subject like bio, it can often be beneficial because you have a set of notes to refer to, and it gives you more time to do practice questions. I've never _not_ written my notes (except for my 1/2 subjects because I don't study for them at all lol) and I'll probably write notes for all my subjects next year too.

*Making notes doesn't have to be tedious or time-consuming. I often felt the same way when I used to write notes in earlier year levels because I would focus on making them pretty and would spend hours writing them. Notes only need to be functional and easy for you to understand. Often, this can just mean jotting down side notes from the powerpoints you go through at school and anything useful your teacher says, then going home and spending 5 minutes to tidy them up.

EDIT; keeping this relevant to the topic and board, although you need not write notes for methods, I think it would be useful to create summary sheets for each topic. That way, you have something to put in your bound reference for each topic, and it's good revision for sacs alongside spamming practice questions.

Thank you for the reply

[SS1314]

Didn't do bio but I suspect it isn't too different to Chem. I bought notes from other students and also company notes to compile and make my own notes. In my opinion you shouldn't rely completely on other people's notes.

Thank you for the reply