Your experience with VCE Biology

[da_coolest1]

Just like the title says. All the questions are just about biology.

1. Do you enjoy it?
2. What do you like about it?
3. What do you dislike about it?
4. What does the work involve? (memorising, analysing, etc)
5. How much do you study at home/study period a week?
6. What are exams and sacs like?
7. Favourite topic?
8. Worst topic?
9. Tips/Tricks?
10. What are your teachers like?
11. What is your class like?
12. Why are you taking biology ?
13. Do you plan on having a career involving biology?
14. How well do you think you’re doing/you did
And anything else you think would be helpful/interesting.

Just everything. Lay it on me. Thankss.


Mod edit (PF): Changed all caps title

[Erutepa]

Just like the title says. All the questions are just about biology.

1. Do you enjoy it?

I did enjoy it when I did it last year. By far my favourite subject as I just found the whole subject very engaging. Of course this is just my experience and different people engage with different content.

2. What do you like about it?

I just found the content as a whole immensely enjoyable to learn about. Life itself is such an amazing and interesting phenomenon and everything you learn in bio puts pieces together to fill out that puzzle of life - albeit only very few pieces in the immense puzzle that is life.
I particularly enjoyed studying immunology - I think in part due to the elegant complexity of the whole immune system.

3. What do you dislike about it?

I didn't dislike anything as much as I prefered certain topics over others.
I least favourite topic in 3/4 bio was mainly studying specifics of human evolution. I liked theories of natural selection, but studying the different ancestors of homo sapiens wasn't as much my bread and butter.

4. What does the work involve? (memorising, analysing, etc)

I didn't really do any intentional memorising for bio as such. I mainly extended myself and really tried to grasp a deeper understanding of the many different topics. When you really understand something, you can pretty much define it and explain it without having to memorise any definitions themselves. Inorder to really develop this understanding, teaching a topic can really help (even if its just to an invisible friend haha)
In bio you do have to do a fair load of applying - using your fairly fundamental knowledge and applying it to specific scenarios given to you. The most important thing for this in my opinion is a deep understanding and practice.
You will also have to do some experimental analysis and will need to decipher what the IV and DV was and identify errors and all that stuff.

5. How much do you study at home/study period a week?

I didn't really keep track of it mainly because I didn't really force myself to sit down for specific amounts of time. I would always tailor my study to my understanding  - deeming my study as adequate when I had properly understood the topic. I often found myself reading a fair bit extra (i.e. chapters on immunology from university textbooks) when I could fit them in (like on the bus) so, its hard to say how much study I actually did.

6. What are exams and sacs like?

They were pretty stressful at first since it was really my first time doing SACs that would affect my ATAR (and that was a scary thought). But as you go through some of them, they get less scary and you begin to realise that you perform better in them if you keep your stress levels under control. Afterall, if you really understand the content and have practiced applying it, then you shouldn't have much to stress about.

7. Favourite topic?

Immunology

8. Worst topic?

No.

9. Tips/Tricks?

(Obviously these are things that worked for me)
 - Extend yourself by reading ahead and in more depth to really foster a good understanding of the content
 - Do practice EXAM questions  (this really helps getting those skills of actually communicating your understanding in a concise manner)
 - Write down your mistakes and use them to improve - don't just ignore them.

10. What are your teachers like?

My teacher was great. She was really enthusiastic about the content and just had a great understanding of biology. Enthusiasm in your teachers is just great cause it seeps into the rest of the class and gets people motivated to learn.

11. What is your class like?

I'd say a fairly typical class with a diverse range of students. You had some kids who didn't really care at all and just were doing it to to make up their subject numbers, you had kids who kinda tried but weren't that interested in it, and then you had quite a few kids who were really interested and invested in the subject.

12. Why are you taking biology ?

As mentioned above, its just so interesting to me.

13. Do you plan on having a career involving biology?

I do plan on eventually getting into science research and at the moment I am leaning towards the fields of either immunology or microbiology.

14. How well do you think you’re doing/you did

I think I went well. I got a 44 study score, but I think I could have gotten much better if I did better exam preparation. My knowledge was good, but I needed better question answering skillz and speed.

[kimokeeffe]

1. Do you enjoy it?
yes
2. What do you like about it?
a lot of the content is really interesting and hands-on
3. What do you dislike about it?
sometimes the content is more about memorising than applying
4. What does the work involve? (memorising, analysing, etc)
mostly memorising and then applying concepts to real world situations
5. How much do you study at home/study period a week?
a couple of hours, maybe more before a test
6. What are exams and sacs like?
they're very much just a long test. half multiple choice, half short answer
7. Favourite topic?
bioethics
8. Worst topic?
probably cell theory
9. Tips/Tricks?
keep up to date notes that you understand and are concise
10. What are your teachers like?
personally, my teacher just reads off a powerpoint every class, but I know lots that are much more engaging
11. What is your class like?
very hands-on with lots of pracs and activities
12. Why are you taking biology?
I really enjoy science and it was one of the subject options that i could accelerate
13. Do you plan on having a career involving biology?
no
14. How well do you think you’re doing/you did
I think I'm doing reasonably well, it's very much a subject where what you put in, you'll get out

[colline]

1. Do you enjoy it?
Not exactly. There are some parts (see below) that I really like about biology, but on the whole I think it's probably my least favourite subject.

2. What do you like about it?
I really liked learning about evolution. It was the one area which really fascinated me.
Moving away from content, I like how biology is such a popular subject so you're never short of resources for it.

3. What do you dislike about it?
I don't like how much memorising and rote-learning is involved in biology. Of course like all science, there is understanding and analysising, but I think biology (along with psych) is the most reliant on memorising compared to maths and other sciences.

4. What does the work involve? (memorising, analysing, etc)
See above lol.
Of course maybe it's just that biology hasn't 'clicked' for me yet, because I know many people who do well in biology will disagree with me when I say bio is mostly rote-learning.

5. How much do you study at home/study period a week?
I don't really keep tabs on my study hours, it's more like studying whenver I need to rather than ticking off the hours. But on the whole I'd say it's about an hour per day on average for bio.

6. What are exams and sacs like?
I know every school does internal SACs differently, but I think for most schools it's four internal SACs (2 per Area of Study) plus a practical report/poster.
The end-of-year VCAA exam is split into multiple choice (40 marks) and short answer (80 marks). It's 2.5 hours with 15 minutes of reading time.

7. Favourite topic?
DNA manipulation and evolution

8. Worst topic?
For me, literally everything else, but particularly immunity

9. Tips/Tricks?
I think my biggest tip is to do bio because you enjoy it. In my case, I think I would've enjoyed physics or spesh much more so I see bio as a bit of a chore.
If you also do chem: a lot of students who also do chem fall into the trap of thinking they'd naturally be good at bio as there's some overlaps in content. This is rarely the case.

10. What are your teachers like?
My teacher for 3/4 bio is a new teacher who just graduated from uni last year. It's cool to have such a young teacher because he relates to the students more, and he also has more experience with VCE bio as he went through the same thing himself recently.

11. What is your class like?
Our class is mostly made up of younger year levels (year 10s and 11s) doing bio as their early 3/4. In fact, out of the 24 students in our class, only 5 are year 12s.

12. Why are you taking biology?
I'm hoping to study veterinary medicine at Melbourne Uni in the future. While biology is not a prereq, it is highly recommended, and there are multiple compulsory biology units in uni if you wish to study veterinary medicine.

13. Do you plan on having a career involving biology?
Not exactly pure biology but as I hope to become a veterinarian, it will of course involve bio knowledge.

14. How well do you think you’re doing/you did
Not very well. I'm currently ranked in the lower 1/3rd of my cohort and my bio teacher predicted for me a raw study score of 30 rip.

[Chocolatemilkshake]

1. Do you enjoy it?
Yes! I absolutely love most of the content we study in biology. It's a super engaging subject and I find it relatively easy to understand.

2. What do you like about it?
I loved Unit 3 especially because I enjoy learning about the processes that occur in our cells and body on a regular basis. I particularly loved immunology (AOS 2), but AOS 1 really gives you the basics of the content that is necessary for understanding the later units.

3. What do you dislike about it?
I know (and many of my classmates have experienced this) that it is easy to get marked down on a question for missing a key word/point even if you do thoroughly understand the content.

4. What does the work involve? (memorising, analysing, etc)
I think being prepared to go home and deepen your understanding of the topic (particularly asking questions when you are unsure). I also take elaborate notes, but I think this is a study technique that won't work for everyone. As for memorisation, so many people on this forum will tell you this but I'll say it again, if you gain understanding of the biological concepts and learn to enjoy the content, it isn't so much about memorising large chunks of content.

5. How much do you study at home/study period a week?
It varies every week. Because Biology is my only 3/4 subject in year eleven, I tend to put more work into it (however, it really depends on what my week constitutes - particually whether I have other assessments I need to prioritise.)

6. What are exams and sacs like?
Can't say much for exams as of yet. I find my SACs are not particularly difficult for me given that I put time and effort into studying in advance.

7. Favourite topic?
Immunology.

8. Worst topic?
Human change over time.

9. Tips/Tricks?
- Find the study techniques that work best for you.
- Always ask questions (I have a question book that I write everything I don't know in, then consult my teacher/the Biology question thread!)
- Focus on understanding not memorisation.
- Record all your mistakes that you make in practise exams/SACs and collaborate them into a document for study.

10. What are your teachers like?
My teacher is very good at explaining concepts and making bio interesting, although personally I find that she goes through the information a little bit slow.

11. What is your class like?
Pretty good, not much to say here

12.Why are you taking biology?
I love it and it is relative easy to understand most of the concepts (especially for an accelerated subject).

13. Do you plan on having a career involving biology?
Yep, just don't know what yet!

14. How well do you think you’re doing/you did?
I'm really happy with how I'm going and aiming for a 45+ study score (haha we'll see).

[alexthenerd]

1. Do you enjoy it?
yes. it's my favourite subject and im gonna be so sad when im not doing it next year.

2. What do you like about it?
the content is so interesting and i really enjoy learning it. my teacher is also pretty great.

3. What do you dislike about it?
not much.

4. What does the work involve? (memorising, analysing, etc)
it involves a lot of understanding as to how the concepts are related and how they work on a larger scale. i honestly don't fine myself memorising all too much for bio.

5. How much do you study at home/study period a week?
throughout the year, i don't know. i never really paid attention because it never really felt like work. but now was we're getting to the pointy end of the year im trying to do at least 2 practice exams a week.

6. What are exams and sacs like?
there are some questions which you just need to straight out know the answer (these are usually worth one mark). other questions rely on applying the biological processes and concepts to specific situations that the questions give you. overall if you know what you're doing, they're not that hard.

7. Favourite topic?
immunology

8. Worst topic?
idk some of the unit 4 stuff is boring.

9. Tips/Tricks?
- pay attention in class
- always consolidate what you learn
- don't be afraid to ask your teacher for help
- have a good set of notes to study from

10. What are your teachers like?
my teacher is an absolute legend. i love her. she is my bio mum.

11. What is your class like?
i switched classes halfway though the year. my old class was better than my new one but both are great. having a class which is engaged and asking questions is the best.

12. Why are you taking biology ?
the initial reason was because it was the only accelerated science at my school but now, i kept it because i loved it.

13. Do you plan on having a career involving biology?
yes, definitely. i want to be a doctor or dentist or a vce biology teacher.

14. How well do you think you’re doing/you did?
i think im doing pretty well. my teacher says that if i continue to work hard, i can get over 45. i really hope that that is the case.