At times, Junior College students in Singapore may complain that their teachers and notes at school are not rigorous enough to study for the actual A Level exam. There is a need to supplement these notes and teaching at school with other mediums so students can achieve true understanding of the subjects they will be tested on in the A Level exam.
Effective Ways to Supplement Your School Chemistry Notes
1. Students can make their own notes
Students often underestimate the power of notetaking by hand in class. As the lecturer is speaking, take down what you hear in class. Draw the diagrams which appear on the screen, as these will facilitate your understanding. When students spend too much time staring blankly at printed notes, their mind tends to go elsewhere. Taking notes in a systematic and organised manner will also help students stay awake in class, as they will be able to concentrate better. After the class, students should review their notes and ask questions about what they do not understand. They can also attempt to organise their notes better, in a more streamlined way.
2. Students can take tuition
The Singaporean education system imposes a heavy workload on students, such that many of them feel the need to take tuition. Tuition teachers can help cover content in advance and explain to their tutees the appropriate way to revise for a subject. They can also provide a helpful bird’s eye view as to what students need to know, or how to link the topics to one another. Taking tuition is a good supplement to school notes and lessons because having a tutor will boost a student’s morale – with more preparation, students will feel readier to take their exams, as compared to if they self-study – students may feel like no amount of revision is ever enough.
3. Students can continuously do problems to reinforce their understanding
Applying the content knowledge at school to real life A Level exam papers is a good way to supplement your learning at school. Students should try their best to apply what they have learned in the lectures to their tutorials first, and then attempt actual questions. By understanding the patterns of questions which will come out in the actual A Level paper, students will be more prepared with regards to formatting issues. There are also definition questions in the actual A Level paper which students need to use rote memorisation to solve.
It must be noted that doing papers needs extra effort – students must also mark these papers and find out what they have done wrong. A good way of tracking your progress is to make a “Mistake Book” – students should collate all their mistakes and write down how to overcome them and find the correct solution. Before going for their actual exams, students should re-read the mistake book to see what they need to look out for. Any procedural exam-taking bad habits like doing the paper too fast or being too careless (such as not reading the instructions correctly) will also be corrected when the students do papers. Students will be able to remind themselves that they need to be more careful and check again after they have written their final answers.
To conclude, students can supplement their school Chemistry notes in the various ways outlined in this article. Students should remember that they should not fall victim to their own inertia – if a student is willing to change and move themselves, they can do so. Small steps of change will lead to a big increase in results if a student is consistent. Students ought to remember that A Levels is an important milestone in their schooling life, and as such, they need to strive as hard as possible to do well for these academic hurdles, as they will be able to improve their quality of life. Many people in Singapore and around the world have pursued pre-tertiary and tertiary education. Getting a job may rest on how well students can do for this exam, and it is important for students to try and add on to their learning however they can.
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Frequently Asked Questions:
a) Which subject is the easiest in Chemistry?
States of matter and atomic structure are some of the easiest topics to grasp in Chemistry.
b) Is Chemistry harder than Physics?
Generally, Physics is easier for students who are better at Math but have difficulty memorising things. Chemistry is easier for students who are struggling at Math, but are very good at memorising information.
c) Is Chemistry hard for everyone?
Some people will find Chemistry easier as compared to other people as they may understand the concepts better than other people.
d) Is Chemistry a lot of memorisations?
Although there are things to memorise in Chemistry, understanding of the concepts and the reactions in Chemistry will be preferable as compared to rote memorisation of the topics.
e) Does Chemistry have a lot of math?
Chemistry involves a great deal of mathematical calculations as it is a science subject which is based on empirical evidence.