Advice for Students Doing Year 11 Chemistry
Basic Method of Teaching
Teacher
Student
Notes
Explain step by step starting from Listen carefully and ask questions • Explanations can fail if students
students' prior knowledge.
if needed.
don't know what the teacher
assumes they know, the teacher
skips steps or goes too quickly.
Speak to your teacher if you are
having difficulties.
• An explanation gives only partial
understanding; full understanding
requires lots of practice.
Write notes summarising the Copy the notes.
• Copying by hand is proven to aid
explanation.
retention better than typing or
taking a photograph.
Give examples of problems.
Copy the examples.
Give students an opportunity to Take full advantage of the • Practice has many benefits.
practise.
opportunity to practise.
• There is little time available in
class to practise, so students need
to do extra practice in their own
time.
•
Students
commonly
underestimate the amount of
practice required.
Provide individual assistance as Seek assistance if needed.
• Things can quickly pile up, so it
needed.
is best to seek assistance at the
time a difficulty is encountered.
Role of Practice
Students need to practise for:
• Understanding (Practice gives insights to help students understand concepts and perform skills.)
• Speed (Speed is important to ensure students don't run out of time in exams.)
•Accuracy (Students can have marks taken away for each small error, so the majority of marks for a
question can be easily lost.)
• Familiarity with exam style questions (Getting high marks in exams requires that there are no surprises
on the day of the exam.)
• Diagnosing gaps in knowledge and understanding (Getting high marks in exams requires a systematic
approach involving identifying gaps in knowledge and understanding then taking action to fill those gaps.)
Students should aim to eventually do their practice under exam conditions (not looking at solutions, no
Internet, no books, working alone and having a time limit) in order to gauge how they would perform in a
real exam.
Senior Exams
Senior exams are a very difficult form of assessment because the amount of content tested is large, the
questions are not always straightforward, and it is impossible to predict what will be tested. The only
effective strategy for senior exams is to do a lot of practice to systematically identify and rectify all gaps in
knowledge and understanding for the entire portion of the course being examined. It is important that at
least some practice be done under exam-like conditions (no solutions, no books, no Internet and time limit
etc.) to gauge how you will perform in the real exam.
Revision
Revision means refreshing your memory of things you have already understood. It doesn't mean learning
things you failed to learn the first time around. Aim for complete understanding as you are progressing
through the course. Understanding things takes time. Allowing gaps in your knowledge and understanding
to build up means you will likely run out of time and not be able to learn everything before the assessment
task.
Student Responsibility
In junior years, teachers tell students what to do, check that they have done it and punish them if they fail
to do it. However, in senior years, teachers mostly allow students to manage themselves. You can't rely on
teachers to manage your learning any more.
Importance of Year 11
Year 11 is important because it builds foundational knowledge and skills but also because it develops the
good study habits necessary. Don't underestimate the importance of good senior study habits and the
amount of time needed for them to develop. Only a small part of the marks from the preliminary course
(year 11) counts towards the final HSC mark, but it is a big mistake to think that you can wait until year 12
to start working hard.
Scaling
Chemistry is a "hard" subject primarily because the amount of student effort required to master it is very
large but the majority of students lack the mental toughness to work consistently hard for an extended
period. Your mark in "hard" subjects may get scaled up. However, this relies on you performing
significantly better than the average mark for the course across the state, which depends mostly on your
sustained effort.
Easy Marks and Hard Marks
Compared to exams, take-home assignments are easy marks because you have plenty of time, are
provided with a marking scheme and can refer to books and the Internet. The best strategy for gaining a
high overall mark is to take great care with assignments so you don't throw away "easy" marks.
Think of the questions and marking scheme as a set of instructions on what you need to do to get full
marks.
• Read the question and the marking scheme carefully.
• Make sure you fully understand all of the instructions.
• Make sure you follow the instructions carefully.
• Some questions require you to do more than one thing. Make sure you do everything that is required in each question. Look
for words such as “and” and “then” that suggest you need to do more than one thing.
• The verbs used in the assignment will probably be HSC verbs. HSC verbs have very specific definitions. Search for “HSC verbs”
and do what each verb requires you to do.
• Look at how many marks are awarded for the question and consider whether you have included enough detail to get all of the
marks on offer. Sometimes you need to go beyond just literally answering the question. Marks can be awarded for the "quality"
or clarity or conciseness of an answer in comparison to the answers given by other students, so make your answers clear and
concise.
• The teachers’ marking scheme can be more detailed than the marking scheme given to the students. For example, the marking
scheme given to students might not specify how many examples you need to give. In general, do more than the marking scheme
you get requires to do to hopefully satisfy the requirements of the teachers’ marking scheme. However, try to remain clear and
concise.
• You can be penalised for adding something which is incorrect even though you have fully answered the question.
• Some assignments require you to choose an option and then answer subsequent questions in relation to the option you have
chosen. Don’t just choose any option. Consider the questions you will have to answer before choosing your option.
• Start and finish early to give you time to fully understand the instructions and to proofread before submitting. Proofreading is
best done a few days or a week after writing.
Bands
The HSC mark is commonly expressed as a band.
Band 1 =0-49%
Band 2 = 50-59%
Band 3 = 60-69%
Band 4 = 70-79%
Band 5 = 80-89%
Band 6 = 90-100%
Students must forget about the idea of a score greater than 50% being a pass. A score of 50% would just be
Band 2, the second lowest band. Students should be aiming for a band 4, 5 or 6. Getting a band 6 in
Chemistry is possible but requires a very systematic approach and a great deal of hard work. Only a very
small number of students get a band 6.
Students should establish a target and work towards achieving it. Students must be aware that the
standard required keeps getting higher and higher over time. Students must continually compare the
marks they are getting with their target band and adjust their effort as required to ensure that they are
working at the required standard.
Level of Difficulty
Level Difficulty / Effort Required
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
School Year
There is a big jump in the level of difficulty and effort required going from year 10 to year 11 and a gradual
increase from the start of year 11 to the end of year 12. It is important to anticipate the jump in difficulty
and hit the ground running at the start of year 11.
Pace
The pace of Chemistry is very fast. There is enough time in class for the teacher to explain and give some
examples but little time for students to practise. There is so much content to teach that teachers have to
keep moving through the syllabus before students have had a chance to fully understand. Therefore,
students have to do a lot of work outside of the classroom to ensure that they fully understand all of the
concepts and master the necessary skills.
Dropping Chemistry
Roughly ⅓ of students who start Chemistry will drop it some time before the HSC exam. Some students
drop because they were never cut out for Chemistry. Some students drop because they are doing
reasonably well at Chemistry but have too many units and make a strategic decision to drop Chemistry.
However, other students drop Chemistry because they allowed their difficulties to pile up to such an extent
that it becomes virtually impossible for them to continue.
Chemistry is a difficult subject, so all students will experience difficulties. Experiencing difficulties is not
necessarily a sign that you should give up. It is very important that students don't allow their problems to
build up. Read the textbook, do plenty of practice and ask your teacher or friends for help whenever you
experience problems. Don't allow yourself to get into a position where you have to drop Chemistry.