Studying

Motivation and commitment

• Commitment

Resources

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Being optimal

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Before new year starts

• What to do when I finished Year 12?

Before class starts

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During class

• Taking notes

After class

• Homework

Review during the year

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• Technical questions
• Flash cards
• Spaced review

Revision before exams

• Quick Revision Guide 
• How to use exam papers
• Organising yourself before exams

Taking the exams

• Handling anxiety and stress
• Before exams
• Taking the exams
• Types of questions
• Types of errors
• After the exams

General learning process

Define what needs to be learned
 

Gather resources needed to learn material

• Books.
• Class resources.
• Websites (notes and videos).
• Syllabus.
• Exam papers and mark schemes.
• Study materials (pens, pencils, calculators, paper, binders, watch etc).
• Find places to study.

Be clever when studying

• Manage time so you can study as much as possible
• When studying, need to focus as much on only your learning.
• Find ways to stop procrastinating your studies
• Study in isolation (most of the time) and in with others (some of the time)
• Take breaks, not doing anything related to what was studied, after every hour (around 10 minutes)
• Study when you have the most energy (morning or afternoon, not before bed)

Cover the material

• Go to class.
• Study books, notes and videos.
• Study worked examples. 
• Take notes. 
• Focus on what is important.

Understand the material by processing it

• Ask questions about stuff you did not get in class or out of class (teachers, students, forums).
• Think about the material being studied.
• Read and be able to follow lots of worked examples. 
• You know you can understand the material if you can explain it from memory (teach it)
• Link new ideas to past ideas (by yourself or through others).
• Look at different resources for good simple, easy to understand explanations (books, videos, teacher etc). 
• Read around the topic, study the history, wiki pages etc.
• Mark problem areas (specific problems, notes etc) and get them sorted out as soon as possible (within 48 hours is best).

Practice and debug until mastery

• Practise the basic methods first until perfect (Don't get wrong) then move on to more complex methods.
• Make sure to practise with answers and worked solutions accessible, to check if write or wrong. If not possible, make sure worked examples (books, notes) are available.  
• Learn from mistakes and practise to make sure you don't make those mistakes again.
• Go through a range of different types of problems.
• Practise a mix of problems from different topics.
• Practise from memory and check solutions immediately, if cannot understand mistake or what should have been done to solve the problem then ask for help.
• Do not practise by reading the question and looking at answer then writing out your solution. Waste of time.
• Practise topics or problems that you struggle with, go back to cover and understand stages.
• If stuck on problems for homework, have a break and start on it again the next day.
• Start homework early and do over the days before the deadline to hand in, if possible.

Memorise key ideas

• Use flash cards to remember definitions, facts, formulae, method steps, special cases for problems, recognising the method to use, common areas where you are making the same mistake and what to do about it, etc.
• Test yourself regularly from memory, a little bit over a long time.
• Mix topics that need to be memorised together (ie Core 1 and Core 2 flash cards).

Review continuously (spaced practice) to avoid forgetting throughout the year

• Do mixed topic questions (review questions or past papers)
• Use exam papers.
• Test all flash cards.
• Organise revision timetable after Easter holidays.
• Spread out topics to cover (exam papers and memorising) and focus on struggling topics.
• Review throughout the year, to ease amount to revise before the exam period.
• Avoid learning the material covered earlier in the year, make sure to understand straight away and practise it several times after learning it.

Practice and debug Exam Past Papers during revision

• Practise exam technique (timed, exam conditions).
• Learn what different types of questions are asking for.
• Any problem areas, study again (cover, understand, practice) using different resources.

Give it your all in the Examinations

• Apply everything you studied throughout the course in the time given.
• Forget about the last exam.
• Focus on the next exam.