Hello, it's Phillipe 👋

Whether you’re starting the year or in the middle of SAC season, I wanted to make a post to help out all the VCE Biology & Chemistry students studying now.

Before I get into it, I'm an Raw 50 Biology scorer, so there will be lots of Biology examples & references. These tips and tricks have come from my years of mentoring students. These strategies have worked for myself and the students I've helped, but it is not the only way to approach studying Biology. What I can guarantee is that applying at least some of these strategies will help increase the effectiveness of your study sessions.

Right off the bat I will tell you that knowing your theory is only half the battle. If you want to score very well in Biology or Chemistry you will likely need to change your study to tackle such a content-heavy subject.

Throughout the year whenever you sit down to study Biology/Chemistry, you will need to have a goal with what you want to achieve for that study session. You should split your study into 3 steps:

1) Pre-study:

• Skim through the material and figure out what you want to learn from this study session. Is it "learn a concept?", if so, how will you know whether you know it well or not? (Eg: Protein synthesis - success indicator would be => I am able to describe the steps of protein synthesis with a focus on key words).
• If studying before class, or a tutoring class, make sure you skim through and expose yourself to the major concepts involved.- This will help reduce your cognitive load in class. Instead of seeing all the material for the very first time, you'll be more familiar with the material already which will help you learn the material more effectively.

2) Study:

• When studying, gradually increase in complexity and understanding
• FIRST focus on understanding the key words, the language used. How can you expect to understand post-transcriptional modifications (after transcription modifications) if you don't understand what transcription means, what mRNA is, what RNAP is and what words like transcribe, nucleotides and base pairing all mean.

Study specific tips:

Tip #1: Use imagery when learning the information:- A well known fact is that using imagery when studying helps to encode information in your brain. By pairing words and pictures together, your brain has more links to the same information, making it easier to recall this again in the future.

• This is exactly why programs such as https://pixorize.com are used by top medical professionals even after they graduate.

Tip #2: Use active recall when studying:

• Active recall means trying to actively remember the answer in your head instead of looking at a question and simply reading the answer (which would be a form of passive recall).
• We want active > passive recall.

Tip #3: Ask yourself questions as you study to realise things you don't know

• Asking questions to yourself and trying to answer these questions is a form of enquiry based learning (learning through inquisition).
• Imagine a young child who is so curious about the world. They always ask the question "WHY?". Why is fish salty? Why is the world round? This inquiry-based learning approach explains why children learn so much so rapidly.
• So when studying Biology topics, constantly ask yourself questions and try to explain these. If you can't explain a question (eg: Why is X more important than Y) then it's likely because you don't know it and should study up on that idea.

Here's a Biology-Specific Example - If you just learned post-transcriptional modifications, you'd ask questions like:

• Does this occur in all cell types?
• What would happen if this didn't occur?
• Can this be harnessed by scientists for various reasons? If so, for what scenarios?

Tip #4: Keep a document with key words and model answers to know

• VCE Biology is all about using the RIGHT key words and MODEL ANSWERS in your exams answers.
• You can know the theory super well but unless you've had someone show you what key words to use for each topic, I guarantee you will end up losing marks in your school SACs and final exams.
• Start doing topic tests and past papers early. Spend ample time reviewing the solutions and pay close attention to what key terms are used in the answers. By sifting through these answers with a fine-tooth comb, you will develop a collection of the words and phrases to use for each topic.
• Alternatively, have a Biology mentor show you all the key words and model answers to use for each topic and then commit these to memory in a document you will build on throughout the year.

Tip #5: Have your answers reviewed by a professional

• To make sure you are using the right key words and expressing your theoretical knowledge in a way that will get you marks, you need a professional to consistently give you feedback on your answers.
• If your teacher will always be available after class to give you feedback, then you should definitely make the most of this. Otherwise, you should find someone with lots of experience helping Biology students achieve Raw 40+ scores to help you.

3) Post-study:

• After you finish studying, check to see if you met the success indicator you established in your pre-study step.
• Spend a few mins (~5 mins) also reflecting on how you performed in your study session. Ask yourself questions like what went well? vs. what didn't go so well (I got really drained and lost focus). Consider ways of improving and use each study session as a way to become more effective.
• After the study session I would set a time to review this topic again within 24-48 hours. This is because everyone, and I mean everyone, regardless of their goldfish or einstein level brain forgets information they've just learned. The brain isn't that amazing at absorbing everything that's thrown at it. You need to consistently review the information so that your brain appreciates that it's important and encodes it more effectively.
• By reviewing it within 24-48 hours, it 'cuts the forgetting curve' meaning you remember more in the long term - and that's exactly what we want.
• And by taping into the 'study' strategies we talked about earlier such as, imagery encoding, there is less resistance to recalling the concepts making your retention more efficient and longer-lasting.

In summary some study strategies include:

• Setting up a 3 step plan to study
• Following active recall
• Preparing a doc with key words and model answers
• Inquiry-based learning
• Reflection after study

What to do these across your school holidays?

If you’re in your summer holidays, then you're in a unique position to prepare for Biology/Chemistry. When you start school you’ll will be learning a topic one week and then having a SAC the next week. This means it is too risky and too hard to go at the speed of your school, you should always aim to be ahead. If you want to score well, high achievers know you need to… get ahead. So plan to do just that.

Hope you enjoyed these tips and tricks. If you’d like more of these, don’t forget to join our Mailing list at the top of the main blog page.

If you think you'll need quality Biology/Chemistry resources, live tutoring help and ongoing outside of class support throughout the year, then look into Novicate’s Top Rated Tutoring Programs. We’re so confident that our programs will help you (as they have for 300+ students) that we guarantee you better scores or you get free 1-on-1 tutoring until you do!!

Happy Studying,

Phillipe

‍