HOW TO PERFORM BETTER IN CHEMISTRY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Your Door of Opportunity to become a First Class Scientist

 

Getting good grades in Chemistry is based on performing well in class right from S.1 to S.4. In both internal and national examinations, most students perform poorly due to a combination of the factors listed below:

The first is lack of sufficient knowledge in the subject due to low syllabus coverage. This can be caused by either the teachers being slow or the school environment may not be favorable for good teaching.  

The second is insufficient revision or passive revision where a student revises without writing down points. With passive revision it becomes difficult for one to remember the facts quickly.

Other factors are failure to follow instructions properly; there is a problem of poor choice of questions and poor question interpretation; poor time management during examinations; failure to express ideas clearly on paper; illegible and untidy handwriting; inadequate illustrations and examples; and finally poor diagrams as well as incorrect chemical equations.

Most of the above problems are overcome gradually during the course of 'O' level period. Here are a few tips to help you obtain better grades.

Write everything out.

Solve the problem on paper. What you think you know and what you can successfully write down may not be the same.

Practice daily.

Wouldn't it be ridiculous for an athlete or a footballer not to practise until the night before the competition and stay up all night "cramming" for the event? Several shorter practices spread out over time are better than a marathon session. When studying, don't be afraid to take a short break and then return to your work. The quality of your studies is as important as the quantity. Find a place where you can work without being interrupted.

Do your best work.

"How you practice is how you will play the game". Sloppy habits ruin a good academic performance. The only way to avoid being sloppy in your exam is to practice not being sloppy. When working a problem, neatly write your answer and let your drawings be clear and labelled. Write out explanations in clear and-complete sentences. Many marks have been sacrificed for inexact or unclear answers.

Interpret different types of questions correctly. The terms which appear frequently in 'O' level Chemistry examinations include:

  • Describe,
  • Explain, Draw and label,
  • Calculate,
  • Distinguish....

You should know the meaning of each term so that your answers are appropriate. Look at the questions in this book.

Think about the material all the time.

Even when you are not formally studying, think about Chemistry concepts. While going for a walk, think about the theories and laws in chemistry and how you might explain them to someone else.

Learn the material in small chunks.

Break the material into little pieces that you can concentrate on until they are mastered. You may also find that once you really know a few concepts well, the rest is easier to learn because it is related to what you already know. A Chemistry book is not a novel that can be read quickly but must be read slowly, several times and digested as you go.

Concentrate on your work.

When studying or taking a test, give it your complete attention. There will be plenty of time later to think about the grade.

Ensure that a wide coverage of the course has been made.

Ensure that scientific facts and definitions are correct and complete.

The steps to successful revision

1.  Understand: Study the topic to be learned slowly.  

  • Make sure you understand the logic or important concepts.
  • Mark up the text if necessary -underline, highlight and make notes.
  • Re-read each paragraph slowly.

2.  Summarize: Now make your own revision note summary:

  • What is the main idea, theme or concept to be learned? What are the main points? How does the logic develop? Ask questions: Why? How? What next?
  • Use bullets points, mind maps, patterned notes.
  • Link ideas with mnemonics, mind maps, crazy stories.
  • Note the title and date of the revision notes.
  • Organise your notes carefully and keep them.

3.  Memorize: Take 25 minutes learning 'bites' with 5 minute breaks.

  • After each 5 minutes break test yourself:
  • Cover the original revision note summary
  • Write down the main points, speak out loud, tell someone else
  • Repeat many times

4.  Review: Create a Revision Diary (one page per day). Make a revision plan for the topic, e.g. 1 day later, 1 week later, 1 month later.

Be active in class. Coming to class overly tired is costly. Be involved enough to have an answer for each question posed in class; even if it is a wrong answer it is better than no answer at all.

How to improve performance in a chemistry examination

Time management: Always budget your time properly . The little you should spend on a question should depend on the marks allocated for it.

For paper 1, there are 50 objective type of questions each carrying the same marks. The time for this paper is 1  hours =90 minutes.

Average time for each question =   = 1.8 minutes.

However, this is only a clue, since some questions are short, direct and simple that they can be answered in few seconds. At the same time some questions (especially calculations) are a bit longer and may require up to 2 minutes or slightly more.

For paper 2, it consists of Section A and Section B (total time = 2hours =120 minutes) Section A consist of 10 compulsory questions each carrying an average of 5 marks while Section B consists of 4 questions of which only 2 should be answered (each question carries 15 marks). Hence average time for each question in

section   A =  x 120 = 7.5 minutes

Average time for each question in Section B=   x 120 = 22.5

  • Make sure you read and understand the question clearly and know what you are expected to do.
  • Read the question again during answering and after you have answered it to en­sure that your answer is in the expected form.
  • Draw well-labelled diagrams as these are essential in some questions. Some ques­tions especially those regarding gas preparation, experiments require diagrams.. This may or may not be indicated in the question, e.g. describe, with the aid of a labelled diagram, how ammonia is prepared in the laboratory.

Do write chemical equations in the correct and acceptable manner.

Write balanced equations and indicate the state symbols for each item in the equation, in the acceptable manner.

State symbols should be written on the same line as the rest of the formulae of the elements/compounds/ions in the equation.