What were some factors that helped you attain your study score?
Revisiting my sac notes in a staggered approach throughout the year. Never did I allow my self to forget the “fundamentals” from each chapter, I would always revisit it. This ensured that I viewed the subject as a whole, rather than learning small pieces and then trying to put the pieces together at the end of the year. This allowed me to fully understand the material and link the main concepts through each chapter as with PE they clearly lead onto the next learning point. Additionally, I utilized the advantages of acronyms, which were used all the way until the final exam. This allowed me to quickly remember contents that were assessed in say, June. Acronyms worked as my triggering stimulus which immediately brought back the answers on demand, for example, all I needed to remember was a 4 letter acronym which would trigger my mind to remember 4 major dot points, which could then be further elaborated on when publishing my answer on the exam paper.
– What noticeable weaknesses did you have in PE and how did you overcome them?
Not knowing how much detail to learn for any particular topic. This is where the use of the study guide/various resources (some third party paid resources) helped. Additionally, I utilized the online access to communicate with my teacher through email. I would carefully word my email in a way that would demand a response from my teacher to explain to me roughly the amount of time to spend on a specific topic. By doing these things I was able to overcome wasting time on learning specific topics in depth that were otherwise unnecessary.
– How did you study for PE before a SAC and before the exam?
When it came to sacs, my revision was very much based around making excellent notes, refining it and then revising it. Often this would be done on the computer, followed by thorough revision through different mediums until the information was succinctly learnt. Various mediums included Cue cards, recording my own voice and then actively listening. Another advanced method that I used was through indirect teaching to another student. This opened up an avenue whereby the student who I was teaching was learning at the same time and also shot me some questions and I would have to respond on the spot. This added pressure, which mimics the environment of a sac/exam. Overall, the use of acronyms came into benefit very much when trying to trigger a solution in my mind to then finalize as a response on paper. This is something that I can teach a student if they would like to learn. It was a unique technique unlike any other, but simply… worked!
– What were your noticeable strengths in PE and how did you take advantage of them?
My greatest strength was memorizing the material in an easy way and then changing that memorization into a real-life example. It focused on adjusting my memorization and then tailoring this to the question. I always made sure that I wrote what VCAA wanted to hear (word for word if need be for particular definitions). By having a great memory on the core of the material the easy part was then tailoring the answer to the question/case study.
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