Modern History Studying Tips (1 Viewer)

[braindrainedAsh]

I'll just post this to say that I personally would recommend that at this stage of your revision, practice essays are the go.... check out the essay topics threads on the boards for ideas.

The best idea is to do the questions which are not similar to the ones you have done before, that way you expand your knowledge and are more prepared for whatever they throw at you.

 

[legallytaouk]

heyy thanx 4 d tips... i get sooo easly destracted... if the wind is blowing 2 loudly i'll go n chek it out n end up staring out my window for the next hour or so... im so bad!!

neways yeh sum1 asked if any1 doing russia or sumething...
im doing russia (trotsky n stalin blah blah)
and the cold war.... i need sooo much help on these topics... i went to class at d most once a week,... its not my all time fav subject....

PLZ HELP A HOPELESS CAUSE = MEEEEEEEEEEE

TODOOLS FOR NOW!!!

 

[TheBirdMustFly]

Thanks for all the advice, this exam is harder to study for then some of my others

 

[gemita]

Don't write your notes in permanent marker. I have been and it makes me so dizzy and sick, but I can't stop now cos I have this thing with having all my notes in the same pen and written out in the same format. So I'm just woozy. Use biro.

 

[dr3amy]

use lots of colour in your notes! it makes them less dull to study. like for important points and subheadings, dont write in chunks like paragraphs, use dot points, tables and those brain storming things instead.

 

[Sugar]

How to study for Modern History?

I've been writing notes (dot points) for my half yearlies, but I get bored easily. I probably won't even remember half the stuff in my notes. :S

Does anyone know an effective and interesting way to study modern history?

 

[Meldrum]

I'd just say do practise papers because that's all it comes down to: how you perform in the exam, not how much you know about a subject what you show you know.

 

[hello99999]

write practise essays. you have to do it. it helps you to work out how much you can fit into 40 mins and it's much easier to remember something in an exam if you've already written it before.

i know what you're thinking "but i don't have time to write practise essays, and i don't know enough to write them, and the stuff i write my practise essay on probably won't be in the exam anyway!"

just sit down, time yourself for 40 mins and do a past essay as if it was part of the HSC. even if the qn you practise isnt the one you get in the exam, you will find that a lot of the information can be 'twisted' to a different essay, just make sure you answer the qn. practise essays will also help you when writing notes because you will have more of an idea of what to leave out etc.

if you really don't have time to write practise essays, at least write a couple of essay plans eg. get an essay qn and write down wht pts you would make in that essay.

memorising notes works for some ppl; it didn't really work for me.

 

[Katie123]

my major problem was dates--so many of them
so what i did was created a simple timeline of the main events on each topic...eg coldwar.
only the ones that I thought were extremely important...because your argument is not based on what happened. you use events to back up ur argument. ie germany was a totalitarian state........ use events such as the enabling law in the 30s?
but yeah make sure that you know the dates because it helps you from going off track quite a bit

 

[Skillo]

This works better for the acutal HSC:

Step One: Look at your notes. Look at your syllabus. Find what you HAVEN'T done in class. (There are holes in notes...well, there were in mine)

Step Two: Cry. Then get textbook(s). Make your own notes.

Step Three: Type up summaries using dot points from syllabus and your notes PLUS textbooks/documents/photographs for source reference/quotes.

Step Four: Half way through, start crying and screaming to parents that Modern History is a conspriracy and piece of shit subject.

Step Five: Eat copious amounts of chocolate, panic that you have forgotten about summaries.

Step Six: Continue with summaries. One day, finish them. I didn't. Lol.

Step Seven: Revise summaries, make up songs, little short words representing an event each letter, etc. Whatever works for you. I just read them aloud.

Step Eight: Do practice short answer questions and essays! These test how well your knowledge is sinking in. Get them checked by more than one teacher, ask ex-students for help or looking over your essay(s).

Step Nine: Go into exam. Freaking get hand cramps from wizzing through an extra booklet for each section. Get results back on Friday morning...Ooo.

I got an 88 in the HSC. My School assessment mark was 86 I think...I think I got a 90 or 89 in the exam. But, seeing as I frigged up my Trial and got a mark of 72% in it (and then proceeded to cry in front of class as my rank dropped from 3rd to 12th...damn them for making it worth 40%), I think 88 is a good effort. I was expecting 84ish.

And yes, I did cry a lot.

P/S: My summaries ended up being not like summaries at all, for each unit, there were 20pages...my World War 1 unit had 24 pages...but i didn't need to study that bit too hard...

 

[Meldrum]

This works better for the acutal HSC:

Step One: Look at your notes. Look at your syllabus. Find what you HAVEN'T done in class. (There are holes in notes...well, there were in mine)

Step Two: Cry. Then get textbook(s). Make your own notes.

Step Three: Type up summaries using dot points from syllabus and your notes PLUS textbooks/documents/photographs for source reference/quotes.

Step Four: Half way through, start crying and screaming to parents that Modern History is a conspriracy and piece of shit subject.

Step Five: Eat copious amounts of chocolate, panic that you have forgotten about summaries.

Step Six: Continue with summaries. One day, finish them. I didn't. Lol.

Step Seven: Revise summaries, make up songs, little short words representing an event each letter, etc. Whatever works for you. I just read them aloud.

Step Eight: Do practice short answer questions and essays! These test how well your knowledge is sinking in. Get them checked by more than one teacher, ask ex-students for help or looking over your essay(s).

Step Nine: Go into exam. Freaking get hand cramps from wizzing through an extra booklet for each section. Get results back on Friday morning...Ooo.

I got an 88 in the HSC. My School assessment mark was 86 I think...I think I got a 90 or 89 in the exam. But, seeing as I frigged up my Trial and got a mark of 72% in it (and then proceeded to cry in front of class as my rank dropped from 3rd to 12th...damn them for making it worth 40%), I think 88 is a good effort. I was expecting 84ish.

And yes, I did cry a lot.

P/S: My summaries ended up being not like summaries at all, for each unit, there were 20pages...my World War 1 unit had 24 pages...but i didn't need to study that bit too hard...

Aww, precious, I feel so sorry for you!
Seeing how you ended up getting a UAI of 93.65, I don't want to imagine what you could've gotten had you not dropped all those ranks .

Even my mum thinks that having one exam count for so much is unfair.

 

[fleepbasding]

How I studied for the recent half-yearlys plus tips on how to perform best in the Mod Hist Exam.


CORE

Learn the course at a superficial level with a focus on gathering token facts to include in Q2 that requires "your own knowledge"- example: token fact for women in WW1- in britain their were 6 policewomen in 1914, a number which grew to 650 in 1917.

Practice past papers. And get hold of that book which has borderline sample exam responses for modern history (standards packages?).

The structure of section 1 is very simple and by figuring it out, you can apply the question formats (ie: identify, analyze, purpose, usefulness, perspective) to any sources in your textbook or otherwise. If you have an equally keen class-mate you could write practice section 1's for eachother.


NATIONAL STUDY (the question that is not on personality).

Learn the course. I did this by making notes from a textbook on Germany (my national study). Also do this with a focus on the syllabus dot-points.

Practice essays- closely examine past papers (and syllabus) and figure out the main characteristics of the questions that get asked- from this you can formulate your own questions once you have used the pastpaper ones. Do the practice essays under exam conditions- ie: 40 minute timelimit (or whatever it is).

Also, if you don't have the time to write full practice essays all the time, it's useful just to write introductions. What I mean by this- Just look at the question, do a plan and write an introduction in 10 minutes. This is good practice for responding quickly and logically to a question you've not seen before without getting flustered (essential skill for exams!). For this exercise you could use these questions: http://www.boredofstudies.org/community/showthread.php?t=32649

It is also useful to have practice essays checked by your teacher or another Modern History teacher.

I wouldn't call modern history an easy course but the exam can be very prepared for.

 

[reemz]

wat about if u buy a voice recorder and tape the info and listen 2 it wen ur out 4 a jog?

 

[fleepbasding]

wat about if u buy a voice recorder and tape the info and listen 2 it wen ur out 4 a jog?

Ha, I've done that to, but I've been too busy/lazy to actually listen to it much. I don't know how much information you'd retain from listening to it on a jog. All round it's a pretty questionable technique. Try it out and see if it works for you, but keep on going with the tried and true study methods- summarising and practice essays.

 

[Sarah168]

im at uni and i listen to lecture. Shock horror! it actualyl works! well for me anyway. I really get it drilled in my head and i understand explanations more.

In high school though, you're lucky to find a teacher decent enough to record an hrs worth of class....

 

[sK...]

i got 96% for the independent schools trial, so i guess my advice must count for something.

Either that, or your just f*cking your teacher....

Though, thats no use for externally marked exams...

 

[TessaBu]

hi.. ill help you.. can you help me!!!

Set yourself little goals, keep them little so you don't feel like you are flogging a dead horse (especially with mod hist cos the course is so damn big)
I have a request of my own...

I am running out of practise papers... my teacher created his own trial and didn't buy the catholic or independent trials... they are both usually pretty good at guessing whats in the hsc...
could any one who has it just send me the ww1, russia national study and personalty question and the indochina q.
or if theres a link where i could download them that would be fine..
please email me... i need help my teacher is lazy!!!
lets_fry_ants@hotmail.com (i will send you lots of thanks!!!!)
cheers

 

[dimu2]

thnx every1 .. mines is teaching people as well. Get your friend to ask you a question in a particular field, and let you explain it to them. Reverse it for the next question. This way you both learn.

 

[dimu2]

dude..

Don't write your notes in permanent marker. I have been and it makes me so dizzy and sick, but I can't stop now cos I have this thing with having all my notes in the same pen and written out in the same format. So I'm just woozy. Use biro.

woah man i dont think iv ever known ne1 to use a permanent marker to write their notes in lol

 

[Silver Persian]

When you finish writing notes on a syllabus dot point, its a good idea to write an essay on the topic the next night to make sure the work is sinking in. You can keep the notes next to you to check on specific dates etc, but the main ideas of the essay should flow reasonably quickly.

The other thing is to make sure you managhe your time in the exam. I have two friends who spent 60+mins on the individual question and then were screwed over for the Cold War.