Mastering the Art of Studying Science

Being the only mandatory subject in the HSC, it’s unquestionable why English has the most number of HSC enrolees. Although Mathematics has become the most popular HSC elective subject, it is noticeable that the number of students who have chosen to study Science courses has been growing over the past couple of years. From the Board of Studies NSW’s list of Top 15 subjects by enrolment in 2010, Biology ranked 4th with 16,060 enrolees; Chemistry was 8th with 10,516; and Physics was 11th with 9,480. Other Science subjects have increased enrolment as well: Senior Science increased 26%, Earth and Environmental Science increased 29%.

Matrix Education Specialises in HSC Sciences, Math and English

As everyone awaits the release of the 2011 HSC results, it’s most likely that they will see a similar trend. For those students who will be preparing for HSC exams in the next couple of years and are planning to focus on the Sciences, you can continue improving your school marks and have the chance to achieve top HSC marks with Matrix Education’s help. As Sydney’s leading HSC tutoring school for Year 7 to 12 students, they specialise in English, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics. The majority of their students rank top at their schools and achieve an ATAR of above 95 because of Matrix Education’s state-of-the-art technology, effective learning system, and experienced teachers. They also provide other resources, such as supplementary workbooks, advanced curriculum, accelerated courses, an ATAR calculator, feedback and assessment, and more, to assist students in their individual needs.

How to Study the Different Sciences Effectively

Aside from attending a tutoring school, it is also important that you follow a regular schedule for self-study. Unlike other subjects, the sciences have content that use technical language and many symbols; they are theory-oriented that require mastery of previous knowledge to understand new concepts. Just like in Math courses, it is important that you memorise and understand the definitions, take down good notes, solve the problems, and do the experiments. Theory and practical must go together. Here are some helpful tips that can make studying science less stressful:

* Biology
- Read the lecture material in advance or before attending the class.
- Participate actively in lab sessions and perform the experiments.
- Take down notes and compare notes with a friend to fill in any gaps.
- Read materials with a critical eye and attend lectures with a critical mind.

* Chemistry
- Read actively - think about what you’re reading, relate it to previous concepts, and understand it.
- Self test yourself - ask and answer questions about what you read.
- Outline what you’ve read, using main ideas, important formulas and applications.
- Spend enough time practicing by solving problems provided in the book or redoing homework exercises.
- Don’t leave your questions or problems unanswered; review your materials or ask your instructor and classmates.
- Take down lecture notes in outline form and read over them as soon as possible so you can rewrite what’s unclear or finish what’s incomplete to make them accurate.
- Observe keenly and participate actively during experiments.

* Physics
- Remove all distractions when studying.
- Get your homework done and redo the exercises later on.
- Make sure you’ve mastered previous concepts and basic principles so you can correctly understand, analyse and solve current problems.
- Practice solving different problems.

Science is a hands-on course so get involved in class, during experiments, and when doing homework and problem-solving exercises.