By Brennen C - 9 minute readIn this guide, Brennen goes through his top tips and tricks for getting a a 90+ in Physics.
Newton’s third law states that for every action there is an equal opposite reaction. If we apply this same logic to studying Physics, it stands to reason that the smarter you study, the more you’ll get out of the subject.
I hope this guide gives you some tips and tricks to navigate this momentum-gaining course.
Your IA for Physics makes up 50% of your final grade. You will have 3 IAs throughout
the year, which should cover much of the content you need to know. They include the Data Test (10% of your grade) and the Student Experiment (20% of your grade) which both cover unit 3, and the Research Investigation (20% of your grade) which covers unit 4. I suggest you use your internal assessment preparation wisely as this will put less pressure on you during the external exam period.
To maximize time – use the subject syllabus which tells you exactly what you need to know for the course – nothing more, nothing less. Before going through a topic, I would get out of my syllabus and generate a list of questions based on the dot points. Therefore, when you’re in class or learning on your own, you have primed yourself on what to look out for and you’ll filter for only relevant information.
I found that note taking was the single best way to consolidate your learning onto a
few pages and act as an easy place you can refer back to throughout the year. I used the questions I made for the syllabus as a guide while making notes and answered them in my own words. Using two or three resources throughout the year including: your teacher’s notes, YouTube videos (Khan Academy is great) and your textbook will stop you from being bogged down in the sea of resources out there.
While creating your summary, I suggest you use:
Headings & subheadings
Heaps of colour
Detailed diagrams
Bolding and underlining
Concise explanations
Flowcharts
How exactly do you measure confidence? I did this by answering questions. This is an ACTIVE process, which really puts you on the spot and tests your ability to actively recall what you have learned. I used the textbook questions, which provide heaps of questions. Also, check out the quizzes section on Studyclix. I would then prioritise the topics based on questions I had difficulty with and read my notes, watch a video, or go through the textbook until I said “Ohhh, I get it now”. This approach will ensure you don’t keep repeating the same mistakes.
I made summaries throughout the year, which I combined at the end of the year to act as my summary book. I would recommend it contains derived formulas to make it quicker to answer questions in the exam, also include dot pointed explanations on the theory and examples if you need. At the end of the day, the summary book is just a book to read and remember, as you can’t take anything into the exam with you. Doing the exam questions however is the best way to prepare.
Even though it may be easier for you to use your phone, laptop or graphic calculator,
it’s going to do you more harm than good when it comes to exam time. You should
be using the same scientific calculator you will use in the exam so that finding the
right buttons and signs comes naturally during the exam. Make sure you learn all the
tricks and shortcuts of your calculator as anything to make it quicker to give you
more time to answer the questions is a bonus.
You’ve probably heard about practice exams a million times by now, but let me tell
you, they are a godsend when you’re studying for the exam. At the end of the day,
50% of your Physics mark is going to be your exam result. So, what better way to
study for this exam than by doing exams yourself.
I started doing practice exams quite a few weeks out from the actual one, which gave me plenty of time to revise. You can do this really easily on Studyclix.
Try and do them under timed conditions, so you are really simulating the exam environment. Of course, it will be hard when you get started so give yourself some leeway until you get settled into it.
I recommend you do at least 10 practice exams starting with past QCAA papers, followed by company ones and finally other papers from VCE and WACE.
On top of this, ensure you are revising and studying all your notes throughout the entirety of the year, as this will help you remember a lot of the stuff and not have to re-learn it all at the end of the year. You should be revising the work you have done at the end of every week if possible.
Now, even though I suggested doing 10 or so exams before, I have to repeat the
age-old mantra “quality OVER quantity”. Completing your exams is only part of the job! After each exam, I made sure to open up the corresponding marking guide, which shows you exactly what the assessors are looking for. So, if there is a definition or explanation provided it is a good idea to make note of it.I would also mark my exams harshly (as examiners will surely do) so please don’t say, “would’ve said that” as you’re marking, because you actually didn’t.
I recorded every exam I did and all the mistakes I made. This really helped to ensure
I knew exactly what I didn’t get correct so that I would focus on the topics that
challenged me instead of wasting time on the ones I already knew. I’ve written the
common types of mistakes and how to tackle them below:
Underline key words when reading the question and don’t move on without reading the question again.
Proof-read your exam to pick up on these slip ups.
‘[Derived formula]’. Now write this in your notes in red and review the concept.
Though it is tempting to regurgitate everything you know on a concept, you need to be specific to the question.
When using formulas make sure you copy in the correct values. To ensure this, I recommend highlighting all the important values in the question.
I can’t stress enough how important it is to use the notes section to document your mistakes. Don’t worry, I was slapping my forehead a lot during this period too but making mistakes now will prevent you from making them during the exam!
Use the reading time to get a feel for what topics are covered in the short answer. Then start answering multiple-choice questions in your head.
Move on from multiple-choice questions after 20 minutes
Spend until you have 10 or 15 minutes left on the clock on the short answer
Use the remaining time to check through your exam
Finally, make sure you go back to any unanswered multiple choice questions and make an educated guess as you can narrow most down to 2 answers which gives you a 50/50 chance of getting an extra mark.
The Physics exam comes with 20 multiple choice questions which cover a wide array of topics. Your best friend when it comes to MCQs is the process of elimination. Normally there are 2 distracting options that you will cross off, so you essentially go from having a 1 in 4 chance to a 1 in 2 chance of picking the correct option! Just remember while you’re staring at the question, scratching your head, the answer is right back at you so if worse comes to worst make an educated guess.
The short answer questions account for about 2 thirds of your exam mark. I will go through a few of the common types of questions below:
Please use dot points – I don’t know how many times I made those coloured in circles of different shapes and sizes, but they proved very useful. It keeps your answers succinct and as a general rule of thumb, I matched the number of dot points to the number of available marks.
I implore you to show ALL of your working out even if you think you can skip a step, as you don’t want to make a mistake. This will ensure you get all the marks you deserve and clearly set everything out to identify any miscalculations if they come up. Identify the formula you need to use and check if you need to change the units and make sure you write the units in your answer!
This is a section that a lot of students have trouble with. Before the exam, make sure that you have a basic understanding of what makes up an experiment and how to increase reliability and validity.
Teachers are walking fountains of knowledge – having marked hundreds of exams,
they know what they’re talking about. I’d recommend you build a strong working
relationship with your teacher and ask questions when you need to even if the
questions seem a bit silly, your teachers are there to help. Remember the only silly
questions are the ones not asked.
Having study buddies is equally important, whether it is making a group chat or
meeting up once a week to go through concepts you are having difficulty with. I
always found trying to teach a concept to someone else to be the single best
revision techniques because you really need to understand to make someone else
understand it too.
Keep in mind for Physics though that you have already done a data test (10%) and
student experiment (20%) on Unit 3 (so that’s 60% of Unit 3 already covered) and
only a research investigation (20%) for Unit 4 (40% of Unit 4 covered). So it’s safe to
say that a good chunk of the external exam will be on Unit 4 and I can confirm this
from when I did my external in year 12 but that doesn’t mean you can ignore
studying Unit 3.
It is hard trying to store a whole year’s work in your memory for just one subject, let
alone 6. Don’t forget to make sure you are rope learning throughout the year as this
helps to keep the older content fresh in your mind. If you are having trouble
remembering something, try to make a funny or silly way to remember it as this
usually sticks in your mind better, I found.
Don’t get me wrong, Physics is not an easy subject, but cramming everything 2
weeks before your exam will not do you any good. I really tried to wrap my head
around all the theory so that I built a solid foundation to approach exam questions.
The one tip I can give you when going through notes is to constantly question the
concepts and ask “why?” at each step.
You don’t have to be Albert Einstein to enjoy this subject. Physics is a subject that
really makes you think and opens your eyes to the world around you. I would put
what you learn into practice – do an experiment at home or go to a museum –
physics doesn’t have to just stay in the classroom. The more you relate a concept to
a real life application, the more you will remember the concept. Having fun with this
fascinating subject will result in you appreciating what you’re learning and this
positive attitude will allow you to excel.
Here are some final tips from Brennen on how to get a 90+ in Maths Methods.
Teachers are walking fountains of knowledge – having marked hundreds of exams,
they know what they’re talking about. I’d recommend you build a strong working
relationship with your teacher and ask questions when you need to even if the
questions seem a bit silly, your teachers are there to help. Remember the only silly
questions are the ones not asked.
Having study buddies is equally important, whether it is making a group chat or
meeting up once a week to go through concepts you are having difficulty with. I
always found trying to teach a concept to someone else to be the single best
revision techniques because you really need to understand to make someone else
understand it too.
Keep in mind for Physics though that you have already done a data test (10%) and
student experiment (20%) on Unit 3 (so that’s 60% of Unit 3 already covered) and
only a research investigation (20%) for Unit 4 (40% of Unit 4 covered). So it’s safe to
say that a good chunk of the external exam will be on Unit 4 and I can confirm this
from when I did my external in year 12 but that doesn’t mean you can ignore
studying Unit 3.
It is hard trying to store a whole year’s work in your memory for just one subject, let
alone 6. Don’t forget to make sure you are rope learning throughout the year as this
helps to keep the older content fresh in your mind. If you are having trouble
remembering something, try to make a funny or silly way to remember it as this
usually sticks in your mind better, I found.
Don’t get me wrong, Physics is not an easy subject, but cramming everything 2
weeks before your exam will not do you any good. I really tried to wrap my head
around all the theory so that I built a solid foundation to approach exam questions.
The one tip I can give you when going through notes is to constantly question the
concepts and ask “why?” at each step.
You don’t have to be Albert Einstein to enjoy this subject. Physics is a subject that
really makes you think and opens your eyes to the world around you. I would put
what you learn into practice – do an experiment at home or go to a museum –
physics doesn’t have to just stay in the classroom. The more you relate a concept to
a real life application, the more you will remember the concept. Having fun with this
fascinating subject will result in you appreciating what you’re learning and this
positive attitude will allow you to excel.
Brennen recently graduated with a 96.4 ATAR score, excelling in Methods both in his results and interest in the subject. He is now moving to study an Electrical Engineering and IT degree at JCU.