Revision Technique
The sheer volume of content that students have to learn can prove intimidating and loom like an unconquerable mountain, especially if they have some gaps in their fundamental knowledge. Our tutors will help their pupils to address any issues with their core understanding, so that they can apply these concepts to other topics. Students should break down their revision. Firstly, ensure that they can use the fundamentals in other topics, then establish their areas of weakness and tick them off one by one. Having ascertained the specific subject areas to target (which we can help with), students will make the most progress by attempting exam questions, and then reviewing the mark scheme. They should then note down any answers where they have lost marks and then repeat those questions.
We have written “perfect answers” for questions that come up regularly so that pupils can learn them and apply them to the relevant problems. They can then take a methodical approach and move on to another topic that they find difficult.
It is vital that revision is proactive, if a student spends prolonged periods of time reading through text books or notes, then they are likely to lose concentration relatively quickly, but by answering/marking questions the student is involved and the variety of different tasks also helps to maintain interest. In summary, students should secure the fundamentals, establish areas of difficulty, learn the “perfect answers” and attempt exam questions, then analysing the mark scheme and repeating the questions on which they dropped marks.
Interpreting Questions
The most common problems that students have in terms of exams is interpreting the questions. They are often filled with academic tier 2 language and subject-specific tier 3 language (known as disciplinary literacy). Establishing the command word will help pupils to know how to structure their answer. The tier 3 vocabulary can be slightly off-putting for many learners. e.g. “Describe how to make crystals of Iron Nitrate from Iron Oxide and Nitric Acid”. First of all “Describe how” tells us that this question is asking for a method and is therefore likely to be one of the required practicals. “Make crystals” tells us that it is the making crystals practical. The student may not have heard of Iron Nitrate or Iron Oxide and is unlikely to have carried out this experiment using the chemicals listed. However, the pupil can apply the standard method for making crystals and just replace the Copper Oxide (which they will have used in the lesson) with Iron Oxide and replace the Sulphuric Acid (used in class) with Nitric Acid.
Unfortunately, tier 2 and 3 vocabulary alongside the names of chemical compounds/biological species prevent many pupils from accessing the exam questions and gaining the marks for which they have the knowledge and understanding.
The Education Endowment Fund (EEF) writes very eloquently on the delivery of tier 2 and 3 vocabulary and we constantly review their guidance. Please find a link to their secondary science teaching document which illustrates the issue at hand. Our tutors can help their students to interpret the questions and remove some of the “noise” that can discourage them from attempting the problem.
Answer Structure
An issue with the English exam structure is that the best scientist does not get the best grade, but rather the student who is best at sitting the science exam. Therefore, not only is the interpretation of the question incredibly important, but also the structure of the answer.
Answers should be bullet pointed for several reasons. The answer is easier to organise, so that the pupil is assigning one point per mark. It is quicker, giving the student more time for the crucial interpretation of the question . It is easier for the examiner to find the information that they need to award marks. Often where marks are missed in examination is because the correct points are hidden within a rambling passage where the same points are often repeated several times. Finally, it is far easier for the student to check their work if it is clearly bullet pointed and enable them to gain those last few vital marks.
Unsurprisingly, the answer structure is inextricably linked to the wording of the question. For example a 2 mark “explain” question (or sometimes “describe and explain”) is going to require a description of the trend and then use of the word “because” or “therefore” to gain the second mark for the explanation. Being supported by experienced teachers who have an excellent knowledge of the mark schemes, not just the content, and examination experience is fundamental to the pupil reaching their potential in terms of exam outcomes.