Year 12 Informatics Exam Preparation
Gather ye rosebuds while ye may...
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Time is short.
Carpe diem. Seize the day. You need to take on board the attitude of making the most out of life, especially during Year 12. Suck the marrow out of life. You don't get to repeat. So do your best work now. "We are food for worms, lads" |
Discipline
You need to commit to the Year 12 examination a long way out. Ideally a few years ago! However even committing to completing topic and chapter summaries and getting definitions precise this year will help you to achieve your personal best. So let's get started.
Duncan Armstrong or Ben Johnson...who are you?
Coming into the 1988 Olympic Games, Ben Johnson was the likely winner of the blue riband men's 100 metre sprint. Duncan Armstrong was not in the top 40 swimmers in the world. Only one left Seoul with a gold medal.
Johnson went in with a mindset of 'whatever it takes' to be the best. This involved breaking the world record with a stunning 9.79 time. Everyone at the venue were stunned as Johnson left the best competitors including famed champion Carl Lewis in his wake. However, it was his disqualification for taking steroids that stunned more people. So how does this relate to Year 12? Cheating and short cuts may pay off once, but it's not a long term template for success. |
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Armstrong was a young Australian with a dream
Fattening the Pig
Doing your only study a day or two before the exam is a recipe for failure. Don't only study hard the day before the exam. This is like trying to fatten the pig on market day! You will need to keep 'feeding the pig' over the course of the year, so that when you walk into the exam, you are bursting with knowledge that you can't wait to get onto the paper.
Practise
There is no substitute for practise. The more high quality practise is completed before an examination, the better the end result. But what is high quality practice?
Mark your own work first
Part of the VCE problem-solving methodology includes the stage of evaluation. This involves reviewing the solution and ensuring that it meets the requirements of the user.
But how about applying this concept to your work. Each time you complete a question,
But how about applying this concept to your work. Each time you complete a question,
Mental
Take on a mindset that every mark counts. If you are unsure of what to write for an answer to a question, take your best guess. Do not leave marks in your head. The fact remains that every few marks in an examination leads to an extra study score point earned. Each mark is worth scrapping for, because it may be the difference between you getting a 40+ or a 39 study score, or is a factor that gets you into your desired university course.
Gather the breadcrumbs
Key parts of the answers to some questions in an examination can be found in other questions. This could include a definition, a multiple choice question option or a fact that sparks the memory. So, as you go through your reading time in an examination, a very positive use of this time is to see if you can find questions that answer other questions.
Commit to memory, whatever it takes
Key areas to memorise from the Study Design:
- Problem-solving methodology - know intimately every stage and every activity and exactly why we use them in our project work
- Glossary - each term is examinable so take the time to know each definition, with precision
Shame on me, or shame on you?
"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."
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Short-Answer Questions
Do the questions for which you are most confident in the answer first. Lock down marks from the very beginning - if you run out of time, you will ensure that you have achieved the maximum score.
Leaving a question blank will ensure that you score 0. Having a guess at the right answer may get you a 0 but it may also achieve partial marks that become crucial in improving your overall result.
Leaving a question blank will ensure that you score 0. Having a guess at the right answer may get you a 0 but it may also achieve partial marks that become crucial in improving your overall result.
Multiple Choice Questions
Do as many as you can but make sure that if you get an incorrect answer, you work out why and resolve to improve next time.
There is no negative marking for the exam so answer every question; there's a 25% chance of getting a correct answer for a question you have no clue about.
There are some logical ways to solve multiple choice questions which are worth reading. Some common techniques used are:
There is no negative marking for the exam so answer every question; there's a 25% chance of getting a correct answer for a question you have no clue about.
There are some logical ways to solve multiple choice questions which are worth reading. Some common techniques used are:
- If in doubt, choose the longest answer. It's correct just a shade more than 25% of the time, so it improves your odds. Because in many exams, the answers A B C and D are ordered by the length of the answer, this makes the longest answer often D. D would therefore be slightly more likely to be the correct answer (in that case).
- Try to see if there are three answers that are similar and one that is "the odd one out". Often the answer that is unique can be the correct one.
- Try to get yourself into a stage where you have a 50-50 guess at a question by ruling out the answers that are clearly incorrect.
Ancora Imparo
The famous artist Michelangelo held to this truth - "I am still learning". If you want to do well at examinations; if you want to do well at life, make sure that you are trying to learn something. Even from a boring lecture or class, you can learn tips about how much better you could run this class given the opportunity.