History Study

WoolyAbyss

I'm just wondering how you guys study for history? I basically just reread a chapter until the information sticks in my head but I don't think its very effective.

SChique00

Well I know what works for me, but it mightn't be the ideal method for everyone - you're welcome to try it if you want

I usually pick a topic, and write out notes on said topic in my hardback, paying close attention to dates, key personalities, figures, etc (I usually use different colours of pens for these). Then, when I'm confident that I have everything covered on the topic, I trawl back through the exam papers and find essay questions that apply to my studied topic. I examine the trends, what the questions tend to focus on, and then make an outline plan for questions that differ.

Of course nothing beats actually completing an essay and getting it marked by a teacher; if you try and get one done a month that'd be great revision

Hope that helps

WoolyAbyss

SChique00 wrote: »

Well I know what works for me, but it mightn't be the ideal method for everyone - you're welcome to try it if you want

I usually pick a topic, and write out notes on said topic in my hardback, paying close attention to dates, key personalities, figures, etc (I usually use different colours of pens for these). Then, when I'm confident that I have everything covered on the topic, I trawl back through the exam papers and find essay questions that apply to my studied topic. I examine the trends, what the questions tend to focus on, and then make an outline plan for questions that differ.

Of course nothing beats actually completing an essay and getting it marked by a teacher; if you try and get one done a month that'd be great revision

Hope that helps

Alright thanks I definitely need to start writing my own notes.Did very little revision last year as every test we had was on case studies.

AulBiddy

Spider diagrams! I am so bad at history (constant ds) but I did a spider diagram for the last test I did and I got an A.. Its basically condensing and connecting information. They're so easy to make and theyre handy for subjects like that like biology, English, anything you've to learn off specific information or essays (especially essays!)

WoolyAbyss

AulBiddy wrote: »

Spider diagrams! I am so bad at history (constant ds) but I did a spider diagram for the last test I did and I got an A.. Its basically condensing and connecting information. They're so easy to make and theyre handy for subjects like that like biology, English, anything you've to learn off specific information or essays (especially essays!)

Alright thanks I'll give it a try.

a0ifee

I tend to stick with mindmaps like the person above said! I think they're good for history because you're planning an essay layout as well. I put the main points on the mindmap, read my notes a few times then I might try practise an essay on that topic

shootie

Break things up. I used to create sheets with 3 separate sections, start/middle/end for things such as the Vietnam war and American foreign policy for example. I'd write little notes based off the book which would enable me to remember the more detailed information.

For example, I'd write "Da Nang" on the sheet, later when I read over the sheet and see "Da Nang" and i'd immediately think to myself "The Americans landed their first ground troops in Vietnam here." Then during exams I'd think of the word "Da Nang" and that information would immediately come to mind. It compresses what you study basically.

Of course, paying attention in class and reading the textbook chapters a few times is essential. This method works even better when you break up the sections as you go progress through it in class.

I got a B3 in higher level using mainly this method for what it's worth, in class where the average mark was a C in OL bar myself and three others who did HL in a class of 20 odd. You can't really imagine how bad my teacher was for 5th year and up to Christmas in 6th year, when thank God she got pregnant and we got a sub.

oncex

I used to pretty much rote learn the paragraphs in the book, it was the only way I could get the A1 essays. Saying that, I was pretty good at answering the question at the same time but I felt rote learning eliminated the need to think about your facts during an exam. It worked out okay for me but made me despise the subject. It really depends on the person, some people can retain facts easier and so don't need to rote learn