Curiosity is key to studying any science, chemistry most of all. It is the first step to ace chemistry. Luckily, it is easy to be curious about chemistry. Especially if you find the right guidance, at school and/ or at your tuition institute. Chemistry is a foundational subject for many disciplines related to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Regardless, chemistry is important to appreciate and understand many realities of modernity. If you understand the basics of chemistry, you will be able to appreciate novel agricultural technologies, modern medicine, efficient building materials, electricity generation, and much more.
In other words, the science of chemistry is vibrant in your daily life. It is present in the food you eat, the perfume you wear, the vehicles you drive, and whatnot. So, the first step in acing chemistry shouldn’t be that hard.
Why is chemistry different?
The chemistry syllabus can be broadly divided into four sections. This applies both to school and university-level chemistry. General chemistry, inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry, and physical chemistry fit in within the umbrella of chemistry. However, unlike divisions in other heavy sciences, these divisions of chemistry are quite different from one another. Some subjects need an appreciation of physics, some need memorization skills, and some need proficiency in math. As you may have heard, chemistry is sometimes called applied physics.
Hence why tuitions in Singapore often employ different techniques or tutors to teach different sections of Chemistry.
Singaporean students are among the best-performing student groups in the world. Naturally, as a result, the education system in Singapore is highly competitive. A well-adjusted student balancing time between curricular, co-curricular activities, and extra-curricular activities are challenged hard when preparing for national exams. The wide scope of chemistry makes it even harder. Students can go on cramming and find no end to the depth of the syllabus. That’s exactly why working smart is more important in chemistry than working hard. Finding the right tuition center, tutors, and study techniques is important to ace chemistry.
Effective learning-teaching techniques for chemistry
Good tuition institutes are well aware of the fast-paced lives of modern students. Thus these tuition institutes employ efficient techniques to make sure that the student saves enough time to pursue other interests while excelling in academics. The well-trained tutors identify the learning style of each student and fine-tune their teaching methods accordingly. The tutor also uses different teaching methods or tools for each division.
General chemistry and sections of physical chemistry are closely related to physics. A good tutor will help students understand and retain better by pointing out such relations. Inorganic chemistry can be retained much better by using spaced repetition techniques. A good tuition institute can help students in this by educating students about flashcard marking, and other techniques. Practical demonstrations of inorganic chemistry practicals create exciting and colorful memories for students. Organic chemistry involves studying the three-dimensional structure of molecules, their properties, and how they interact with each other. Organic chemistry lessons are often best explained using analogies from the larger world. Most of all, chemistry is all around us. The tutor only has to point it out and the curious student would start observing these correlations between what’s taught and what’s seen. A good tuition institute will employ tutors who are well aware of all these nuances of chemistry teaching.
The right tuition, the right peer group
Finding peers who compliment your level of curiosity and dedication is not easy. Not even in Singapore! But finding the right peers is more important in Singapore. Chemistry is a subject with a wide scope of content and a range of needed skills. Not all students will appreciate every topic in the syllabus. Not all students will have the skills needed for each topic. That’s where the peer group comes in. One student can be skilled in inorganic chemistry, another in physical chemistry, and so on. Therefore, students can work as a group by discussing with, and/ or tutoring each other. At the end of the day, each student will benefit. The right tuition institute will encourage this by providing the environment and resources needed to form productive peer groups.
The keys to acing chemistry are developing some curiosity, finding the right tuition that employs tutors who use the best teaching methods, revising using effective study techniques, and finding the right peer group.