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Acing the chemistry exam by studying smart

By A Level Chemistry, Chemistry Exam, O Level ChemistryNo Comments

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.

How To Excel At Memorisation Of Chemistry Content

By A Level Chemistry, Chemistry Exam, O Level Chemistry, UncategorizedNo Comments

Being good at memorisation can only only help you out in the soft subjects such as History, but also in hard subjects, such as Chemistry. Although Chemistry does not have as many formulas unlike Physics or Maths, it does contain a lot of chemical names and equations that students have to become familiar with in order to do well in exams. In addition, certain problem solving techniques are also essential for some types of questions. There is no doubt that a student who excels at this will have an easier time applying his knowledge appropriately.

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How Important Is The Periodic Table For Chemistry?

By A Level Chemistry, O Level ChemistryNo Comments

Prior to taking Chemistry as a core science elective in upper secondary level, students may not be familiar with the term “Periodic Table” even if they have heard about it before. However, for Chemistry students at any level, seeing the periodic table is as common as bread and butter for them. School or tuition teachers alike will always reference back to this table as well.

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Are Chemistry Textbooks Enough?

By A Level Chemistry, O Level ChemistryNo Comments

These days, our Ministry of Education has been rigorously vetting through the different sources of textbooks for school use and this has helped to raise the bar significantly. As authors start to becoming creative in using nice graphics and straightforward language to depict Chemistry concepts, school textbooks have definitely surpassed those used decades ago. In fact, it is now common to see students using it for self-revision and making summary notes on their own.

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What is “Singapore Chemistry”?

By A Level Chemistry, O Level ChemistryNo Comments

Although Chemistry is a subject that students only get to choose as a pure science elective at upper secondary level, but it has already been incorporated into a student’s education as part of the general science syllabus at primary and lower secondary level.  And that is not without good reason, the abstract concepts are difficult to relate to real life instances. However, Chemistry is critical as one of the core foundation subjects in the education of our children. Read More

Should You Take Chemistry In School?

By A Level Chemistry, Chemistry Tuition Classes, O Level ChemistryNo Comments

Chemistry is a subject that teaches us skills that no other subjects or even other science electives can provide in the classroom. It is a subject ranked one of the top in terms of application based science. Almost every question or problem will involve you having to use the knowledge you picked up during the course to solve problems during lessons either in school or in Chemistry tuition class. The good news is Chemistry does not require much regurgitation. 

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