Chemistry is one subject known to attract different attitudes among the students. You will either love or hate chemistry, depending on how you handle the classes. While some high school institutions treat chemistry as an elective subject where the students may choose to do it or not, almost all colleges have adopted the subject as a requirement for graduation, irrespective of the course. On the other hand, chemistry is a foundation course for natural science, medicine and engineering careers. Anyone willing to pursue and excel in any of the abovementioned careers must be good in chemistry. If you are struggling in the subject you can seek help from sweetstudy tutors. To improve your chemistry skills, you may need to adopt the following proven strategies to improve your skills in Chemistry.
1. Adopt the culture of reviewing your study materials before you attend the next chemistry class.
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This is one of the most effective methods from the traditional learning model to gain a better understanding of the lectures and stick the information taught in mind. Normally, your instructor will come to class, share his notes with the students, explain them and assign a few assignments to test and expand your knowledge in the unit. So when you go home, you are expected to review the notes taken in class, consult other sources, explore your next topic and prepare some questions to ask in your next lecture. This will help you to gain a better understanding of the previous class better and get a hint of the next class, so when the instructor is teaching, you can remember the concepts and equations that did not make sense in your review. This method, also known as class reversed or flipped classroom, has been adopted in many other technical subjects for the following reasons.
- Students attend classes with prior knowledge of the day’s topic.
- Students can easily follow what the instructor is teaching and gain a deeper understanding of the subject matter as they ask questions about what they could not understand on their own.
- It smoothens the lecture with fewer questions, making it better utilization of the classroom as a learning tool.
2. Seek to Understand.
Just like any other science, learning chemistry is gaining new knowledge. To avoid being caught up in the new knowledge, ensure that you have understood the previous topic and memorized it. Else, you are likely to get bogged down as the information accumulates with time. Ensure to capture the fundamental concepts. If it means investing more time in them, please do to master them. In the end, this will give you an easier time memorizing the advanced concepts.
3. Take good notes.
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It is not enough to attend classes without noting the instructor’s class points. Most chemistry instructors are intelligent; they put their points in a way they can easily remember. By noting these points down, you understand the topic faster and have an easier time in your revision. Ensure that your notes are well organized to help you prepare for the tests and participate in your study groups.
4. Create a daily practice routine.
Practice makes perfect. The more you practice your chemistry problems, memorize the formulas and solve the equations, the more you understand and love the subject. Create a routine to study the subject for at least 1 hour every day if you want to have an easy time learning chemistry. After every task, you test your understanding of the unit by working out the practice questions on the sample tests. Please do not get frustrated for getting any of the problems wrong; repeat it until you get it right.
5. Maximize the lab time.
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Chemistry lab practical will always give the best experience. Ensure that you do not miss any of the sessions to gain a hands-on experience of the subject. Working at the lab will allow you to practice physical chemistry by conducting experiments and solving chemistry problems that help to build your knowledge and understanding of the subject.
6. Join a study group.
Working with a well-organized group is another proven strategy to handle the most challenging parts of the subject. Such groups allow your colleagues to express their insight on the topic, exchange ideas and share their tactics to solve the hard concepts as a team. On the other hand, people capture a different understanding of the same point. Study groups help the members to manifest their diversity as far as the subject is concerned. Here are some tips to help you create an effective and well-organized study group.
- Gather a number of 3- 6 members
- Ensure that all the members are ready for the study sessions and their time frames.
- Only the dedicated members should be part of the group; jokers will likely pull the rest of the group down.
- Schedule at least 2 or 3 hours for your study sessions when everyone is available.
- Focus the sessions on studying chemistry and not social events.
- Organize your study sessions in places with no distractions.
7. Break down your tasks into small achievable tasks.
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Studying chemistry may be tedious if you are handling everything at the same time. To master and enjoy the concepts more, break the tasks into smaller pieces that you can absorb without struggle. While this concept may seem slow, it will help you master every concept by only taking what your mind can hold. You will be surprised to see how much you can achieve by taking one concept after another.
In conclusion, Chemistry does not have to be a challenge; anyone can be a genius in the subject as long as you focus attitude on success and observe the seven tips mentioned above. While good grades are the main goal, you can only achieve them by focusing on your work. Concentrate your mind on learning the subject, and good grades will follow as a reward. No one should be scared of the subject, yet some people have performed better in it and proved that the above methods work.
