When studying:
Ignore useless information from the textbooksAlthough the home economics textbooks are huge, a lot of the information is fairly irrelevant to the exam. Also, for most topics, the endless amount of information is given so that you can choose and select the specific information you would prefer or that you find easiest to learn, so you don’t need to fill your brain with all the information. Save time by just picking a few to study and you’ll be fine.
Use rhymes, associations, etcThere’s an incredible amount to be learned off for home ec, but life can be made easier by using rhymes, associations and so on to remember the tricky bits, such as vitamins, RDAs, etc. For example, when trying to learn off the sources, properties and functions of vitamin E, I tell my students to use associations. We say that vitamin E (‘‘ee’’ sound) can be found in seeds (‘‘ee’’ sound) and margarine (‘‘ee’’ sound) and that its function is to prevent eye disease in premature babies (eye=E=vitamin E). It may seem complicated but you can use whatever works for you. Try to make it fun.
Write it outWriting notes out on a sheet of paper can be just as helpful. It helps ingrain the information in your mind. For example, when learning the process of making cheese, try writing it out, highlight the important words, read over it and then write it out again without looking at the book to see if you can remember it.
In the exam:
Write as much as possibleIt’s really important that you write as much as possible. Spew out all the information you know. If two lines are provided, they are provided for a reason. You must fill them in. That extra bit of information you give could award you an extra mark and be the difference between a whole grade.
Take note of how many marks are going for each question. It is important that you take note of how many marks are going for each question. You don’t want to come up short and lose marks, or write too much and waste time, eg 16 marks = four points of information.
Use test papers, marking schemes and Studyclix.ieIn the final days running up to the home ec exam, it’s wise to focus almost solely on the test papers. Look at each question and mark every one that you don’t think you could answer if it came up in the exam. Then, for each question, find the answer and ensure that you can answer that question if something similar comes up for the exam.
Irish Country Living has teamed up with studyclix.ie to offer last-minute help to Leaving Cert students the night before their exams.
When studying:
Ignore useless information from the textbooksAlthough the home economics textbooks are huge, a lot of the information is fairly irrelevant to the exam. Also, for most topics, the endless amount of information is given so that you can choose and select the specific information you would prefer or that you find easiest to learn, so you don’t need to fill your brain with all the information. Save time by just picking a few to study and you’ll be fine.
Use rhymes, associations, etcThere’s an incredible amount to be learned off for home ec, but life can be made easier by using rhymes, associations and so on to remember the tricky bits, such as vitamins, RDAs, etc. For example, when trying to learn off the sources, properties and functions of vitamin E, I tell my students to use associations. We say that vitamin E (‘‘ee’’ sound) can be found in seeds (‘‘ee’’ sound) and margarine (‘‘ee’’ sound) and that its function is to prevent eye disease in premature babies (eye=E=vitamin E). It may seem complicated but you can use whatever works for you. Try to make it fun.
Write it outWriting notes out on a sheet of paper can be just as helpful. It helps ingrain the information in your mind. For example, when learning the process of making cheese, try writing it out, highlight the important words, read over it and then write it out again without looking at the book to see if you can remember it.
In the exam:
Write as much as possibleIt’s really important that you write as much as possible. Spew out all the information you know. If two lines are provided, they are provided for a reason. You must fill them in. That extra bit of information you give could award you an extra mark and be the difference between a whole grade.
Take note of how many marks are going for each question. It is important that you take note of how many marks are going for each question. You don’t want to come up short and lose marks, or write too much and waste time, eg 16 marks = four points of information.
Use test papers, marking schemes and Studyclix.ieIn the final days running up to the home ec exam, it’s wise to focus almost solely on the test papers. Look at each question and mark every one that you don’t think you could answer if it came up in the exam. Then, for each question, find the answer and ensure that you can answer that question if something similar comes up for the exam.
Irish Country Living has teamed up with studyclix.ie to offer last-minute help to Leaving Cert students the night before their exams.
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