Reflection: Term 1 test results

The topics tested in this term are namely periodic table, atomic structure and chemical bonding. I found that in order to score well in this exam of chemistry, the most important thing is to work hard and do a lot of memorizing work. As such, I compiled the notes that Dr. Tan gave to be able to revise more systematically and efficiently, and at the same time, setting aside some time for researching online for the uses of different properties of elements.

I find compiling notes very effective, since during the making of notes, my mind also absorbed the information, thus killing two birds with one stone. Furthermore, when compiling notes, I was also able to review what Dr. Tan taught in lesson and have a through “checkup” on how much I understood about the topics; in other words, looking through each and every part of the topics to see if I still did not have a grasp about any topic, or unsure and feared any topic. As such, I was able to have an overall understanding of how these topics relate to each other. I felt that this was more important than just stuffing all the facts into our mind without any “digestion”.

With weeks and weeks of revision, the test finally came, and went. The result was that I got barely touched A1 – 31.5/40. To be frank, I am not very pleased with my own results. Careless mistakes, loads of them in the test paper. This was partly because of the lack of time, or also could be due to my inaccurate time planning, therefore, resulting in being unable to check my answers. As a matter of fact, it is only carelessness that resulted in my decrease in marks, since I totally understood how to do those questions. It was perhaps out of pure rashness and lack of time which made me failed to properly comprehend the question before answering them. As a result, the effort I invested, I felt, was far more than what I should have gotten for my results. However, perhaps it was because I did not do enough practices, since I only memorized the facts and information. Hence, I resolved that I should not only memorise, but also do numerous practices for the next test, and hope that I could pass with flying colours.