I want to talk about answering techniques for Science questions in this post. This year, I got several students who are hardworking and know their concepts well. One will expect them to score A but they only managed a B or C in the recent weighted assessments. Why? Because concept is not king. π
I often have to remind students that to do well in examinations, one have to be proficient in answering techniques and time management too.

In my lessons, i use and teach the CKA method for Science answering techniques.
C β Concept
Usually, students ( especially boys) pick up Science concepts pretty fast. I also tell my students that they CANNOT come to my tuition and tell me they dont know anything. This means that they are not listening in class at all. Even if thats the case, they can read the textbook and ask me specific questions. Jan is usually difficult because I have to build up this habit for my students. They have to ask me specific questions about the topic ( in fact, i encourage them to ask me questions). I beleieve this helps in their learning process and teaches them to be a more independent learner. Through their questions, I will teach concepts on the topics and I will give them practices to do.
What if the student have no questions? Then, i usually will ask them questions or get them to do practices straight.
K- Keywords
Keywords will be make known to them during concepts discussion. They will have to use the keywords in their answers. Reminder to students: Do not write as though you are talking to someone. Practice to rephrase your sentences to answer the question in a scientific way.
For instance,
β When you measure you must not see the reading slanted from the ruler so that you will not have parallax error.β should be replaced by βPosition your eye directly above the reading to avoid parallax error.β
A β Application
This is crucial because some students usually just βvomitβ out whatever they studied from notes. Most of the time, what they write is true but it does not answer the questions. Hence, no marks will be awarded to them. Sometimes, they didnt read the questions carefully and merely answer what they thought the question is asking or they assume its a similar question from the one they did before.
For instance, when the question ask one to state the observations, you cant write β A gas is produced.β You cant see gas. What we can see is effervescence. So the correct answer is β Effervescence observed.β
Like most things, practice make perfect. With reminders and practices, students should be able to master answering techniques for Science and do well in examinations! π
