Have no idea how to study for HSC Economics with the sheer amount of content involved?
Over the last decade we’ve tutored and interviewed a number of state ranking HSC Economics students, including students who’ve scored 1st in NSW.
We’ve noticed one thing that all HSC Economics state rankers have in common:
They would go (at least) 1 week ahead of their class at school.
So for example, if their class was covering the topic, Australia’s Place in the Global Economy, syllabus dot point, ’Trends in Australia’s Trade Patterns’ they would have covered it the week before and in their own time.
Instead, they would be working on syllabus dot point, Trends in Financial Flows – Debt & Equity (the next syllabus dot point ahead).
So, let’s jump into the benefits of studying one week ahead and how you can do it effectively!
A HSC Economics Tutor in Sydney can keep you accountable, so you remain one week ahead!
Why Work 1 Week Ahead?
How Do You Work 1 Week Ahead?
What If You’re Reading This Mid Term and Want to Get Ahead?
Why Work 1 Week Ahead?
Going 1 week ahead of your class is powerful for 3 reasons relating to memory retention and comprehension.
Reason #1: You Teach Yourself Content
When you go 1 week ahead, you have to teach yourself the content.
Generally speaking, when you teach yourself something (because you’ve had to really focus and put in more mental effort) you remember the material better.
Reason #2: Good for Memory Retention
Secondly, you get more levels of repetition (which is a key building block of memory) as you teach it to yourself.
You’ll hear the same content repeated in class, and then you’ll also complete any homework questions your teacher gives you, which means you’re getting an extra level of repetition.
Reason #3: Room for Questions
Finally, covering the material before you cover it in class means that in class you can really ask great, specific questions to really clarify and develop your knowledge about the material, instead of asking really basic ones that the textbook likely covers.
How Do You Work 1 Week Ahead?
You might be thinking right now – OK, I’m convinced there’s lots of benefits in going 1 week ahead BUT…I’m struggling to keep up with all my study as it is right now. How can I realistically go 1 week ahead???
The good news is that going 1 week ahead isn’t actually all that difficult! (but it does require some planning.)
Create Your Plan
The good thing about Year 11 and 12 HSC Economics is that the syllabus maps out exactly what your teacher at school will cover in very specific detail.
And this means that you can look at the syllabus at the syllabus and identify which topics (assuming they’ll be covered in chronological order) will be covered each term.
So, here’s how we recommend planning to get 1 week ahead:
- Print out the HSC Economics syllabus – here’s the link!
- Identify which topic is going to be covered for each term – mark this down on the syllabus
- For each syllabus dot point in that term identify the week you’re going to cover it in (e.g. Week 1, Week 2, Week 3 etc)
- Start covering the first syllabus dot points for that topic in the school holidays the week before the Term begins
That’s it! It’s that simple!
The key is using your last week of school holidays (for any holiday period) effectively to start going ahead and covering what your class will cover Week 1 of that Term.
This way, as you move through the term going through the syllabus you’ll remain 1 week ahead of your class.
What If You’re Reading This Mid Term and Want to Get Ahead?
The simplest way to go ahead if you’re in this position is to follow steps 1-3 above, and then:
- Cover two weeks worth of syllabus content (based on your term plan in Step 3) this week
Yes, it means more work – but the good news is that it’s limited to 1 week of intense, hard work. And then you’re 1 week ahead and cruising.
So, to wrap all those steps up, let’s take a look at the action points:
Action Points:
- Make a commitment to go 1 week ahead of your class in the HSC Economics course
- Download and print out the HSC Economics syllabus – here’s the link
- Go through the syllabus and map out which content will be covered in which weeks of each school term
- If it’s the school holidays, use this time to cover the first week of content before school starts so you get ahead
- If it’s mid-term, cover two weeks of content in 1 week and then follow the weekly plan
And that wraps up how and why you should work 1 week ahead with your HSC Economics study! Good luck!
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