How to study for AS history? AM I DOING IT RIGHT?

I am really not doing well in history at the moment so obviously I am doing something wrong! how did you study for history? I am trying to be as effective as I can with my revision,there is no point in doing my revision wrong because I will be left with a U !

okay so after reading threads and websites I have gathered this is the best way to revise History.
-Make a timeline of all the events to organise them in your brain
-Memorise content with extra knowledge outside the text book
-Literally eat examiner reports and example answers
-Practise essay questions

Am I missing something from my list?

Reply 1

Drunk Punx

19

History is dead simple to study if you've got a good memory, because that's all it really is; the memorisation and regurgitation of historical facts.

As you've gone the extra mile with all the additional prep work, I highly doubt you'll get a U unless you fall asleep during every exam :tongue:

Reply 2

rosebud114

OP

9

Original post by Drunk Punx

History is dead simple to study if you've got a good memory, because that's all it really is; the memorisation and regurgitation of historical facts.

As you've gone the extra mile with all the additional prep work, I highly doubt you'll get a U unless you fall asleep during every exam :tongue:

Oh dear lord lets hope I don't... and lol 'regurgitation of Historical facts in a structured way' :smile:

Reply 3

rosebud114

OP

9

Anymore help student room?

Reply 4

Drunk Punx

19

Original post by rosebud114

Oh dear lord lets hope I don't... and lol 'regurgitation of Historical facts in a structured way' :smile:

Well yeah, it has to be structured. That kinda goes without saying. But as you've been preparing for it by practising the essay questions then you should have no trouble with it, unless your core essay-writing skills leave a bit to be desired, in which case just keep working on them :yy:

Reply 5

ckelly11

Original post by Drunk Punx

Well yeah, it has to be structured. That kinda goes without saying. But as you've been preparing for it by practising the essay questions then you should have no trouble with it, unless your core essay-writing skills leave a bit to be desired, in which case just keep working on them :yy:

What structure is advised? Literally say
-Name a point
-why it worked/didn't work
x3 etc...?

Reply 6

Drunk Punx

19

Original post by ckelly11

What structure is advised? Literally say
-Name a point
-why it worked/didn't work
x3 etc...?

Some tips from a previous thread:
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1880812

:yy:

Reply 7

BitWindy

12

Original post by Drunk Punx

History is dead simple to study if you've got a good memory, because that's all it really is; the memorisation and regurgitation of historical facts.

This is misleading. At A-level, history is about interpreting historical facts and formulating an argument around them, or evaluating unseen sources.

Reply 8

Rupert96

1

Original post by rosebud114

I am really not doing well in history at the moment so obviously I am doing something wrong! how did you study for history? I am trying to be as effective as I can with my revision,there is no point in doing my revision wrong because I will be left with a U !

okay so after reading threads and websites I have gathered this is the best way to revise History.
-Make a timeline of all the events to organise them in your brain
-Memorise content with extra knowledge outside the text book
-Literally eat examiner reports and example answers
-Practise essay questions

Am I missing something from my list?

You seem to have virtually everything there. Just ensure that, throughout the year, you make good notes and keep them in an orderly way so that when you come to revise it will be easy.

The most important thing with AS history, however, is question technique. You can know everything there is to know about Henry VIII or the Cold War but, unless, you answer the question in the way that the exam board stipulate it will be impossible to achieve much higher than a C or a B.

The best way to work on this is essentially writing lots and lots of timed practices essays based on previous year's exams and having them marked by your teacher (they shouldn't mind the small amount of extra work if you are keen and committed). Once you are consistently scoring full marks or just under full marks on the essays (this, for me, took about three days of writing two to three essays a night) then you can start writing plans for essays instead of producing the whole thing. This gives you the experience of having to deal with questions in quick succession and, of course, increases your memory recall ability as you search around for the appropriate facts in your head.

Using this technique I got an A at AS History with 100% UMS in one paper and 89% UMS in another. This could have been a better result but I definitely recommend it nevertheless.

Good luck!

Reply 9

Drunk Punx

19

Original post by BitWindy

This is misleading. At A-level, history is about interpreting historical facts and formulating an argument around them, or evaluating unseen sources.

My History teacher always said "You won't get marks for postulating on what could have happened, you get marks for knowing what did happen."

As far as interpretation of facts goes, sometimes very little interpretation needs to be done if the facts speak for themselves (what happened, who instigated it, and why, etc), hence why simple regurgitation often suffices, with elaboration being required for the essay questions. That being said, it's been 6 years since I studied History so my memory of the classes are a little hazy.

Reply 10

BitWindy

12

Original post by Drunk Punx

My History teacher always said "You won't get marks for postulating on what could have happened, you get marks for knowing what did happen."

I didn't say that one doesn't need to know what happened.

Perhaps you shouldn't give advice if your memory is hazy. What grade did you get?

Reply 11

Drunk Punx

19

Original post by BitWindy

I didn't say that one doesn't need to know what happened.

Perhaps you shouldn't give advice if your memory is hazy. What grade did you get?

I didn't continue it for A2, despite having a really enjoyable time while studying there, my college education was pretty much an academic failure.

If you're more adept at giving advice than me then go for it, nobody's stopping you. Of course, if all you want to do is burden me with irrelevancies then carry on :h:

Reply 12

lidski

1

Original post by rosebud114

I am really not doing well in history at the moment so obviously I am doing something wrong! how did you study for history? I am trying to be as effective as I can with my revision,there is no point in doing my revision wrong because I will be left with a U !

okay so after reading threads and websites I have gathered this is the best way to revise History.
-Make a timeline of all the events to organise them in your brain
-Memorise content with extra knowledge outside the text book
-Literally eat examiner reports and example answers
-Practise essay questions

Am I missing something from my list?

Firstly, you are studying AS level so additional content shouldn't be as important as it is in A2.
I was predicted C's all throughout AS, and in all my assessments I gathered U's and E's. On results day I ended up with an A overall, (I'm retaking this year to try and get full marks in one exam.)
Basically, as it's before Christmas you should do little bits of revision every now and then. Don't aim to get too much revision done for now. You will have plenty of time for that during the Easter holidays.
What I did was I created mind maps with the information from the text books, and took the past papers and incorporated that into my mind maps. I would put my mind maps up on my bedroom wall and read them while I was brushing my teeth, trying to remember what I wrote. I colour-coded my mind maps and made them look pretty (but don't spend too much time on them because that defeats the purpose of pretty or information).
After Christmas I made my own revision guide on the computer. I also taught the content to my mom or friends that were struggling. When it came closer to the exam period I would do one past paper every night, I gave myself fifteen minutes to write my points on the question then started writing under timed conditions, giving good preparation for the exam. When I finished I would mark it, let my mom to check so I wouldn't be giving in to myself and making me seem better then what I was. I also got my teacher to check all my essays. They may hate it but in the end it boosts their grade percentage and it's beneficial to you.

If you do source questions just use any source, even if it isn't relevant to your course, and annotate it, adding your own knowledge around it. My source exam was on New Liberalism and in revision I used a Russian history textbook and a German textbook to practice. Anything helps.

Wider reading isn't necessary as textbooks from the exam boards usually give the extra details, however, it is a good habit to get into. As now in A2 I've found that all the additional reading is a bit of a drag and I've found it to be annoying.

Good luck with your revision and studies and message me if you want to know more! What exam board/topics are you doing? :smile:

Reply 13

aemlawstudent

1

Original post by rosebud114

I am really not doing well in history at the moment so obviously I am doing something wrong! how did you study for history? I am trying to be as effective as I can with my revision,there is no point in doing my revision wrong because I will be left with a U !

okay so after reading threads and websites I have gathered this is the best way to revise History.
-Make a timeline of all the events to organise them in your brain
-Memorise content with extra knowledge outside the text book
-Literally eat examiner reports and example answers
-Practise essay questions

Am I missing something from my list?

While I agree that memory is key to History, your grade won't be dependent on just what you know, but how you utilise this knowledge. However, in order to formulate arguments you do need good knowledge around your topic. I found that for AS, typing or writing (whichever works better for you in terms of aesthetics, I found typing was clearer) notes on each topic is extremely helpful - try to put it in your own words as it will be more distinctive to you. I highly recommend getting your notes written out soon in the academic year, I left mine very near exam season which was stressful to say the least.
Then, just practise, practise, practise essays! Ensure you understand what the question demands (examiner reports are relevant here) and that you have a coherent structure to your answer to create a persuasive argument. Out of interest, what exam board are you on? I know question format differs from them.
I really struggled at the start of my AS year, but I ended up achieving 100% in AS History, despite the awful start, so don't lose faith! All the best :-)

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Reply 14

khanzada

I was in the exact same position as you during my AS.

I hadn't even studied History for GCSE so I felt like I was going to fail everything, I studied Nazi Germany and Crusades and honestly what might work for me might not work for you! BUT..that aside I actually made notes from the school book and then purchased 2 another books (for Germany) that had more information and like additional notes, better examples and sample paragraphs to questions, basically info that was more in depth(to impress dat examiner :wink:

). I made these notes in chronological order, my teacher had given us a list of all the topics so I kinda knew how to set up the structure in my notebook! THEN..I re-copied all the info from my notes into more notes lol but in the form of a spider diagram, so I would write the theme or topic in the centre then branch literally all the information onto the page and I found this helped me sooooooooo much. FINAAALLLY I did exam questions here and there to help me get familiar with the structure and then I would plan the rest in a table stating all the arguments for and all the arguments against. Obvs hard work does pay off and i was over the moon with my grade, but just keep trying your best :smile:

How to study for AS history? AM I DOING IT RIGHT?

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