Self study higher human biology

How can I self study human biology? Any tips or techniques.
I'm having difficulty differing between what's important and what's not using the how to pass higher human biology book.

Reply 1

Labrador99

Volunteer Team

Original post by whatreally

How can I self study human biology? Any tips or techniques.
I'm having difficulty differing between what's important and what's not using the how to pass higher human biology book.

I found that of the textbooks available, the how to pass was pretty good in terms of giving you what was on the specification and not more or less, so in general, if it's in there, you probably need to know it...Obviously some changes were made to the specification last year (I'm not sure if they have released a new version of the textbook yet?), so have a look at what's available on the SQA website to make sure you're covering everything.

Reply 2

whatreally

How do you remember the vast amounts of information though?
There's a lot of key points and summary notes.

Reply 3

username4490612

Original post by whatreally

How do you remember the vast amounts of information though?
There's a lot of key points and summary notes.

By making notes and reciting them or make flashcards. If you’re revising from textbook then you could condense (shorten) the notes (only the key points though because you don’t want to waste time on useless info) and revise, plus make diagrams, sticky notes etc to emphasize important info.

Reply 4

username4490612

Original post by Labrador99

Yes, Bright red published higher human (not very long time ago 31st may) but Idk about leckiexleckie etc.

Reply 5

Labrador99

Volunteer Team

Original post by whatreally

How do you remember the vast amounts of information though?
There's a lot of key points and summary notes.

It depends a lot on how you learn best- flashcards, mindmaps, diagrams, making your own notes, etc. are all examples of how you could revise, but it depends more on the person I think. I followed a make my own notes (pulling together information from different sources -> make mindmaps/posters -> make and do flashcards -> past papers [consolidate steps as required] method for higher human. That's not to say you need to do all that though, it is quite a time consuming way of doing things, and is just what worked for me personally.

Reply 6

whatreally

How would I manage the time to learn all this before exam time comes along with two other self taught highers and national 5 maths. Do I do two class like periods a day?50 minute blocks or something?

Reply 7

Labrador99

Volunteer Team

Original post by whatreally

How would I manage the time to learn all this before exam time comes along with two other self taught highers and national 5 maths. Do I do two class like periods a day?50 minute blocks or something?

Are your self taught highers in addition to a full timetable, or are you just self teaching all your subjects?

Reply 8

whatreally

Self teaching all subjects.

Reply 9

Labrador99

Volunteer Team

Original post by whatreally

Self teaching all subjects.

In that case it again comes down to how you will work best...I know that the vagueness of this probably makes it sound like rubbish advice, but I could tell you to do it in 30 minute, 2 hour or x, y, or z long sessions, and it would work for some people but not others.
What sized chunks you break your day into is really a personal choice, depending on if you have any other commitments and how you work best (e.g. some people like doing great long study sessions, others need to do short bursts). The best I could advise would be to try out doing different methods of studying and lengths/times of day of study sessions for a couple of weeks. Decide how you like to work best, and then create a routine out of it- having a routine is probably more important than how long your study sessions are.

The SQA recommends that for each National 5 and Higher, you do 240 hours of work (this includes the assignment and revision) across the year. Keep in mind though that some people will take longer, some people will cover it quicker, and that quality is usually more important than the amount of time you've spent!