Matthieu Allenet is a physics-chemistry teacher in Neuilly-sur-Seine. He reveals his advice to revise subjects and pass the tests before the examination day.
MAKE A FORM
The best way to learn the formulas is to make a card that brings them all together. You have to know them by heart and you also have to make sure that you are able to demonstrate them in the rough. I do not recommend making a sheet by chapter, there are too many chapters.
RESUME THE EXERCISES DONE IN CLASS
Before all things, we must revise the exercises that we have already learnt in class or in chemistry tuition centre, even those we had done well. Normally, your teacher has given you “baccalaureate” exercises all year round, so if you master them all, there is no problem. Extra exercises, I will not say that it’s bad, but it’s if you have extra time.
DO NOT WORRY ABOUT DEADLOCKS
In physics and chemistry, there are parts much larger than others. Statistically, they fall more often. But as the chapters are all very different from each other, if you’ve missed a little chapter and it falls, you cannot do anything. You should learn the all chapters of books and you can take help from physics tuition centre.
READ ALL QUESTIONS BEFORE STARTING TO ANSWER
On the day of the test, you have to read the entire exercise. It’s very stupid but the students never do it. Often the first questions are very easy and they are easily won points. It is therefore necessary to answer precisely, without adding. Often, students tend to answer several questions at the same time and lose points stupidly.
BEING STRATEGIC
The subjects are very long, but not very difficult. There are 10 points on the course, about 5 on the calculations and the last 5 on more complex questions. These questions are usually the last of each exercise. If you see that you cannot answer them, do not panic. They are made to decide the best. If you block on a question, we must quickly move to the next to try to garner a maximum of point, even if to return to the end if we have time. You will not have a bonus if you do an exercise in full, the idea is to grapple points with each question.
At the beginning of the test, I advise to take 5 to 10 minutes to read the whole subject and then to establish a strategy to know by which exercise to begin.
BEWARE OF ERRORS OF INATTENTION
The most common mistake of inattention but also the most stupid is to forget a sign. Often, students put the “-” sign at the beginning of their calculation, forget it in the middle and at the end. They do not understand the result they get. If this happens to you, check the signs first.
Pay attention to the units. You must always specify the unity of the result. If you are asked to calculate a length and your result is a mass, there is a problem somewhere. It also pays attention to the coherence of your results. Sometimes, a student will find as result that the distance Earth-Moon is of 3 meters and that does not pose him a problem! You have to have an idea of the main orders of magnitude.
KNOW HOW TO USE YOUR CALCULATOR
Many students do not do much math during the year. On the day of the exam, they lose time because they do not know how to use their calculator. They lose time on parentheses and exhibitors, while trained students have the time to ask more questions and thus pick up more points.
