CodeRed15 Posted June 29, 2008 Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 Recently I came across an IB course companion book for Chemistry and it seemed pretty interesting. Although it wasn't mine, I'm thinking of purchasing one. What are your views on study guides and course companions? Do any of you actually use them? Are they helpful? i wanna hear your thoughts and opinions. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deedoz Posted June 29, 2008 Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 I use the course companians for chem, bio, and econ..they are good because they are basically the objectives (especially with bio and econ)..with chem its either our teacher wants us to learn more than we need or the course companian is not enough info..she writes completely difficult notes and says that the course companian is not sufficient enough..BUT in general i think the course companian is a useful resource to have Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
__inthemaking Posted June 29, 2008 Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 The study guides are more useful than the course companions, IMO, because the course comps are basically another textbook..and if you already have another IB textbook then it's not really necessary.The study guides, on the other hand, are basically like a summary of the most important things you need to know and it's a very useful resource when studying for exams. 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IBSQUARED Posted June 29, 2008 Report Share Posted June 29, 2008 (edited) I like the bio course companion (with the tiger) because ive gone through most of it and everything we learn now, i already know . Ive heard its also pretty good for exam review except that you should summarize the info in it as some of it overlaps or really isnt worth reading over and over Edited June 29, 2008 by IBSQUARED Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodeRed15 Posted July 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2008 I like the bio course companion (with the tiger) because ive gone through most of it and everything we learn now, i already know . Ive heard its also pretty good for exam review except that you should summarize the info in it as some of it overlaps or really isnt worth reading over and overSo would you reccommend getting the bio one or the other one? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
FahaD Posted September 20, 2008 Report Share Posted September 20, 2008 I use the course companians for chem, bio, and econ..they are good because they are basically the objectives (especially with bio and econ)..with chem its either our teacher wants us to learn more than we need or the course companian is not enough info..she writes completely difficult notes and says that the course companian is not sufficient enough..BUT in general i think the course companian is a useful resource to have witch one do you use for for economics? i use the 'economics course companion' oxford press, authors: blink and dorton Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
saya Posted September 21, 2008 Report Share Posted September 21, 2008 We are using the Course Companion for biology and chemistry. They are good, as in, they contain the inoformation you need to know, but if you already have a textbook which is from IB, then I wouldn't really recommend purchasing it, just a waste of money. Instead try to get this other book I have Chemistry by John Green and Sadru Damji, which has everything arranged as per the syllabus. I dunno if they have updated the Bio one or not, I have the edition with the previous syllabi, so I wouldn't recommend it 100%, though I still find it useful because it has these questions at the end of each chapter which help you revise and see if you have got it right or not. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vvi Posted September 21, 2008 Report Share Posted September 21, 2008 (edited) I personally like the tiger textbook for the IB, it's actually the course companion but we don't use anything else in class. I would also recommend the Math and Economics course companions, they are very useful to have. For Economics, our textbook is "Economics From A Global Perspective" by Robert Glanville. He knows his stuff. Edited February 1, 2009 by Vvi Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
humingyay Posted September 21, 2008 Report Share Posted September 21, 2008 (edited) The study guides aren't super useful but they are like revision books you have a look at before your test and such..It's good to have everything summarized of course. I guess it depends on how you plan your studies. If you are the "must have an outline and a to do list" kind of organized person then I recommend the study guides. Edited September 21, 2008 by humingyay Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vvi Posted September 21, 2008 Report Share Posted September 21, 2008 Oh please, Vvi, the big green economics textbook sucks! It's soo dry and boring, it almost made me drop Economics, but the Economics Course companion is the best! The problem with the science course companions is that they are now outdated, so better purchase an IB science book from Heinemann, since this has stuff according to the new (2009) syllabus.To each their own opinion. The revision guides help only if you have learnt the material before. As our Economics teacher uses the revision guide to teach us without us having any proper background, I find Glanville useful. And to his credit, one of our school's students read the book through in a few days right before his exams, and got a 6 or 7. That student is now studying at St. Andrews in Scotland thanks to his 37 on the IB. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IBdoc Posted September 21, 2008 Report Share Posted September 21, 2008 What's the difference between a course companion and a study guide? Is the course companion more detailed?For Bio I use "Biology for the IB diploma" by Clegg and the Bio Oxford study guide by Allott. For Chemistry I use Advanced Chemistry (it's actually a blue gigantic textbook and it's not specifically made for IB ) and the Chem Oxford study guide by Geoffrey Neuss. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vvi Posted September 21, 2008 Report Share Posted September 21, 2008 Course companions are textbooks written for the IB, and revision guides are the booklets written for IB with summaries of all the information in the syllabus.Not all teacher's use course companions, my school's psychology class uses a huge fat book by someone called Gross (appropriate for the amount of material). Teacher's sometimes assign A-Level textbooks, we had this in Bio, but the problem is that they either contain less material than required by the syllabus, and more often than not have too much extra information that isn't needed at all. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IBdoc Posted September 21, 2008 Report Share Posted September 21, 2008 Course companions are textbooks written for the IB, and revision guides are the booklets written for IB with summaries of all the information in the syllabus.Not all teacher's use course companions, my school's psychology class uses a huge fat book by someone called Gross (appropriate for the amount of material). Teacher's sometimes assign A-Level textbooks, we had this in Bio, but the problem is that they either contain less material than required by the syllabus, and more often than not have too much extra information that isn't needed at all.Exactly! Our chemistry textbook is huge it's for A-Level and has a lot of extra information. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solaris Posted September 22, 2008 Report Share Posted September 22, 2008 If you really want to go for scoring good marks, then go for textbooks (try to get as many different ones as you can). As 'Practice makes a man nearly perfect'. As for course companions, then can be useful as revision guides for a quick look at the questions at exams. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mane Posted October 18, 2008 Report Share Posted October 18, 2008 study guides and course companions are very VERY good =)theyre usually terse and to-the-point, and they contain everything u need to know Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desi_Dakku Posted October 20, 2008 Report Share Posted October 20, 2008 ye, i am thinking of buying a course companion/study guide, but the question i have is should i wait for the 2008 to come out or they re pretty muc hthe same??thanks in advance Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
3!sha Posted October 26, 2008 Report Share Posted October 26, 2008 I bought the bio, chem, and econ course companions but IMO, you only need the study guides and a good text book (like, heinamm, IBID, etc.) for chem and bio. You should study from a textbook and then just review from the study guide. The course companion does NOT have all the info that you need so dont rely on it so much if you do buy itAlthough the econ course companion is really gd and i highly recomend it . Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
paccu Posted November 7, 2008 Report Share Posted November 7, 2008 the companion for economics is VERY VERY good actually, it helps you know what you need in a fast way. and OF COURSE, the McGee book is very useful too as it helps you learn in depth. i so recommend using both books for revising economics. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
theDIDDLER Posted January 13, 2009 Report Share Posted January 13, 2009 Well, CodeRed15, I myself have a Chemistry STUDY GUIDE, which I find much more helpful than the damn Course Companion. The Course Companion is longer, misses crucial details, and has unnecessary examples. The Study Guide is best because it's concise and very handy. For those who have biology, I recommend getting the Study Guide as well, it's the same price and makes your time less wasted. That's all. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodeRed15 Posted January 13, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2009 Well, CodeRed15, I myself have a Chemistry STUDY GUIDE, which I find much more helpful than the damn Course Companion. The Course Companion is longer, misses crucial details, and has unnecessary examples. The Study Guide is best because it's concise and very handy. For those who have biology, I recommend getting the Study Guide as well, it's the same price and makes your time less wasted. That's all. Thanks for your advice. We have the Chemistry study guide as a textbook and frankly we don't even use it. SOme people are like you just read that and you are set for the exam. I don't know what to do. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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