How do I improve my answers?

[ca114]

I have recently completed a chemistry mock test at school and I was quite surprised at how I would get 2/3 or 1/2 for short answers, despite knowing the content that the questions were asking. I lost marks for things such as using the term outer shell instead of valence shell or having too vague answers despite addressing the points.

 

Are there ways in which I could improve the quality of my answers? How do I be more concise in my answers? 

Edited June 18, 2014 by ca114

[flinquinnster]

Whilst I know nothing about Chemistry, I think the key to writing good answers to maximise marks and be concise to save time/be time-efficient is simply to practice by doing past papers and then meticulously studying the wording of answers given by the mark scheme. That way you can learn direct from the source what the IB wants, and maximise marks given. You can practice writing out the definitions/explanations, and also add the appropriately worded definitions/explanations to your notes to memorise. They only ask you for so many different definitions/explanations, so having done lots of practice hopefully you can know all the wording that you need! 

[maturk]

For chemistry (I'm only in SL thought), I've noticed that the IB past papers want very exact definitions. By this I mean, very close to the dictionary book definitions. The best way to score full marks on these "define" questions is to look in your Chemistry textbook and find the definition they used there. Memorizing the textbook definition ensures that you will get the full marks. Although this may sound hard, it really isn't that much. From the first chapter for example, you should know the exact definitions for Molar mass, Relative Atomic/Molecular/Formula Mass, the Mole and the Avagadro's constant. Knowing the definitions will esure that you will get the terminology correct too for example, some of my class mates didn't get full marks because they confused atoms with species when defining Relative Atomic Mass and little things like that. 

[Sofia.]

For chemistry (I'm only in SL thought), I've noticed that the IB past papers want very exact definitions. By this I mean, very close to the dictionary book definitions. The best way to score full marks on these "define" questions is to look in your Chemistry textbook and find the definition they used there. Memorizing the textbook definition ensures that you will get the full marks. Although this may sound hard, it really isn't that much. From the first chapter for example, you should know the exact definitions for Molar mass, Relative Atomic/Molecular/Formula Mass, the Mole and the Avagadro's constant. Knowing the definitions will esure that you will get the terminology correct too for example, some of my class mates didn't get full marks because they confused atoms with species when defining Relative Atomic Mass and little things like that. 

 

That is great, if the textbook gives the 'IB answer'... I think my chemistry book do, but my physics book don't have the same definitions as the 'IB' ones - so be careful that you learn the right ones!

[by.andrew]

You should always try to solve as many past papers as possible. I always think that IB throws in some vague/ambiguous/poorly worded questions that tries to fish out a poor response from candidates rather than test conceptual knowledge. The only way around this is to memorize what types (more specifically the KEYWORDS in the markscheme) of answers that IB looks for (there is a pattern so don't worry).