Review for National High School Exam: Don't underestimate basic knowledge in textbooks

(Baonghean) - Entering April, the review time for 12th grade students is only 3 months. This is an extremely important time, a "sprint" period that requires students to have a reasonable study and review method to both consolidate all basic knowledge and at the same time "breakthrough" to be able to score on difficult questions with high classification. The question is still how to review?...

At this time, on Pham Kinh Vy Street and Bach Lieu Street, close to Vinh University (where most of the university entrance exam preparation centers are located), the exam preparation classes are much quieter than in previous years. Even at 5 pm, which is the "golden" time for exam preparation centers, there is currently only one class at the 3 exam preparation centers located on Bach Lieu Street. The scene is quite quiet, inside the exam preparation class there are more than 50 students studying Math... It is known that a 2-hour class usually costs an average of 30,000 - 35,000 VND/session. The owner of an exam preparation center (written by Mr. Dien - Ms. Loan) in the Vinh University area, said: Since January, exam preparation classes have started to have students registering for admission, mainly "grade 13" students reviewing for the exam. But the number is not as large as in previous years.

A review session of grade 12 students, High School for the Gifted (Vinh University).

According to some other exam preparation centers, the reason why students are not as interested in exam preparation centers as in previous years is because this year the exam method has changed a lot. Grade 12 students are reviewing for the general high school exam, and there are not as many "grade 13" students who failed the university entrance exam as before. On the other hand, the students themselves are also wondering whether with the new exam format, training at exam "centers" is still suitable when the exam questions mainly follow the high school program, while the teachers at the centers are mainly university lecturers. Nguyen Thi Thuy Dung, a grade 12C student at Nguyen Truong To High School, said: "Before, when I was planning to register for university entrance exams, I also attended a review course at the exam preparation center near Vinh University. But then, because I decided to only study a trade and not take the university entrance exam, I only studied in class and tried to spend time to consolidate the knowledge in the textbooks.

Class 12A9, Vinh High School for the Gifted - University, this school year, 100% of the students in the class registered for university admission. However, according to the students, there are currently very few students studying at exam preparation centers, and if there are, they only go to reputable classes with 15 - 20 students. In addition, besides studying at school in the afternoons, most students have switched to studying in small groups, from 3 - 5 students/class, although the tuition fee for a class is higher, from 100,000 - 150,000 VND/session/person.

The national high school exam is very new in terms of regulations, so up to now, although the Ministry of Education and Training has issued regulations and instructions on how to organize the exam, most students still have many concerns and are still confused about how to review. That is why, this year, most schools have organized early mock exams for students. The purpose is for students to assess their own abilities, to familiarize them with the general exam and also a solution for schools to build appropriate review programs. At Thanh Chuong High School, the first mock exam was held on March 21 with over 300 students participating. Although the results were not high, many students still "did not have the test-taking techniques to "pick up" all the points, skipping steps to achieve the maximum score", but according to teacher Le Xuan Huong, the school's principal, this trial test is extremely important to help students test their abilities, know their level and ability to have a suitable review plan.

The mock exam that Vinh University's High School for the Gifted recently organized with over 5,000 students from Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces participating also brought about many thoughtful results. In fact, although over 65% of the exams scored above 5 points, according to Dr. Le Xuan Son, Vice Principal of the school: "There are still limitations in the way students do the exam, even for students who are assessed as having good academic performance". That is, students may have grasped the full knowledge, but in the way they do the exam, they are uncertain, subjective and "often lose points on easy questions". In the process of doing the exam, because students do not understand the problem deeply, do not think carefully about the questions to determine the focus, they fall into a state of doing the exam long-winded, mechanical, difficult to understand explanations, wasting a lot of time. This is also a common mistake among students who often go to review centers and exam preparation classes, because in most of these classes, teachers only teach review according to each type of question, not basic knowledge, so students' understanding is not deep, mechanical, and lacks certainty.

Dr. Le Xuan Son added: With only 3 months left, students should read and review the content and sample test questions of the Ministry carefully to see the key knowledge they need to review. The Ministry's policy this year is that the test questions only revolve around knowledge in textbooks and grade 12, so students only need to study seriously under the guidance of school teachers to be confident in doing well on the test. To do well on the test, students do not have to focus too much on big issues, but only need to master the knowledge of the textbook to easily get 7 points. As for Math, currently there are many easy questions, so students should not be subjective, do the exercises in the textbook carefully and pay attention to the Ministry's reduction. Each type of math exercise has different steps, while doing the exercise, you must master the steps, the types of math to solve thoroughly, concisely and completely. Math is an essay subject that must be written and presented clearly. After each question there must be a specific conclusion and there must be space between questions.

Le Thi Thu Trang (Grade 12 A1, High School for the Gifted (Vinh University), Second Prize in National English Excellent Students, Top Scorer in Block D, University Mock Exam) shared her thoughts: “I think that to get good results, you don’t need to go to many exam preparation centers, but the most important thing is to be diligent. Currently, I only study two subjects: Math and Literature, I review English at home. To do well in English, we need to focus on each part of the question. For example, in the essay section, we need to write the correct structure and grammar, stick to the topic, answer the question directly and have a rich vocabulary. Regarding the multiple choice test, if we encounter a relatively easy question, we should answer it immediately to continue to the next question. We should not waste time on a question that we don’t understand clearly, or is too difficult. Remember to write down the serial number of the skipped question on the scratch paper for easy identification.”

Students get their test results at the High School for the Gifted (Vinh University).

Le Ha, a former student of Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted, won the first prize in the National Geography Competition for 2 school years 2012-2013, 2013-2014, shared: To do well in a Geography lesson, we must not only study from textbooks but also always grasp and learn information, events, and "hot" issues of the world in general and Vietnam in particular. With each lesson, after learning the basic knowledge, we must briefly outline the lesson and apply them to the Atlas pages to understand and remember the knowledge longer. Grasp the basic knowledge, absolutely do not learn by rote, all questions come from the textbook, but will be advanced, stylized or complicated. Therefore, we must know how to review the problem, review the question while reading the textbook. The time to do the test is only 180 minutes, while the questions have 10-12 ideas, so we need to allocate time reasonably. Each idea takes 10 - 12 minutes, of which 2 - 3 minutes are spent reading, orienting and outlining.

Teacher Hua Thi Hoa Mai, who teaches History at Le Viet Thuat High School (formerly the Second Prize Winner of the National History Competition in 2003) instructs: “To effectively study and review for History, students need to have a suitable study method and a comfortable mindset. Specifically, in terms of mindset: Do not put too much pressure on yourself. Study when you are comfortable, with the concept that studying is not only for exams but also for knowledge, studying to equip yourself with necessary knowledge about social history and that knowledge gives us many lessons in life. In terms of knowledge, it is necessary to grasp basic, general knowledge, then divide it into historical periods (should study according to tree diagrams, mind maps). Learn each lesson by heart, for lessons with developments, focus only on basic, key events, do not memorize too many details... In addition to memorizing basic knowledge, students need to practice writing skills and analyze events, summary tables, timelines...”.

My Ha