A Level Chemistry

A Day in the Life of an A Levels Focus Chemistry Student

Do you wonder how a typical lesson at Focus Chemistry is conducted? Want to know what makes Focus Chemistry so special? Delve into a typical day at Focus Chemistry’s A Level group tuition to find out what you will be learning when you take a class with us!

When a student first enters the studio, they will sign their names to take attendance. Alternatively, they can log on online to catch the lesson remotely as per their convenience! Don’t worry if you miss a lesson - if you do, the lesson is recorded and will be sent to you, so you don’t have to compromise on your revision and progress.

1. Conceptual Explanation

One of the essential functions of our Focus Chemistry tutor is to explain the difficult Chemistry concepts a student needs to know to undertake their A Levels papers. At Focus Chemistry, we realise that concepts cannot be taught in isolation, and that there needs to be a clear link drawn between the concepts, with supporting evidence so that students can see how all the topics are connected.

As some concepts may be hard to visualise, Focus Chemistry aids understanding by using different colours to differentiate some details from others, and the drawing of graphs to help visualise the various concepts and processes. Furthermore, colours may be useful in visualing the structures of compounds, such as in organic chemistry.

2. Discussion of Homework Questions

A good rhetorical question our tutor at Focus Chemistry often asks is, “Why am I teaching you this?” This question precedes an explanation of how the concept currently being taught links to the questions being asked in the exam. This is an extremely important process as students should not learn by rote memorising information, which will not be useful once the style of the question changes. Students also need to know why they have made mistakes in the past and how not to repeat such mistakes in future exam papers.

Instead, students need to learn the necessary skills such as critical thinking to break down what the question truly is asking for. Students need to be able to reason why and how the concepts taught in class can relate to the exam question, as the subject matter of the exam question will always change. Instead, by having the necessary skills, students will always be able to deal with any novel problem.

3. Specially curated materials and questions from a wide range of JCs

At Focus Chemistry, we pride ourselves on creating special notes and questions to help our students prepare for any permutation of exam questions during their actual A Levels. Our notes include diagrams and tables to help students explore the link between the Homework Questions from a wide range of JCs which are being discussed each week and the concepts being taught at school.

Doing difficult questions from a wide range of JCs and attempting rare questions which are created by our own Focus Chemistry tutor will ensure that every student is prepared for whatever permutation of question which comes their way. It is important that the tricky questions requiring a solid interpretation and answering skill are regularly practised, as students will feel more confident if they can do these questions well.

“Don’t be at the mercy of the paper” is a rather sobering warning by our tutor, who advises A Levels students to always be prepared for any question that comes out. Often, many Singaporean students study by memorising the concepts, and once a compound comes out which they have never seen before, they will panic and not be able to answer the question properly. However, it is the relevant skills such as critical thinking and deriving the concepts needed to answer the question from the instructions which students need to develop to answer the varying permutations of questions.

Moreover, Focus Chemistry places emphasis on how to write answers to explain the sub-questions which follow the main questions. It is important that students know how to express themselves and their understanding of the concepts clearly and concisely, as the marker needs to see the relevant keywords to award the students the marks. As such, Focus Chemistry will give its students examples of how to answer the exam questions during A Levels, so that students may adopt a similar writing style.

4. Using the Socratic Method to encourage critical thinking

When students think of Chemistry tuition, they often think of sitting and being lectured about Chemistry concepts for 2 hours straight. However, at Focus Chemistry, that could not be further from the truth. After going through a particular concept, Focus Chemistry will reinforce the students’ understanding via the Socratic method of asking questions until the root of the issue is reached. Students can achieve true understanding of the concepts by asking “Why?” until they are able to explain the fundamental details of every concept, and break down every question into its individual parts.

As you can see, a day in the life of a Focus Chemistry A Levels student involves the necessary skills needed to succeed not only during the A Levels Chemistry exam, but also in the student’s future university and employment. Skills like critical thinking, reasoning, and the ability to flexibly interpret any questions that comes along are very much part of the learning process at Focus Chemistry.

We hope that your child works with Focus Chemistry to achieve the grades they want for their A Level exam, while picking up valuable, transferable skills along the way.

Frequently Asked Questions:

a) Which is the best H2 chemistry tuition in Singapore?

Focus Chemistry is the best H2 Chemistry tuition in Singapore as they are a Chemistry specialist catering to various levels. Focus Chemistry has curated materials and a tried-and-tested teaching style which enables students to achieve true understanding of the concepts tested.

b) How much are JC tuition fees?

Some JCs (Independent schools) are more expensive than others, like ACS(I) whose fees start from $500 a month for Singaporean students. Other JCs may be cheaper.

c) How much does tuition cost in Singapore?

The cost of tuition depends on how many classes taken, and whether they are group classes or individual one-to-one tuition classes.

d) What is the difference between H1 and H2 Chemistry?

H2 Chemistry is more difficult than H1 Chemistry as H2 Chemistry focuses more on organic Chemistry concepts. H1 Chemistry does not place a heavy emphasis on Organic Chemistry, instead focusing more heavily on polymerisation and nanomaterials.

e) Is H2 Chemistry easy?

H2 Chemistry is challenging for students without a good foundation of Chemistry concepts. Focus Chemistry can help H2 Chemistry students improve their grades by helping them achieve true understanding of the concepts which are being taught at school.