IP Focus Chemistry Student

A Day in the Life of an IP 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 IP 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. Doing practice questions

During the lesson, students spend time doing practice questions and preparing to answer similar questions in the exam. Getting regular practice is a highly important part of learning Chemistry, as there will be different permutations of Chemistry questions which will appear. As such, Focus Chemistry trains their students how to spot patterns in the questions and apply the knowledge which they have learned in class to answering the questions.

Moreover, many students like to give short answers when asked questions by their teachers in the classroom. However, in the exam, students need to elaborate and answer the question with the appropriate keywords to earn all the marks allocated for each question.

At Focus Chemistry, students are encouraged to answer and elaborate, making their answer as coherent and concise as possible to mimic the process of answering questions in the exam. Students are further encouraged to write their answers out (whether on paper or the board in class) to practice the correct method of answering questions.

Another area students work on in Focus Chemistry is correcting calculation errors and finding and spotting careless mistakes. Students who complete their Chemistry paper very fast may be more prone to careless mistakes as they will sometimes press the wrong buttons on their calculators or input the wrong figures. It is important to do the working slowly and carefully, especially if the question involves multiple steps to solve the problem.

2. Going through Focus Chemistry’s specially curated materials

Focus Chemistry creates their own notes and questions to help students feel more ready for the exams. We pride ourselves in always surveying the Chemistry exam questions from different schools so that students know the types of questions which will come out during the exam. To help students answer the questions quickly, Focus Chemistry produces notes with summary tables which outline the various methods students should use in different question scenarios.

One of the ways students will feel prepared for any exam paper is by preparing themselves with more difficult questions prior to the exam to reinforce conceptual understanding. Applying the relevant Chemistry concepts to more difficult questions will show the student’s mastery of the easier questions. Thus, they will be able to do easier questions and more difficult questions if the paper is hard. As such, students will not be at the mercy of their exam papers, and they will feel more confident about their exam preparation.

Focus Chemistry helps students fill in the gaps in their understanding for difficult topics like electrolysis by reverse engineering the possible questions asked in an exam. Students will, instead of answering a pre-set question, be asked to craft their own question, and put in the different elements themselves to test their understanding of what will and what will not produce a chemical reaction. For the topic of electrolysis, students will practice making their own experimental setup to predict the kind of questions which could come out in their exam.

3. Focus on the practical application of Chemistry

To help take students’ learning above and beyond, Focus Chemistry explains the different chapters in Chemistry in practical ways which can be observed in real life. To help students understand the difficult chapter of electrolysis, Focus Chemistry uses real life examples of electrolysis, such in gold-plating items such as jewellery, to explain the basic concepts. Questions are then posed to the students about why the process is this way to test their understanding of the underlying concepts and also to sharpen their critical thinking skills.

The purpose of studying Chemistry is to hone a student’s critical thinking, reasoning, and logic such that they will be able to transfer such methods of thinking and knowing to any future problem they need to solve. As such, Focus Chemistry helps students practice their reasoning skills by answering questions and providing reasons for the answers or results obtained.

Furthermore, Focus Chemistry helps students develop their deductive reasoning skills by asking them to eliminate reasons for why certain results are obtained or drawing conclusions about the experiment at hand based on the Chemistry concepts they have learned in school.

4. Coursework

One of the hallmarks of the Integrated Programme in Singapore is the coursework requirement. Students will need to show their conceptual understanding of Chemistry and apply it to a practical experiment, tabulate the results, and analyse the results after performing statistical testing. It is no secret that coursework is one of the most challenging aspects of the IP programme. However, Focus Chemistry has a strong and extensive background in Chemistry research and can assist students with any questions or concerns they have about coursework.

In a typical Focus Chemistry lesson, IP students will ask questions to test how the concepts they are learning about in the classroom relate to coursework. Part of doing an experiment is to explain how the concepts are being tested in the experiment. By having a basic understanding of the underlying concepts, students will be able to predict and expect to some degree the results of the experiment, such as the expected values to be had or the shape of the graph.

After the students obtain their results, they must be able to explain their results and analyse the values obtained or graph they have produced based on the concepts they have learned about. Students must also be able to debunk results which are clearly wrong or which do not make sense given the Chemistry concept being tested.

When conducting an experiment, students need to craft a methodology and continuously refine their experimental design to account for any errors and difficulties they face along the way. Focus Chemistry’s experience in Chemistry research can help students avoid some of the common mistakes in designing an experiment, such that they will not waste any precious time and resources getting undesirable results. Furthermore, if students encounter a problem with their experimental setup, they can ask Focus Chemistry about what materials to use, and what apparatus is feasibly obtained in a high school science lab.

Another important part of coursework is statistical testing, as students must show that the results they have obtained are significant. Statistical testing may be difficult for some students to execute, but it is one of the most important steps of a successful experiment. As such, Focus Chemistry can help clarify difficulties students face during the statistical testing process.

Achieve your desired IP Chemistry grades with Focus Chemistry!

Focus Chemistry boasts 30 years of experience in teaching Chemistry to all levels of students. Whether you are looking to prepare for exams, go for Chemistry competitions, or simply bolster your foundation of basic Chemistry concepts, Focus Chemistry is the go-to Chemistry specialist in Singapore.

The IB Diploma is particularly challenging as students need to complete Internal Assessments (IA) which contribute to a significant part of their Chemistry grade. Moreover, they need to study the content in the IB syllabus (along with another option topic) to sit for their final exams at the end of the IB diploma. As such, students may need extra guidance and help from their tutor.

With time and effort, every student will surely be able to achieve their desired grades in Chemistry. Focus Chemistry has a tried-and-tested teaching method and specially curated materials and question banks to help you prepare for every Chemistry exam.

Feel more confident when you step into the exam and hall and gain knowledge and experience answering many different permutations of Chemistry questions so that you will be well prepared to handle any question in your Chemistry exam paper.

Frequently Asked Questions:

a) How hard is it to get a 7 in IB?

With time and effort, students who know the syllabus well and are well-prepared and have well-written assignments will easily get a 7 in the IB.

b) Is IB harder than A Levels Singapore?

The A Level exam is more difficult than the IB exam, but IB involves the Internal Assessment (IA) which features independent research which could be harder than the A Level exam.

c) Is 43 in IB a good score?

An IB score of 43 is an excellent score.

d) What is the hardest IB subject combination?

One of the hardest IB subject combinations is PCME, which involves HL Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics, along with SL Economics.

e) What IB score is needed for Harvard/Oxford?

The minimum IB score for Harvard and Oxford is 40 points out of 45 points.

f) Is 28 a bad IB score?

The average IB score throughout the years have ranged between 28 to 30 points. All students need to score a minimum of 24 points across 6 subjects to be awarded an IB diploma.