IB History

[Swamibaps]

Hey guys. I am currently in my senior year taking HL IB history. I was wondering if anyone, who did really well in the history exams, had any advice on how to do well on the exams. I don't want to have to wait till the last minute and cram all the information into my head. I was wondering if anyone used a particular studying method that was really helpful in scoring well for the exams?

Any advice for the History exams would also be really helpful.

Thanks in advance.

[Emmi]

I've answered questions like this before, so I'll just restate what I've said multiple times before.

When I had to read from a history textbook I always took notes. I did them two-column/Cornell style with the main topic/event on the left-hand side of the page, and then all of the details and information on the right side of the page (such as in the examplehttp://martinabex.fi...tes-example.gif). I would read the paragraph or section, and then take my notes on what I remembered and processed in my head. And I always wrote them in my own words unless I wanted to quote a historian or something, because they would make more sense to me.

Notes are very important, and make sure you make your notes legible. Not just handwriting, but make sure your notes make sense. For example, if you were taking notes on World War II and wrote something along the lines of "Hitler appeasement bad" that would make no sense, you'd want to write something such as "The Allied nations policy of appeasement as it related to Adolf Hitler and Mussolini in the years leading up to World War II set dangerous precedents for future events such as the invasion of the Sudetenland and Poland." If you use any abbreviations, be consistent and know what they mean, perhaps make a key at the beginning of them so you can recognize your abbreviations.

When preparing for essays, quizzes, discussions, etc the exact way you will remember the information depends on your learning habits. However, blindly sitting there staring a textbook and trying to absorb the information or briefly skimming over notes will not suffice in IB history, nor will cramming twenty dates into your head five minutes before an essay will give you a 6 or 7. To learn vocabulary my teacher had us define a list of relevant vocabulary terms as well as tie each word to the person or event we're studying, basically why it's significant (i.e. what were the einsatzgruppen, how did they help Hitler stay in power, and why where they important). This will help you get details into your essays. You might find making note cards with each term on one side helpful (I never really did, but some people like them). Some people make time lines and break up major events such as a war or dictator's rule into smaller events. What worked best for me was basically reading over my notes and re-writing them, because when I rewrite things I remember them as opposed to just reading over something again. If you're a visual learner, try drawing something out. If you're a more hands-on learner, try acting out the event or explaining it out loud. Just find a way that works best for you, and stick with it.

Essays (from my point of view)

To score well on essays, you need to learn how to write fast while still maintaining a high level of analysis and detail. Your first few essays probably won't be that great, but as you write more you will become accustomed to the time limit and how much you need to include for a 5, a 6, and a 7. The best essays will contain many details, lots of analysis (and detailed analysis at that!), a high level of synthesis (meaning you have thought about all of the information, processed it, and come up with your own answer to the question), and sometimes will either challenge the assumptions of the question or introduce and use historiography (other historians' opinions) in the essay. Don't worry about writing a level 7 essay on the first time, 99% of the time you won't. My first essay only scored a 3. Just learn how to write, and how to read the questions, because misreading the question can result in a poor mark for not understanding the terms of the question even if the essay's quality was excellent.

Plus read this thread (http://www.ibsurvival.com/topic/15069-tips-on-doing-well-in-slhl-history/), it tells you everything that you should do in order to score well.