Otago HSFY chat - archive

[greenglacier]

are we allowed to discuss answers to the booklet here?

Hmm, I'm thinking it's probably OK to discuss stuff in the booklet you're unsure of, because your answers in the booklet don't get assessed (assessment is via blackboard test).

However, for future reference (and I'm not accusing anyone of suggesting they'd do this), discussing the content of the online test before it has closed is not allowed. Also, with regard to the booklet, I don't want to see any widespread sharing of answers to all the questions (just helpful discussion about anything you may be unsure of).

 

[Cathay]

I just wiki'd them. Most of the time they have a section titled "structure" which tells you how many membranes there are.

I'd advise a more solid source than wiki, which can be edited by anyone at any time, and is only corrected when good-intentioned people go through, find mistakes, and bother finding literature references to fix them.

 

[Profiterole]

However, for future reference (and I'm not accusing anyone of suggesting they'd do this), discussing the content of the online test before it has closed is not allowed. Also, with regard to the booklet, I don't want to see any widespread sharing of answers to all the questions (just helpful discussion about anything you may be unsure of).

Cheers for the clarification!

 

[Sam]

I'd advise a more solid source than wiki, which can be edited by anyone at any time, and is only corrected when good-intentioned people go through, find mistakes, and bother finding literature references to fix them.

Usually it's pretty good for basic stuff like how many membranes a certain thing has, also to make sure I check it up against the picture etc. For anything really important a better source is needed of course.

 

[Cathay]

Usually it's pretty good for basic stuff like how many membranes a certain thing has

Textbooks are also pretty good for that

 

[Nimbus2000]

Thanks Cathay, that's by far the most understandable and clear explanation I've been able to find/hear. Really appreciate it

AAAAAMMMMEEEN to that!
[OFFTOPIC]
Am I the only mso hsfy-er who hasn't touched the glm yet? Ships. I shud start.m[/OFFTOPIC]

 

[Profiterole]

[OFFTOPIC]
Am I the only mso hsfy-er who hasn't touched the glm yet? Ships. I shud start.m[\OFFTOPIC][/QUOTE]


um... i was in the same boat as you until 5pm. but the first few sections are pretty much read/copy into boxes. Nothing much really, though page 9 is the iffy one (though i feel responsible for the massive argument in the chat right now cause i caused lulwat to comment about using wikipedia )

 

[Nimbus2000]

Lol thanks for the reassurance Jonathan hopefully I'll start this weekend :/

On another note... I just realized that there are *recommended* and *essential* readings for cels. *thinksmabout the unnecessary precious moments spent reading unnecessary things* *FACEPALMS*

 

[Sam]

Lol thanks for the reassurance Jonathan hopefully I'll start this weekend :/

On another note... I just realized that there are *recommended* and *essential* readings for cels. *thinksmabout the unnecessary precious moments spent reading unnecessary things* *FACEPALMS*

Heh, I haven't done any of the essential or recommended readings at all. I guess the CELS GLM is a good way to see what is relevant and most of the stuff in that is simply knowledgeable from the lectures.

[offtopic]Woo, 50 posts. That was quick xD[/offtopic]

 

[Steve]

Hey guys, does anyone know how to get the missing pictures in the physics reading tests to work?

 

[Sam]

Hey guys, does anyone know how to get the missing pictures in the physics reading tests to work?

Which reading thing are you up to?

 

[Ruth]

Hey guys, does anyone know how to get the missing pictures in the physics reading tests to work?

If you scroll up then down really carefully then sometimes they come up haha
Otherwise I just guessed after all you can do them as many times as you like

 

[Ben]

Heh, I haven't done any of the essential or recommended readings at all. I guess the CELS GLM is a good way to see what is relevant and most of the stuff in that is simply knowledgeable from the lectures.

[offtopic]Woo, 50 posts. That was quick xD[/offtopic]

Or what's easily accessible on Google.

[offtopic] Welcome to hatbox! (keep on scrolling on). [/offtopic]

 

[frootloop]

Otherwise I just guessed after all you can do them as many times as you like

*hi5*, you have the exact same technique for the PHSI 'homework' as I did

 

[Ruth]

*hi5*, you have the exact same technique for the PHSI 'homework' as I did

hahaha *hi5*

 

[baba]

ya gotta install java

 

[Sam]

Lol, I was worrying a bit about physics (I'm not great at it so I'll be doing heaps of study for physics this semester), so I checked an earlier exam - the stuff we've covered so far is roughly 3 questions out of the total 55, lol.

 

[frootloop]

Lol, I was worrying a bit about physics (I'm not great at it so I'll be doing heaps of study for physics this semester), so I checked an earlier exam - the stuff we've covered so far is roughly 3 questions out of the total 55, lol.

I was pretty 'not good at physics' going into the year too. My hint would be to learn the reasoning behind each step in the problems, rather than spending ages memorising stuff. Because you get a cheat sheet, and there isn't too much 'memorisable information', you don't really need to memorise anything. The exam questions follow a pretty predictable pattern, and so I personally found it easier to just learn the working, rather than understanding the concepts 100%
I also found it useful to have some of the working/broad steps to some of the types of problems (note: not individual problems, 'problem types'. There really are only so many of these in PHSI191) on my cheat-sheet so I could make sure I hadn't mucked up under pressure in the exam.
(Disclaimer: This is for those of you who, like me, don't have very mathematical brains. So it's a pretty imperfect strategy, and leaves you 'hung out to dry' somewhat on the harder 5% or so of questions. So if you're one of those physics-buffs who's looking at >95% in PHSI, ignore how I did it )

I personally found the cheat-sheet very, very useful, and if your physics abilities are pretty shaky, then I'd advise getting to work on your cheat-sheet now, and learning to use it to solve problems. Do problems. Do lots of problems. You definitely learn to spot patterns in the way you solve said problems, and so get better at them.

 

[Deleted member 4350]

I'd also like to add my strategy. I spent about 10% of the time on content, and 90% on solving problems. Here are three jewels that I managed to find before I started HSFY that helped me tremendously.

https://www.physics.otago.ac.nz/teaching/physics_exams/PHSI110/
https://www.physics.otago.ac.nz/teaching/PHSI191/PHSI191_exams/
Department of Physics - PHSI110 Exam Questions

The beauty about them is that the questions are tailored specifically for the otago PHSI papers since they are written by the lecturers. More importantly though, they have worked solutions to the problems, so that you can analyse the lecturers' mindsets and how they would phrase questions.

My final score (87%) is relatively average compared to the freakishly high scores achieved by some on this forum (there were a few 100s), but keep in mind that I did not even do 5th form physics before starting HSFY, nor any type of bridging courses like jumpstart physics.

A friend of a friend who got 99% in PHSI191 kindly shared a cheat sheet he compiled throughout the semester with my friend (who subsequently scored 100%) and I have a copy saved on my laptop which I will upload when I get home later tonight. It is basically a summary of the course into 2 A4 pages.

 

[Sam]

A friend of a friend who got 99% in PHSI191 kindly shared a cheat sheet he compiled throughout the semester with my friend (who subsequently scored 100%) and I have a copy saved on my laptop which I will upload when I get home later tonight. It is basically a summary of the course into 2 A4 pages.

I would love this so much