[natalie1062]

Has anyone completed the USA topic yet? We're just about finished it so will be doing the NAB soon, it seems a pretty straightforward topic, just a lot of figures to remember as usual!
Have to say I dont like the essay writing though, it seems worse than English as there is so little time to write everything you intend to.
Whats everyone elses' views on this, anyone having any problems?

[Justboy]

I'm finding it rather boring, don't really like the class. It's a shame since I like the subject

[Shuggy]

Has anyone completed the USA topic yet?  We're just about finished it so will be doing the NAB soon, it seems a pretty straightforward topic, just a lot of figures to remember as usual!
Have to say I dont like the essay writing though, it seems worse than English as there is so little time to write everything you intend to.
Whats everyone elses' views on this, anyone having any problems?

The time is far too short; the actual exam is worse, I'm afraid - I think it works out at about 18mins per answer...

[angela_bonjela]

I'm sitting the ethnic minorities in USA nab tomorrow. I find the course easy enough to follow but i'm finiding it difficult to remember facts and figures. Also, even though I do the learning, that is only good for outcome 1 questions which test your understanding. I find outcome 2 questions difficult as you need to think beyond the answer which is where I'm getting stuck. Any advice?

[Shuggy]

I'm sitting the ethnic minorities in USA nab tomorrow. I find the course easy enough to follow but i'm finiding it difficult to remember facts and figures. Also, even though I do the learning, that is only good for outcome 1 questions which test your understanding. I find outcome 2 questions difficult as you need to think beyond the answer which is where I'm getting stuck. Any advice?

Yup - if you're having problems remembering stats, the key thing is:

1) Don't try to remember too many, 'cos you'll just forget them on the day

2) If you can't remember on the actual day, don't make them up; instead use approximations. E.g. instead of trying to remember a precise stat like 73.2%, why not just say, "nearly three-quarters" etc. Same with dates: if something you want to refer to happened in 1987, fo example, just say, "the late eighties" and so on.

On the EV question: treat it like a conversation where there are always more than one possible points of view. If, for example, you're studing for a question that might say something like, "PR is more democratic than FPTP" - Discuss - don't just research about PR, remember arguments of people who do not agree that PR is more democratic. This can be done for every topic.

The structure for EV is much the same as that for the DME:

Make the point/use the example

Show an awareness that there are arguments against this

Refute the arguments against

[lipu]

I found the USA section quite easy. The Essays are not as bad as the english ones as I find it easier to get the marks in Modern Studies (as you don't seem to ned to write anywhere enar as much). However, Figures (through past experiance) are very, very valuable and (accorind to my teacher, who marks for the SQA) "stand out" at the markers showing them that you know your stuff.

We worked it out in class that for the essay Questions it is 17 and a half minutes for each question, but it is the DME you need to watch - 1 hour 20 minutes for 30 marks!

Good luck when the NAB comes