• Question: How can I improve in science? What helped you?

    Asked by anon-252027 to Stav, Hannah, Alice on 29 Apr 2020.
    • Photo: Stav Zalel

      Stav Zalel answered on 29 Apr 2020:

      Hi Aimee, That’s a great question.

      I think that one important thing to improving in science is asking questions.

      As a scientist, a big part of my job is to learn new things, and asking questions is a part of that. Personally, I sometimes find it hard to say to a teacher or a friend “I don’t understand this, can you explain it to me please?”, but I found that the more I do it the easier it gets and it really helps me learn.

      So I suggest that next time you don’t understand something in class or in your homework, ask someone!

      Hope that helps 🙂

      Stav

Comments

  • Photo: Dipendra

    Dipendra commented on :

    Hi Aimee, Stave, Hannah & Alice,

    Well done for asking such a great question. In fact I used to ask this all the time in secondary school, especially when doing my GCSE’s. You see I really enjoyed in Science but for a long time my grades were not great. What I found helped me was 3 things, the first is like Stav said is to ask questions, remember no question is silly. Chances are many other people in the class have the same question as you. Second, when you study or revise practise taking a blank sheet of paper, and ask yourself questions to test your understanding about a topic. For example, if you were learning about the solar system, you might ask yourself, how many planets are in ours? What are their names? Etc. And finally, read up on things that interest you in science, this could be magazines, YouTube videos or books. All of this will help a lot.

    If you have any more questions, let me know.

    All the best,
    Dipendra

  • Photo: aprilcridland

    aprilcridland commented on :

    Hi Aimee, I agree with Stav about asking questions. It also helps to try to talk yourself through a problem or question. I am a visual learner so I like to write things down or draw diagrams to help me think through a situation. i.e. so this changes that and then this must go up…etc.. Don’t be afraid to ask your friend or teacher to listen to you reasoning out the problem and help you spot anything that you got wrong. You’ll understand the problem better.

    Cheers,
    April

  • Photo: Rihab

    Rihab commented on :

    Such a great question! I know for me that being curious was the drive and seeking answers in papers, research, networking, books, lectures, seminars, webinars and my colleagues has always helped me improve and I am always wanting to improve more so thank you for asking this because I want to know too!

  • Photo: Greg

    Greg commented on :

    Everyone else has given great advice. I can’t add much except that learning about science beyond the curriculum really helped me, It’s certainly a lot more interesting! I find that the more I know, the more connections there are to new things I want to learn and this makes it easier it is to learn them.

    So I’d reccomend reading as many popular science books as you can! There’s also a lot of really good science podcasts out there. If you’re interested in a particular topic, don’t be afraid to try googling it and seeing if it leads anywhere. Especially if you’ve got a teacher you can nag about any questions you have.