Experts reveal the science behind acing the QCE biology exam

A near-perfect ATAR graduate and a Brisbane science teacher have outlined where students are most likely to slip up on the upcoming QCE biology exam.

A near-perfect ATAR graduate and a Brisbane science teacher have outlined where more than 13,000 Queensland students are most likely to slip up on the upcoming QCE biology exam.

It comes as thousands of students ramp up studies ahead of the three-week exam block with both biology papers set for Monday, November 6.

The Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority say 13,853 are expected to sit the biology exam.

Declan Cabot graduated from Nudgee College in Brisbane in 2020 with a 99.9 ATAR. He is now studying medicine at Griffith University.

Declan Cabot, 20, graduated from Nudgee College in Brisbane in 2020 with a 99.9 ATAR. He is now studying Medicine at Griffith University.

Where students can slip up.

“Time management is the big one,” Mr Cabot said.

“Don’t get carried away with multiple choice. You should aim to nail those 20 multiple choice questions in the first 20 minutes.

“Leave yourself as much time as possible for the short answer questions.

“And make sure you have examples for everything – don’t just learn definitions, you’re often asked for two examples of your answers, so have those prepared.”

Key areas to study up on

“Read the syllabus to see which cognitive terms they’re asking about,” Mr Cabot said.

“Also, look at past papers, some questions are copied word-for-word from the syllabus.

“Practice preparing responses using the past papers to see how they give out marks

“And remember, when preparing responses – explain, define, describe.”

Australian Christian College Moreton science teacher Glen Sinclair

Australian Christian College Moreton science teacher Glen Sinclair also provided some welcome pointers for the 13,000 biology students statewide.

Best piece of advice

“First, you need to have a clear understanding of the learning goals, exactly what the syllabus is asking. So focus on the learning goals from the syllabus,” he said.

“From there, it’s important to use past papers and practice tests to see the style of the questions. Pay attention to cognitive verbs. People can miss actually answering the question by not addressing the cognitive verbs. They expect you to use them or the trends to support your answer. If data is in the question, it’s there for a reason.

“Look at the marks and understand how many marks you need to address in your answer.”

Where students can slip up.

“Not actually answering the questions. Whether it’s not addressing the cognitive verb, adding enough points in the answer to address the marks, not showing working or even using the correct number of decimal points when specified.

“Students need to know the definitions that QCAA uses too. For define syllabus dot points, you need to remember the wording QCAA uses, as this is how those terms will often appear in multiple choice questions or be expected in short response answers.

Some of the almost guaranteed questions

“At least one of the mandatory practicals will be on the exam. Ecological succession, speciation, patterns of diversification, population growth models, energy transfer are just some of the other concepts that have appeared each year.”