CSS Tips by Amubarak
 

Thank you for your kind remarks. I’ll share with you how I prepared each subject:

Pakistan Affairs:

•Books consulted: Ikram Rabbani’s Pakistan Affairs and Jehangir Book Depot’s Exam Cram Top 20 Questions for Pakistan Affairs.
•I prepared every topic keeping in mind that I will not exceed 6-7 pages for a single answer. Supposedly Aligarh movement comprised of 7 pages in the book, I highlighted from those 7 pages a total of 2 pages worth of text book material and focused on memorizing it well
•All my answers had an introductory paragraph that did not exceed 5-7 lines but was very rich in content in explaining the concept that was later discussed.
•All questions had sub headings
•With in subheadings, where possible I bulleted each separate point
•At the end there was 7-8 line conclusion, summarizing the impact, advantages or disadvantages of whatever event discussed
•There was no repetition of any point
•My handwriting is normal (neither big nor small), I did not exceed 7 pages for an answer

Every day Science:

•I did my B.Sc with zoology, chemistry and applied psychology, so I had the necessary background
•I prepared from Bhatti’s Everyday Science, but I realized that the detail given in the book was way too much. So I focused on remembering key facts and figures

Geography:

•Books consulted: Certificate Physical and Human Geography (3rd Edition) by Goh Cheng Leong published by Oxford University Press and Jehangir Book Depot’s Exam Cram Top 20 Questions for Geography
•This oxford university press book is really good and not available commonly, you should check with the oxford outlet or at old book shops. You will notice that exam cram author has copied his certain answers of physical geography word to word from Certificate Physical and Human Geography. However the exam cram book really helped me prepare human and population geography
•I made some notes as well from the internet, I’ll post them in the geography sub forum
•In physical geography all my long questions were supported with properly labeled diagrams.

In all of my papers, I did not ask for extra sheet, this was something that bothered me a lot. I felt especially depressed in my Islamiat paper, people were asking for extra sheets left right and centre. And I didn’t have any of my long answers going beyond 4 pages. My Urdu vocabulary is good, so I made sure my sentences were properly phrased, but 4 pages was the maximum I could do for a long answer as I made sure I finished each answer in 30 minutes.

@amubarak :- dear it is really nice of you to reply to our queries.

i have psychology as my optionals. i got 115 marks in it. i attempted paper thus: 2-3 pages , mcq portion was not prepared well enough. no diagrams,tables. i refered feldmans book on introduction of psychology.
Plz throw some light on this subject if it is possible, with refrence to same indicators....as mentioned in ur previous post. did u prepare notes,sovled past papers? got these checked by a qualified proffessional?
regards

@ amubarak

aaa,

:onesec can u tell m about psychology papper........... n about books n plz tell me about those books ........ jo zayada parts cover karti haa...as papper 1 n papper 2..... psy objects kasa karna haa..............thanks..:ph34r:

Dear All,

Sorry for skipping out on psychology and mercantile law earlier:

[B]Mercantile Law:[/B]
I have never studied law in my life, I guess now that journalism would have been a better option. But I really enjoyed studying mercantile law, I took help from a law graduate who himself scored 72 in mercantile law in CSS exam. But it didn’t work out for me. However it was a good experience studying something different

[B]Psychology:[/B]
I have done my masters in Applied Psychology from Punjab University Lahore. The books I consulted for CSS prep were:
•Gerrig, J. Richard & Zimbardo, G.Phillip. (2005). Psychology and Life. (17th Ed.). Dehli: Pearson Education in South Asia
•Morgan, C.T., King, R.A., Schopler,J. & Weisz, J.R. (1986). Introduction to Psychology. (7th Ed.). New York: Mc Graw Hill Book Company

Morgan’s book is an old book, but it’s great for beginners and you find lot of topics both for paper one and two in it. As for Gerrig and Zimbardo, it’s ‘the book’. It covers almost 80% of paper one and two. Well 80% of what I prepared, because I didn’t prepare 2 chapters each for paper I and II. As for Feldman, it’s a very good book, but I always preferred Morgan over Feldman during my graduation. And at master’s level it was Gerrig and Zimbardo.
David G. Myers is another great author. Make it a point; do not consult books by any Pakistani authors on psychology.
I would like to add that I was not happy with my psychology papers, I was able to answer 95% of MCQ’s correct but in the subjective part, I didn’t write very long answers. The reason being that we had semester system at PU, our papers comprised of MCQ’s, Fill in the Blanks, True False and Short Answers. I was just out of practice of writing lengthy answers as a result. But short answers practice really paid off, it trains one to remember the key phrases and stay to the point.

The name of book is 'psychology and life' it is mentioned after the year of publication(2005). Once you are through PU's applied psychology department, writing a book's reference in APA(American Psychological Association) format becomes second nature. This book is available in the market in paper back. i think the price is 625 Rs, dont get it photocopied. Same goes for David G. Myers, his books are now available in paper back (special edition for south asia) published by Tata-Mcgraw Hill in India.

Red Hawk: I prepared from Islami Nazria i Hayat by Khursheed Ahmed and attempted the paper in Urdu. I didnt mean to write answers so short (3-4 pages) for a 14 marks question, its just that after HSSC one rarely writes urdu in a hurry, i was completely out of practise for writing urdu as fast as i manage to write english.

Lord AvaLon: thanks and i am a female.

P.S. i guess i should have kept journalism instead of mercantile law, but mercantile law's syllabus seemed shorter and you should be knowing by this time, writng long answers is not one of my favourite jobs. Thats why i lost marks in essay, my essay was just 1800 words long. After writing some 12 odd pages on global warming, i was running out of quality points and wrapped it up.

Geography Tips by Amubarak
 

hello .

i hope u get to read this . i just wanted to know wht ws ur strategy for preparing psychology . i am well prepared in psych paper 1 . but i am not sure about paper 2 . i have gt some random notes for it . kindly let me know if u have any online source for paper 2 or can refer any good book :pp and also if u can share ur own notes that would be worth it . if it possible otherwise no problem .

God bless :)i hope you do not mind replying;)

thanking you

H.E

Thank you for your message.
First of all, I did not prepare all the chapters, both for paper one and paper two (I wouldn’t suggest that you simple skip as many chapters as i did, but I couldn’t make myself prepare the chapters I didn’t like). The edge I had was my masters in psychology, I was able to get all my MCQ's in paper one correct and I guess I had one MCQ wrong in paper 2.
If you have the concept and know what a certain theory/research/term is about, you don’t need to memorize by heart, you will be able to answer an MCQ about it correctly. The chapters I prepared for Paper 2 were: (if you consider the numbering in syllabus as chapters)

Chapter 1 Completely Prepared
Chapter 2 Prepared till chromosomal abnormalities
(Book consulted: The Developing Child by Helen Bee and Denise Boyd, 10th Edition. Published by Pearson Education in South Asia. Price: Rs. 450)

Chapter 3 and 4: I didn’t prepare

Chapter 5 and 8: Completely Prepared
(Book consulted: Psychology and Life by Richard Gerrig and Phillip Zimbardo, 17th Edition, published by Pearson Education in South Asia. Price Rs. 625)

Chapter 6 : Compeletly Prepared from Gerrig and Zimabrdo mentioned above (you don’t need to do the whole Gerrig and Zimbardo chapter on intelligence, just the topics in syllabus)

Chapter 7: My Own Notes, one just needs bullets points summarizing the main causes, they are more or less over lapping

Chapter 9: I specialized in I/O psychology. If you’d look at past papers they usually ask about the application of I/O psychology. I had done an assignment on this during masters, so that was sufficient.

Send me your email address; I will email the notes I have with me. Try to relate what you study with yourself and those around you, psychology becomes very easy and interesting to prepare and goodluck for you exams!

Assalam o alaikum ,it would be an oppurtunity for me to be a part of this forum .i want to opt for psycology paper as my optional and i am an engg. student but i have an interest in this subject .so plz give me ur precious suggestions regarding my querry that shd i go for the psycology paper ? as i have very much impressed by your marks in it .
@ amubarak
the books you have suggested in the recommended books section are suitable enough for the preparation and how much time (roughly idea)will it take for its preparation?
@crankshaft
congratulates on your marvellous score in the pshycology papar .i want to ask one thing how much time have u taken for its study and also have u any idea or background for this subject before? one thing i want to ask what problem u faced in paper 2 of psycology that u couldn't get as good marks as in paper 1. kindly tell me about the books u consulted for psycology. hope for a quick reply :D

Thanks for your message. The time required for preparation really depends on your interest. As I am into teaching psychology myself at university level, the key problem students encounter in this case is that they understand everything when they give the text book a read, however when you try to recall it later, one finds that you are not able to phrase your answer as powerfully as required. For the purpose undertake the following steps:
1. In your first attempt high light the relevant material that you will learn by heart, including examples and researches(for examples and researches you can use your own words)
2. Learn definitons by heart, number the points in every topic, you should know the relevant KEY WORDS. It is the use of these key words that makes your answer powerful and concise
3.If you are really into it than psychology should take a week/ten days to prepare
4. When you'll follow this method you will find that you are able to recall a greater percentage on your first revision and it gets better everytime
5. The material that you highlight to remember really matters, if you give all the points even a 4-5 page answer is enough

To Amubarak
 

Hi Amubarak,

I want to opt [B]Geography [/B]but I have never studied it earlier.What do you think a person who had never studied it earlier should opt it?
Can a person like me study without taking any tuition?

How much time it takes to prepare syllabus of Geography ?
Any other tip specially for this subject.

I have read your other posts in which you recommended the books.Thank you very much for that. You said in one of your posts that you would post your Geography notes in the relevant sub-forum . I'm waitiong for that as well.

Regards.

:) I never studied geography before, i opted for it out of interest. If you are interest in geography and feel it will be a pleasure preparing it, then go for it. Since I hadn't studied geography before it took me a lot of time gathering material, arranging notes. But i had the time. I started preparing for 2008 exam from June 2007. That whole summer i spent fishing out books, simultanouesly searching the internet. For physical geography it was difficult to get a good book initially. I prepared chapters from a Pakistani author's book and there were so many mistakes in (especially spelling mistakes) that at the end of everyday i would search every term on google to make sure what i am learning is correct. Then i came across the Exam Cram series for geography, it really helped. The Oxford University on Physical Geography i came across by accident just 2 months before the exam.
I had to reprepare most of physical geography chapters again from it, it didnt take so long as the concepts were already formed. For geography paper one I didnot prepare climatic regions at all (it takes a lot of your time and if you look at past papers there is just one question from it, you can prepare its MCQ's from Exam Cram Objective section).
I didnt take tuition for any of my subjects. I consulted cssforum, google and very rarely an uncle of mine who is a CSP. The notes i mentioned are all from wikipedia, from my review of past papers for geogprahy i prepared notes for topics not in any of the books. Its just that they are properly formatted. Give me your email address i will email them to you.

@ crankshaft

plz reply my querrry as i have been waiting it for a long :dry: .it is in begginers section and one thing i want to ask what problem u faced in paper 2 of psycology that u couldn't get as good marks as in paper 1.kindly tell me about the books u consulted for psycology.hope for a quick reply:D

----

@ amubarak

assalam oalaikum,could you please send me the notes of psycology and geography which you have made if possible at

[EMAIL="ranafarrukhjaved@live.com"]ranafarrukhjaved@live.com[/EMAIL] as it would be a great honour for me

need guidence...!
 

AOA... plz tell books for everyday science.... and what should be the timetable to study

[quote=soniakhan_pk44]AOA... plz tell books for everyday science.... and what should be the timetable to study[/quote]


Apart from the books mentioned in the syllabus section there are few books that are mostly recommended

1 - Every day science by Kashmiri (Latest Edition)
2 - Every day science by Imtiaz Shahid
3 - Encyclopedia of Every day science by Sohail Bhatti

I am personally using the 3rd one, however it is always a good idea to consult more than one reliable resources so you should make use of the internet as well for the latest changes that these books may not include

As far as the time table is concerned, I think that varies a lot from person to person. In my personal opinion you should be giving around 6-8 hours to your study per day.

Wish you all the best for your CSS

@ amubarak
 

OMG .... somehow i lost this post . :blink:

i jst chked it , thanku so much for ur help and tips. my email is

[email]the_singing_river@yahoo.com[/email]

looking fwd for ur reply .

thanku for the prayer , i need it more now .

takecare and i m really sorry , i dnt knw y i cudnt find this post . i thought may be its deleted or u dint reply and afterwards i forgot . lol

anyways ..thankyou . :))

Salamz AMubark : i have been silent reader of your posts regarding psychology. it will be kindness on your part to send me these notes at my email id if possible before my paper that is on 9th. my email is [email]dr.g.asghar@hotmail.com[/email] or [email]dr.ghulamasgharmemon@yahoo.com[/email]

One thing i would like to add for psychology preparation, visit the website [url]http://wps.ablongman.com/ab_gerrig_psychlife_17/0,9192,1395187-,00.html[/url]

This is the companion website of Psychology and Life by Gerrig and Zimbardo. Select the chapters you are preparing and go through their flashcards, MCQ's and True/False. This will be really helpful for objective preparation.

Geography Notes from amubarak
 

@amubarak

Really impressive marks.......I will really appreciate if you can send me the notes as well. My email is saelali@ymail.com

Thanks

@amubarak
Thats great, I also wish to opt geography as my opt, would appreciate you taking the time to e-mail any resources to me as well.
hunain.naseer@gmail.com
regards,
-Hunain Naseer

@amubarak

In your opinion should some body go for psychology if he doesn't has any background in it.

@ amubarak

I have also opted Psychology, and will appear in 2010.
I will be very thankful if you also share your knowledge with me.
my e-mail is babarjsm@gmail.com

Geography Tips by Amubarak
 

Hi Amubarak
U scored too good in this ,Could u pls tel what books u prepared from and any related info.thanks

hello!!

well plzz suggest me some book on geography..
and what to do for good markssssssss in geography!!

Geography books
 

@ neelumgulchaudhry
I,my being the masters with geography would suggest you the following books:
Physical Geography by Iftikhar Akram Ch.
Jahangir Exam Cram Series,Top 20Qs
Physical Geo by de.Blij
Human Geo by de.Blij
(if I be honest,the former two books thoroughly covers the syllabi of CSS goegraphy n the latter two books would substantiate your knowledge)
In my humble opinion,drawing of maps and diagrams where requires n provision of data in tabular form is the key to get v good scores in geography.
Good luck to you...

regards,
IBRm
DMG(37th common):)

@ Neelamgulchaudhry and Shenell

Please review the following for geogrpahy books:

[URL]http://www.cssforum.com.pk/111819-post1.html[/URL]

@ bambam222

For opting psychology, it varies from person to person. There are people who have no academic background in psychology and score really good and vice versa. Infact there is no hard and fast rule that one can only opt for a subject with academic back ground, specially in social sciences.

@amubarak

Thanks for your response can you please send me the notes as well at saelali@ymail.com
One more questions i was going through past papers; in the LEARNING TOPIC from paper-1 some questions ask about learning theories. Can you please name these. As in the books that u mentioned i am unable to find things such as learning theories.

hello,
thanks for sharing the tips.
i actually want to ask about the islamiat paper.I recently bought the book islami nazaria hayat by khursheed ahmad.but after reading the questions of past papers ,i got confused.i have some questions for you...
did you prepare notes of islamiat from this book?
did u learn the isalamit or just clear the concept in mind?
did u consult any other book?
i want to prepare for islamiat till 15 september so please guise me in this regard.

thanks.

Theories Of Learning
 

@bambam222
you are right. It is not written in Morgan, Zimbardio, Feldman, Morris, Hillguard's, and not even Weiton. I have searched these theories from internet. I hope, it will be helpful for you.


THEORIES OF LEARNING

Early in the 20th century, some psychologists believed that it might be possible to develop a single, general theory that could explain all instances of learning. For instance, the so-called one-factor theory proposed that reinforcement was the single factor that controlled whether learning would or would not occur. However, latent learning and similar phenomena contradicted this theory by showing that learning could occur without reinforcement.

In recent years, psychologists have abandoned attempts to develop a single, all-purpose theory of learning. Instead, they have developed smaller and more specialized theories. Some theories focus on classical conditioning, some on operant conditioning, some on observational learning, and some on other specific forms of learning. The major debates in learning theory concern which theories best describe these more specific areas of learning.

In studying learning, psychologists follow two main theoretical approaches: the behavioral approach and the cognitive approach. Recall that learning is acquiring knowledge or developing the ability to perform new behaviors. Behavioral psychologists focus on the change that takes place in an individual’s behavior. Cognitive psychologists prefer to study the change in an individual’s knowledge, emphasizing mental processes such as thinking, memory, and problem solving. Many psychologists combine elements of both approaches to explain learning.

A. The Behavioral Approach

The term behaviorism was first used by John B. Watson in the early 1910s. Later, B. F. Skinner expanded and popularized the behavioral approach. The essential characteristic of the behavioral approach to learning is that events in the environment are understood to predict a person’s behavior, not thoughts, feelings, or other events that take place inside the person. Strict behaviorists believe that it is dangerous and unscientific to treat thoughts and feelings as the causes of a person’s behavior, because no one can see another person’s thoughts or feelings. Behaviorists maintain that human learning can be explained by examining the stimuli, reinforcers, and punishments that a person experiences. According to behaviorists, reinforcement and punishment, along with other basic principles such as generalization and discrimination, can explain even the most advanced types of human learning, such as learning to read or to solve complex problems.

B. The Cognitive Approach

Unlike behaviorists, cognitive psychologists believe that it is essential to study an individual’s thoughts and expectations in order to understand the learning process. In 1930 American psychologist Edward C. Tolman investigated cognitive processes in learning by studying how rats learn their way through a maze. He found evidence that rats formed a “cognitive map” (a mental map) of the maze early in the experiment, but did not display their learning until they received reinforcement for completing the maze—a phenomenon he termed latent learning. Tolman’s experiment suggested that learning is more than just the strengthening of responses through reinforcement.

Modern cognitive psychologists believe that learning involves complex mental processes, including memory, attention, language, concept formation, and problem solving. They study how people process information and form mental representations of people, objects, and events.

C. Evaluation of the Two Approaches

During the first half of the 20th century, behaviorism was the dominant theoretical approach in the field of learning. Since the 1950s, however, cognitive psychology has steadily gained in popularity, and now more psychologists favor a cognitive approach than a strict behavioral approach. Cognitive psychologists and behaviorists will continue to debate the merits of their different positions, but in many ways these two approaches have different strengths that complement each other. With its emphasis on memory and complex thought processes, the cognitive approach appears well suited for investigating the most sophisticated types of human learning, such as reasoning, problem solving, and creativity. The behavioral approach, which emphasizes basic principles of conditioning, reinforcement, and punishment, can provide explanations of why people behave the way they do and how they choose between different possible courses of action.

psychology notes
 

Hi amubarak
thx for ur kind support and advice
will u plz send me psychology notes.
i have no background for psychology but i ve come to know its a scoring subject.
ma e-mail address is [email]sheetal.harris@gmail.com[/email], will b thankful to u.
regards.

Want Help And Suggestions Regarding css2010
 

Dear sir i want your help regarding css2010 i have not enough knowledge becoz i am out of field since last 3 years and i am working in pharmaceutical company can you plz guide me and give me some useful suggestions
please?
Regards

@ Amubarak
 

Dear,

First of all thank you for your precious tips,

Kindly let us know:

How did you prepare for ESSAY and COMPOSITION paper ?
What level of English, you think checker expecting from Us?
What are the Most necessary steps towards success for these TWO papers?



Please Share with Us,

Regards,

@ amubarak
 

@ amubarak

brother can you e mail me the notes which u prepared of geography please i will be thankful to you. my email adress is kami_riaz98@yahoo.com

Help??????
 

SALAM
DEAR THANKS FOR VALUABLE INFO YOU SHARED
i am opting geography and psychology for 2010 attempt
can you guide me in a detailed way although i know its done before
and also sent me the notes you have
my yahoo id is [email]diggro@yahoo.com[/email]
thanking you in anticipation





Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure.

In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.

@ amubarak . i am thinking to go for geography it will be of great help if i can skim through your notes , it will be of great help if you can send them at my id faizantariq_88@yahoo.com


@ bunko
bhai i reside in karachi too , it will be of great help if we can sit and have a discussion about preparation , if you are interested e mail me at the above id

@ amubarak
 

@ amubarak
my previous post was to you
however, i repeat my request
thanks for your experience sharing
send me notes of geography and psychology(specially)
my yahoo id is diggro@yahoo.com
thanking yo in anticipation
_____________________________________________
Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure.

In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.

@ Faizy

Dear, mein tu Hyderabad Ah gaya hun Study kerne, :/

Million Dollar Advice, Goto [B]UQAIPS[/B] CSS Preperation Classes, Held near Ideal Bakers, DHA Phase 5, Khi . or visit [url]www.Uqaips.net[/url] . I studies their 15 days and then left for hyderabad for individual studies in closed room, Anywayz institute was awsome, do visit it, many students are studying near there in hostel and apartments.


Regards,

to Amubarak @
 

•Books consulted: Certificate Physical and Human Geography (3rd Edition) by Goh Cheng Leong published by Oxford University Press and Jehangir Book Depot’s Exam Cram Top 20 Questions for Geography

here u mentioned these two books sister will these are for both paper a ad paper b

plsease make it clear

These books are helpful in both the papers a and b.Also paper b is intricately linked with paper a and apart from these books you may also consult

1. Physical Geography of the Global Environment by Dblig
2. Human Geography by Dblig

Thanks

is there anyone any one who cleared css without attending any academy??? anyone?????

[QUOTE=hina_a]is there anyone any one who cleared css without attending any academy??? anyone?????[/QUOTE]
there are a lot of such folks
i happen to be one of them
just took guidance for written part from this website
for psychological went to an academy
put this minor issue aside and study hard