Coaching > Self-Study > School (optional)
Strange is the fact that the darker side of the education system, ‘kept’ unknown yet well-known, speaks of these stranger tongues. And, this very hierarchy that we have set to follow has been deceiving us outright, yet we seem not to care about it unless it hits us way too hard.
The discussion shall revolve around the importance of lab-work and related questions in JEE Main and Advanced. With the rise of the coaching industry, a parallel rise in the dummy schools has been seen – some by the coaching institutes and others for the sake of a shadow business. Though the coaching seems to us as the ultimate sustainer and the provider of the best for our future, in terms of certain genres of questions of JEE Main or Advanced, it lacks way too much.
The trend of asking questions straight from the labs has picked up, and from negligible questions in the first 3 years from 2007 to 2010 IIT-JEE Entrance Examination, it has risen up to almost 3 per year in Physics and oscillates from 5-10 in Chemistry. Yes, that big a weightage is from the simple lab work. Reactions of Organic Chemistry and Inorganic Chemistry, where the analysis of various compounds, their characteristic colour or smell is important to have picked up.
Despite of being taught complete chapters dedicated to Salt Analysis over 2 months in the coaching institute, students find it tough to remember the exact details. And, here comes the importance of the practical knowledge and experience. Without any involvement in the lab, the student is unaware of the conditions and fails to attempt such questions. Similar is the case with Physics, where questions related to simple topics like Resonance Column and Least Count (JEE -2012) started to appear.
I believe this is a trick by the intellects of IITs to handle the cunningness of coaching industry, and they play it their way – the scientific way. Hence, the importance of Labs and experimentation is paramount and can actually decide a couple of questions, and hundreds or even thousands of ranks for you. Thus, the suggestion shall be not deviating much from your ‘present’ study but having all experiments done by yourself at least once. And, be thorough with the following –
- Chemistry Lab Manual – Part 1 and Part 2 – NCERT
- Physics Lab Manual – Part 1 and Part 2 – NCERT
