MX2 difficulty... (3 Viewers)

[kurt.physics]

Hi everyone:wave:

I know this is such a broad question, and many people would have different beliefs, but how hard is extension 2 mathematics?

Some teachers tell me the course is almost impossible, and that i would be showing them how to answer the questions!

I have it in my head that the 4 unit course is not as difficult as many say? I just want to know, from your experiences in maths extension 2 so far or in the past, how hard do you think it is?

 

[hermand]

how are you going in two unit?

EDIT; i got 100% in my year eleven yearly, and i find it umm, not really easy, but VERY doable.

 

[lou071]

Hi everyone:wave:

I know this is such a broad question, and many people would have different beliefs, but how hard is extension 2 mathematics?

Some teachers tell me the course is almost impossible, and that i would be showing them how to answer the questions!

I have it in my head that the 4 unit course is not as difficult as many say? I just want to know, from your experiences in maths extension 2 so far or in the past, how hard do you think it is?

it is doable

 

[kurt.physics]

how are you going in two unit?

I have not officially started, but should be going into the class soon

Although, i can tell you i will be finding it really easy (its 2 unit...). I am expecting first ranks within my school definitely.

 

[hermand]

I have not officially started, but should be going into the class soon

Although, i can tell you i will be finding it really easy (its 2 unit...). I am expecting first ranks within my school definitely.

you're doing both years in one?

well i find two unit a breeze.

and i love extension two.

if you're intuitive about maths and are not one of those people who just remembers formulas to do well then you'll be good at it. it's not just a bunch of formulas. you've actually got to 'get it'

 

[LordPc]

some of it is easy, like polynomials, like so much so that it could be taught in 3u. these arent too hard to pick up

but other topics are totally new, like conics and mechanics which can get really hard at times. but if you put in the work then its quite doable

 

[kurt.physics]

you're doing both years in one?

well i find two unit a breeze.

and i love extension two.

if you're intuitive about maths and are not one of those people who just remembers formulas to do well then you'll be good at it. it's not just a bunch of formulas. you've actually got to 'get it'

yeh, 2 unit is a breeze (i have done integration and other stuff from it... just not in class).

Just to clarify, i am not doing this thread to determine if im capable, i am just wonder what people think of the course, for example the relative difficulty.

And im not doing both in 1 year, its just that my school put me into the year 11 2 unit but im to good at it and have already learnt it so they are putting me into HSC 2 unit. This idea only came up last week, so thats why progress into class is slow.

 

[hermand]

yeh, 2 unit is a breeze (i have done integration and other stuff from it... just not in class).

Just to clarify, i am not doing this thread to determine if im capable, i am just wonder what people think of the course, for example the relative difficulty.

And im not doing both in 1 year, its just that my school put me into the year 11 2 unit but im to good at it and have already learnt it so they are putting me into HSC 2 unit. This idea only came up last week, so thats why progress into class is slow.

ah fair enough.

well yeah, i think four unit is good fun =]].

 

[Timothy.Siu]

not hard, just time

 

[kurt.physics]

does anyone know if anyone has got 100 in it?

 

[Trebla]

The idea that the course is "impossible" is an urban myth. Any good passionate maths teacher would love teaching this course. It's the only course which has interesting aspects of maths as opposed to the tedious bookwork in 2 unit and Ext1.
When I was in Year 11, I was surrounded by all these skeptical rumours like "you can only do half the exam", "if you do the first 5 out of 8 questions you are a legend at maths" and "you need to work your ass off because it's a shitload of work". I'm glad that I ignored them, because quite frankly they're all myths to make it look harder than it really is.

 

[Trebla]

does anyone know if anyone has got 100 in it?

Yes. If you're talking about aligned marks, this has happened every year since 2006. If you're talking about raw marks, no one really knows lol

 

[Timothy.Siu]

if u do ur definitely a maths genius

 

[kurt.physics]

do you need a good teacher to do extremely well. Because mine (the teacher that will be) can not really do mechanics well???

 

[Timothy.Siu]

if u do extremely well it wont be because of your teacher

 

[tacogym27101990]

one guys got full raw marks in it before according to jeff geha.
it was in 1993, an funnily enough it was the year geha reckons was the hardest.

 

[alcalder]

From one who did 4Unit maths when I was at school (same syllabus) and then tutored it after school...

It can be quite difficult, mainly because the concepts are VERY new. There are no complex numbers anywhere else in the syllabus, so it took some time to get my head around that. Then Volumes using integration was "interesting" but I managed to sort that, too. Mechanics was the hardest topic because they maths teacher was not so hot on it and, although I was doing physics at the time (it that was harder then, than it is now with mostly maths involved) my physics teacher was not very good at explaining the maths behind the mechanics either. It was only through tutoring it that I finally got that working. Mechanics needed some heavy duty understanding of differentiation and integration.

The thing with 4Unit/MX2 is that it is not rote/mechanical learning like the other maths. You don't just learn a formula and method and then can do every question. There is a lot of getting the feel for maths and having the confidence to try stuff and work through to an answer. In MX1 and below you can generally see the answer and how to get there but MX2 you may not be able to do that and just have to fiddle until things fall into place.

So, MX2 is not impossible, it's just different and requires you to appreciate the elegance of mathematics (to coin a Bored Of Studies thread) rather than be able to just apply it.

For the gifted mathematician and anyone willing to put in the hard yakka, it is rewarding.

I was in a class of 3. I used to get 80+, then the next girl used to get 50+ and the last girl used to get 20+. Yet, those other two would never drop it because they enjoyed it so much AND did quite well in the HSC because it scaled AMAZINGLY well.

The most ironic thing is, we had our ###th school reunion just recently and I spoke to the girl who got 20+% and she had become a Maths teacher and was just starting to teach 4Unit MX2!

You need a dedicated and interested teacher to do MX2, and hopefully they can guide your mind towards the answer without being able to necessarily do it for you. BUT in the end the MX2 student needs to be able to guide themselves most of the way. That is the intention of the MX2 (and EngExt2) courses.

Hope that answers your question.

 

[Continuum]

The content is not too hard but the main thing about 4U is that you have to pick up stuff really fast - it's not like 3U or 2U, where you can take things slow and easy.

 

[Kujah]

Depends on the individual.

 

[x.Exhaust.x]

Depends on the individual.

True. 4U is overrated.