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Announcement from BOSTES/NESA - 2019 Syllabus Changes for Calculus courses (1 Viewer)

qwert73

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Re: Announcement from BOSTES - significant change to calculus courses

But if you doing 2u the problem isn't remembering the formulas it is implementing them in harder questions. I think 2u people should already have memorised all the formulas, there aren't even that many.
 

mreditor16

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Re: Announcement from BOSTES - significant change to calculus courses

When would the change announced be likely to be implemented?
 

mreditor16

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Re: Announcement from BOSTES - significant change to calculus courses

I would be saddened if BOSTES did introduce a formula sheet for all mathematics examinations.
 

braintic

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Re: Announcement from BOSTES - significant change to calculus courses

When would the change announced be likely to be implemented?
Last I heard, the new syllabus was due to be in place for yr 12 2018. But given that this would mean it would need to be finalised by the end of 2016, I think that might be a little ambitious. But I guess a formula sheet does not require a new syllabus.
 

InteGrand

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Re: Announcement from BOSTES - significant change to calculus courses

What's the problem with just introducing a formula sheet? If the style of questions in the exams remain the same, it wouldn't make a big difference since most people know all the formulae from memory anyway; in fact, it would be good so that certain formulae wouldn't need to be memorised. A formula sheet would only be bad I think if the style of questions became simple plug and chug, like the HSC sciences.
 

tywebb

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Re: Announcement from BOSTES - significant change to calculus courses

Last I heard, the new syllabus was due to be in place for yr 12 2018. But given that this would mean it would need to be finalised by the end of 2016, I think that might be a little ambitious. But I guess a formula sheet does not require a new syllabus.
But that would require it to be in place for yr 11 2017. And that would require it to be finalised by the end of THIS year! And this is very much too ambitious.

Schools are supposed to have syllabuses 1 year before implementation.
 
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Flop21

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Re: Announcement from BOSTES - significant change to calculus courses

What's the problem with just introducing a formula sheet? If the style of questions in the exams remain the same, it wouldn't make a big difference since most people know all the formulae from memory anyway; in fact, it would be good so that certain formulae wouldn't need to be memorised. A formula sheet would only be bad I think if the style of questions became simple plug and chug, like the HSC sciences.
Nothing is wrong with it and it's how it should be. It's funny I was talking about this just the other day before this thread was posted, we should get a formula sheet, other states have it + many of my teachers think we should too.

It wouldn't make any difference to the course, apart from freeing students from rote learning some formulas. Maybe it would allow teachers to go through the formulae in more depth with no stress on memorising them, i.e. teaching how the formula works, why it works, proof etc.

lol tbh the main reason I got such a poor mark in my math trials was because I didn't memorise my formulas and thus forgot them in the test. So I got 0 on all those questions, even though I knew how to do them, I just didn't know the formulas.
 

Soulful

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Re: Announcement from BOSTES - significant change to calculus courses

plz be the removal of non uniform circular motion from 4U
 

braintic

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Re: Announcement from BOSTES - significant change to calculus courses

Two positives about a formula sheet:

(1) There will be less questions involving just subbing into a formula, and more that require actual thinking

(2) It tells students what formulae they can't quote (eg. sums to products)
 

mreditor16

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Re: Announcement from BOSTES - significant change to calculus courses

Two positives about a formula sheet:

(1) There will be less questions involving just subbing into a formula, and more that require actual thinking

(2) It tells students what formulae they can't quote (eg. sums to products)
That's very true.
 

sida1049

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Re: Announcement from BOSTES - significant change to calculus courses

I personally found that from time to time, I have to derive certain formulas and identities, which I think is quite beneficial. The problem with a formula sheet is that eventually, students will simply take the formulas as a given, and forget where they come from and how they are derived (which becomes a problem in questions where it is necessary to understand the nature of the formula that is being used).

That's the problem with the science courses (a good example are the equations of motion in physics, where most students find the answer by playing around with the formulas, rather than actually understanding what they are finding, why it works, and ultimately what it means... I remember my Physics teacher forgot how to derive the equations of motion).
 

leehuan

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Re: Announcement from BOSTES - significant change to calculus courses

I personally found that from time to time, I have to derive certain formulas and identities, which I think is quite beneficial. The problem with a formula sheet is that eventually, students will simply take the formulas as a given, and forget where they come from and how they are derived (which becomes a problem in questions where it is necessary to understand the nature of the formula that is being used).

That's the problem with the science courses (a good example are the equations of motion in physics, where most students find the answer by playing around with the formulas, rather than actually understanding what they are finding, why it works, and ultimately what it means... I remember my Physics teacher forgot how to derive the equations of motion).
Whilst we're here, what equations of motion?
 

braintic

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Re: Announcement from BOSTES - significant change to calculus courses

I personally found that from time to time, I have to derive certain formulas and identities, which I think is quite beneficial. The problem with a formula sheet is that eventually, students will simply take the formulas as a given, and forget where they come from and how they are derived (which becomes a problem in questions where it is necessary to understand the nature of the formula that is being used).

That's the problem with the science courses (a good example are the equations of motion in physics, where most students find the answer by playing around with the formulas, rather than actually understanding what they are finding, why it works, and ultimately what it means... I remember my Physics teacher forgot how to derive the equations of motion).
Most students already take the formulas as given. In that respect, there is little difference between being given the formulas and trying to learn them by rote.
 

sida1049

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Re: Announcement from BOSTES - significant change to calculus courses

Whilst we're here, what equations of motion?
You know, the part of the Space topic where we have to work with projective motion. They are the same equations we derive as a part of projectile motion in MX1, from the assumptions that vertical acceleration is -g and horizontal acceleration is zero. We were never taught what they meant, but only how to use them.

Most students already take the formulas as given. In that respect, there is little difference between being given the formulas and trying to learn them by rote.
Yeah, I agree with that. But I do think that the addition of a formula sheet for general maths and for the higher maths courses are of different calibre; the lower maths courses tend to focus more on application which requires the direct substitution of values into given formulae, while the higher maths course focus more on proving based on the ideas behind the derivation of formulae, hence I personally think that the addition of formula sheets into the higher maths courses may prove to be more of a hindrance.
 

Green Yoda

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Re: Announcement from BOSTES - significant change to calculus courses

any new advancements on this story?
 

tywebb

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Re: Announcement from BOSTES - significant change to calculus courses

I have been informed that Eddie Woo won't be filming it unfortunately because he was denied permission. He said that BOSTES will however be publishing some notes on the BOSTES website.
 

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