Awful Teacher - Help! (1 Viewer)

[hholbrook]

Hi,

I started Extension 2 at the beginning of the term, and my teacher is also my Extension 1 teacher. I find that his style of teaching doesn't suit me very well, and that I when I go to revise concepts, I have nothing to revise from, because all he does is an example of how to solve a question and then just throws us into the deep end in the exercise, without properly covering the concept in the first place. I feel like he's not teaching us at all, and it's driving me mad. I currently use the S.K Patel Foundations book, but I also have access to Fitzpatrick and Cambridge books. What would you recommend I do to properly cover the concept without my teacher's help?

Thanks.

 

[bottleofyarn]

I have a friend who practically self taught himself 3U and 4U off Cambridge by doing practically every question and that "it's the best textbook to learn from". Then again, he's pretty darn smart and topped maths. That being said, I myself like the formatting and questions from Cambridge. You can always textbook study yourself (for maths anyway) and ask your teacher if you don't quite get something.

 

[enigma_1]

Self-learning maths isn't always easy as you may miss a few key points and stuff. It's better to have someone explaining stuff to you. Maths is that kind of subject.

 

[panda15]

You may find that he isn't covering the topics in detail, but that's how the 4U course works. There is so much content to cover that your teacher has to speed through it in order to finish the course on time. Trust me, there is a lot less hand holding in 4U than in 2/3U. To get comfortable with the content, definitely do the exercises from the text book, and go and see your teacher outside class time if you get stuck.

 

[hholbrook]

I'm worried that the textbook questions won't be of a similar level to that of the HSC exam, but I also struggle to understand the concepts straight away. Should I use one textbook for concepts, and another for questions? If so, which books?

 

[panda15]

I'm worried that the textbook questions won't be of a similar level to that of the HSC exam, but I also struggle to understand the concepts straight away. Should I use one textbook for concepts, and another for questions? If so, which books?

Don't worry about HSC questions at the moment. In about term 3 next year, you'll start living off past papers which will get you used to exam style questions. And I found Patel to explain concepts very well, and Fitzpatrick to give the ground work. Cambridge doesn't explain the work well at all, but does have good questions for when you're comfortable with the topics. You could probably work out of Fitzpatrick, Cambridge and Patel, but I also found Terry Lee's book quite helpful, especially for harder 3U and volumes.

 

[RealiseNothing]

Self-learning maths isn't always easy as you may miss a few key points and stuff. It's better to have someone explaining stuff to you. Maths is that kind of subject.

Not at all, maths is easy to self-learn if done correctly.

 

[Drongoski]

Not at all, maths is easy to self-learn if done correctly.

Not to everyone. Not everyone is smart enough to self-learn.

 

[hholbrook]

Okay. So what should I be doing? Just exercises from the book? I find that I benefit best if I have some notes to read off before exams and other assessments, so I can see what the concept is really all about

 

[hholbrook]

bump bump

 

[bottleofyarn]

Myself, I would work through the Cambridge from the development questions (the extension questions are typically above the 4u level) for 3u, and the questions in the 4u textbook. Make sure you understand the examples and maybe do some of them without checking the answers. Going through questions will solidify your understanding especially since the 4u course is so much more concept based. That being said, make sure you understand the topics when you've finished an exercise, and it helps to have a formula sheet to refresh your memory. You seem to know how you learn best, but I think making notes off the textbook should be enough (in my opinion).