How To Study Ext 1 Maths???? (1 Viewer)

[kpq_sniper017]

I've heard the same answer to this question a dozen times - <u>practice past papers</u> and other exercises. I do that, but I find that it doesn't help an awful lot in Ext 1 (it does in 2U though).

In my half-yearly exam (which I did a couple of days ago), the teacher who set it threw in a couple of random questions (you could do them with what was in the course and what we had learned), but the hardest bit was finding out what rules or formulae we had to use (I think it used induction, but I'm not too sure).

How can you prepare for random questions like that? 2U is relatively OK because it usually just involves straight-forward questions. But in Ext 1, they can give any random question that relates to what you've learnt. Are there any methods to prepare for such questions? And how can you save time in the exam (because the harder questions often require a lot of thinking = a lot of time).
Do many people actually get full marks for Q7 in the Ext 1 HSC paper?

 

[Xayma]

Practice those questions over and over, and try to recognise parts (like if it increases/decreases in pattern, or if it is geometry)

 

[...]

past papers

if u do heaps of them

u'll be surprised what questions pop up form q1-5

its like duplicate capt different numbers..lol

 

[Affinity]

Come on this board and the 4U board frequently and try to answer questions(questions which come on here are usually hard) before us 03'ers.

Explain things to others, comment others' solutions. This allows you to see different methods to approach the same problem and also tests your understanding of the material because you will have to judge if a step is valid or not

very few get full marks for Q7, but members of this board is expected to perform better

 

[felafel]

spend more time learning the concepts right - ask the teacher how to do the same question in several different ways, so you know which method is the best.

when you learn, look for PATTERNS - patterns are everywhere in maths - and while this is not all that you need to perform well in your exams, it is definitely a start!

 

[CM_Tutor]

Originally posted by pcx_demolition017
Do many people actually get full marks for Q7 in the Ext 1 HSC paper?

No. Take question 7 of the 1995 3u paper, for example.

The 3u students scored a mean of 3.39 / 12, with a standard deviation of 2.67. Modal mark was 0, median mark was 3. Of the 8766 3u students, 5 scored 12 / 12 and 1822 scored 0 / 12.

What about the 4u students, I hear you ask. Well there were 2536 of them. They scored a mean of 6.19 / 12, with a standard deviation of 2.81. Modal mark was 8, median mark was 7. There were 14 who scored 12 / 12 and 110 who scored 0 / 12.

 

[CM_Tutor]

On your more general question, you also need to practice the first halves of papers - ie questions 1 to 4. The more efficient you become with questions 1 to 4, the more time you will have available for the more challenging questions at the end.

I would also recommend stopping and thinking about approaches before you start a difficult question. Don't dive in with the first approach that occurs to you, do som planning.

Also, when you see interesting problems on this board that you couldn't answer / already have been answered, stop and think about the approach that might be taken / was taken. If you are wondering how someone came up with the approach they took, ask - you may learn something useful. Research in education overwhelming supports the conclusion that more able problem solvers use a variety of metacognitive skills, and spending time consider how a problem might be approached, and deciding between alternate strategies is a good way to develop these skills.

 

[elizabethy]

yeah , keep doing past papers over and over again....n u don't need to get all the parts of q7 ....even if u attempt some parts of the q , show them wat u've done....u will be fine!!!!

 

[CM_Tutor]

Originally posted by abdooooo!!!!
CM_Tutor, are you a BOS statistician?

No.

 

[lil_star]

besides past papers, id recommend you do em especially from Cambridge 3u and 2u (the latest book) maths book....the Qs are so much like HSC!

Jones & Couchman, Maths in Focus and New Senior maths are also recommended besides Cambridge Maths!

Also make summaries!

 

[Estel]

I've made a switch- for my first common test I studied using textbooks and did OK, I'm using past tests now and I'll tell you all how I went...

Most people I've asked say it's better with past papers.

 

[Affinity]

You should be aiming to get a natural feel for the question. Things to look for are similarities and symmetries.

 

[kpq_sniper017]

Yea....

I'm going to start doing past papers these holidays.....I think I'll do other school trial papers first. But the only problem with doing them again and again is that you already know the answers (especially to difficult questions that you've pondered over for ages).......in some ways, doesn't this defeat the purpose of "exam conditions" etc.?

On that note, where else can I get past papers? I've downloaded all the ones on this site. Is there anywhere else where I can get them?

And so I guess even most 4U students can't get 12/12 for Q7
I'm guessing somwhere around 80% is good for 3U - for the HSC exam?

In my half-yearly 3U exam (a week ago), I provided some working for the last question - now I realise that my response was probably wrong and kind of "trivial". Can I expect to get part marks?? Do you have to be "on the right track" as such to get part marks or does it just have to be an "attempt"?

 

[Estel]

I don't know, but I got the last question wrong and got full marks awarded for it in my last exam, although it was only a transcription problem.

My teacher says marks are not lost, they are allocated, so maybe if you hit their criteria sheet you'll get some marks....

And seconding pcx... we need more past papers....

 

[speersy]

i was wondering say in Q)7 you get the first part wrong but use all the right formulas and working out ( but the values obtained from part i) for the next parts and come up with the wrong answer only because of thes silly mistake in part i, how many marks could the examiners give you?


I think what i am getting at is if you know u got the first part wrong should you keep going on with the question?

 

[Estel]

You can get full marks in part ii provided your answer from part i doesn't trivialise the question. (Well that's what I've been told).

The catch is of course that you need the working.

 

[Affinity]

Originally posted by pcx_demolition017

I'm going to start doing past papers these holidays.....I think I'll do other school trial papers first. But the only problem with doing them again and again is that you already know the answers (especially to difficult questions that you've pondered over for ages).......in some ways, doesn't this defeat the purpose of "exam conditions" etc.?

Don't recycle questions, if you are looking for questions, try to generalise the results of some questions - for example if a question ask you about some arrangement involving 8 Bears and 10 Grasshoppers, try to solve it for B bears and G grasshoppers.

I strongly recommend visiting this forum and the 4U forum daily and do every question that's posted.

-planning for the DIFFICULT questions
You should think in terms of:
'Can I find what x is?' instead of 'What is the value of x?'
'Can this expression be simplified?' instead of 'what does it simplify to?'
'What would this approximately be?' instead of 'What is it?'
'What intermediate results could be used to link what I have to what I want to show?'


Look for some patterns.

 

[kpq_sniper017]

lol......damn.......i lost half a mark for a transcription error
that's the only freaking part of a mark i lost in 2U last year in the prelims - it was a - instead of a +