ATAR Notes: Forum

HSC Stuff => HSC Subjects + Help => HSC Maths Stuff => Topic started by: Kombmail on July 18, 2019, 09:55:21 pm

Title: Can someone please give me motivation for maths?
Post by: Kombmail on July 18, 2019, 09:55:21 pm
Guys I am at the moment of where my teachers and tutor have gaven up on me in terms of marks. I try my best but I really don’t understand what I’m doing wrong. I do what they tell me to do and practise everyday for 2 hours. It still doesn’t work. Could it also be that I’m just scared of the catholic papers?
Title: Re: Can someone please give me motivation for maths?
Post by: r1ckworthy on July 18, 2019, 10:14:56 pm
Well, I guess it could be just that you might be freaking out/ panicking when you see a question, but in a deeper sense you know what you are doing. The way to get better at maths is to just do a question, check to see if you got it wrong and understand why you got something wrong, then repeating the whole process. I think one problem you might be having is not having a conceptual understanding of the course. In order to fix this, you should do a pile of questions (or review the stuff you've done) and then see which topics have the most recurring mistakes. Then go through it with your tutor and attack some more questions.

Your teacher and tutor probably hasn't given up on you ;D, you just need to take a deep breath and tackle questions step by step. What I used to do is panic once I see a question and don't do it at all, thinking I couldn't do it. Now, while it hasn't completely fixed, I take a look at the problem, take a deep breath, break the question down and think about how to start. You just need to logically think, "Okay, so what rules do I currently know that can help me with this question?" or "What does the question tell me that I can use to make a start?", that kind of stuff. You need to be active in your thinking, and just think about what the answer could be.

The way to get quicker at recognising the solution to a question is by just doing loads of practice. Here's my suggestion: do a paper fully timed, and then mark it, noting down particular questions where you lost a lot of marks. Write at the top of the new page "Maths Paper solutions" (or something like that) and just write out all the questions you got wrong and the working out. Copy out the solution from the marking guideline onto the page and then go through it step by step. If you have understood it, great! If not, then give it a bit more time and if you still don't understand it, then discuss it with your tutor. You should also go through that document one more time during the week, so that you can remind yourself of your mistakes and understand where you got something wrong. By doing this, you will remind yourself of doing this once seeing a similar question on the exam, so it's a win-win situation.

Catholic papers are HARD. Practice as much as you can, and get your tutor to explain all the Q15's and Q16's, because it is all pretty difficult. The trick lies with understanding why you got a question wrong and reviewing it multiple times during the week. I suggest making a document with all your mistakes and your explanation for why you got it wrong, so that you can review it just before your exam.

What's your current strategy now? Do you just do the questions, check the answers and then leave it? I used to do that, and I would have gotten way higher if I didn't. Hope that helps!
Title: Re: Can someone please give me motivation for maths?
Post by: redpanda83 on July 18, 2019, 10:26:04 pm
Guys I am at the moment of where my teachers and tutor have gaven up on me in terms of marks. I try my best but I really don’t understand what I’m doing wrong. I do what they tell me to do and practise everyday for 2 hours. It still doesn’t work. Could it also be that I’m just scared of the catholic papers?
Boi, its ok. Marks arent everything, its how you would find a subject engaging. If you current methods arent working, try to mix it with things you like (idk a way to mix it with kpop though, maybe you want to look into rubens tube).
So just try to change your ways slightly, and see if its working for you, if not try something else.
Like i like to draw, so to actually understand a problem i will draw it. I do it for everything (including english and all science subjects)
Once you start to see your subject from a different angle, you will start to understand it more.  :)
Hope it helps!
Title: Re: Can someone please give me motivation for maths?
Post by: readiii on July 18, 2019, 11:31:30 pm
Well, I guess it could be just that you might be freaking out/ panicking when you see a question, but in a deeper sense you know what you are doing. The way to get better at maths is to just do a question, check to see if you got it wrong and understand why you got something wrong, then repeating the whole process. I think one problem you might be having is not having a conceptual understanding of the course. In order to fix this, you should do a pile of questions (or review the stuff you've done) and then see which topics have the most recurring mistakes. Then go through it with your tutor and attack some more questions.

Your teacher and tutor probably hasn't given up on you ;D, you just need to take a deep breath and tackle questions step by step. What I used to do is panic once I see a question and don't do it at all, thinking I couldn't do it. Now, while it hasn't completely fixed, I take a look at the problem, take a deep breath, break the question down and think about how to start. You just need to logically think, "Okay, so what rules do I currently know that can help me with this question?" or "What does the question tell me that I can use to make a start?", that kind of stuff. You need to be active in your thinking, and just think about what the answer could be.

The way to get quicker at recognising the solution to a question is by just doing loads of practice. Here's my suggestion: do a paper fully timed, and then mark it, noting down particular questions where you lost a lot of marks. Write at the top of the new page "Maths Paper solutions" (or something like that) and just write out all the questions you got wrong and the working out. Copy out the solution from the marking guideline onto the page and then go through it step by step. If you have understood it, great! If not, then give it a bit more time and if you still don't understand it, then discuss it with your tutor. You should also go through that document one more time during the week, so that you can remind yourself of your mistakes and understand where you got something wrong. By doing this, you will remind yourself of doing this once seeing a similar question on the exam, so it's a win-win situation.

Catholic papers are HARD. Practice as much as you can, and get your tutor to explain all the Q15's and Q16's, because it is all pretty difficult. The trick lies with understanding why you got a question wrong and reviewing it multiple times during the week. I suggest making a document with all your mistakes and your explanation for why you got it wrong, so that you can review it just before your exam.

What's your current strategy now? Do you just do the questions, check the answers and then leave it? I used to do that, and I would have gotten way higher if I didn't. Hope that helps!
I echo this advice, well written lad :)

Getting low marks don't give the best feelings, but it's a great opportunity to see where you've gotten wrong, and improve on that for next time. Make sure you absolutely abuse your teacher with maths questions, they haven't given up on you at all and are there to facilitate you.
Title: Re: Can someone please give me motivation for maths?
Post by: Kombmail on July 19, 2019, 05:43:17 pm
Well, I guess it could be just that you might be freaking out/ panicking when you see a question, but in a deeper sense you know what you are doing. The way to get better at maths is to just do a question, check to see if you got it wrong and understand why you got something wrong, then repeating the whole process. I think one problem you might be having is not having a conceptual understanding of the course. In order to fix this, you should do a pile of questions (or review the stuff you've done) and then see which topics have the most recurring mistakes. Then go through it with your tutor and attack some more questions.

Thanks man! And good luck!

Your teacher and tutor probably hasn't given up on you ;D, you just need to take a deep breath and tackle questions step by step. What I used to do is panic once I see a question and don't do it at all, thinking I couldn't do it. Now, while it hasn't completely fixed, I take a look at the problem, take a deep breath, break the question down and think about how to start. You just need to logically think, "Okay, so what rules do I currently know that can help me with this question?" or "What does the question tell me that I can use to make a start?", that kind of stuff. You need to be active in your thinking, and just think about what the answer could be.

The way to get quicker at recognising the solution to a question is by just doing loads of practice. Here's my suggestion: do a paper fully timed, and then mark it, noting down particular questions where you lost a lot of marks. Write at the top of the new page "Maths Paper solutions" (or something like that) and just write out all the questions you got wrong and the working out. Copy out the solution from the marking guideline onto the page and then go through it step by step. If you have understood it, great! If not, then give it a bit more time and if you still don't understand it, then discuss it with your tutor. You should also go through that document one more time during the week, so that you can remind yourself of your mistakes and understand where you got something wrong. By doing this, you will remind yourself of doing this once seeing a similar question on the exam, so it's a win-win situation.

Catholic papers are HARD. Practice as much as you can, and get your tutor to explain all the Q15's and Q16's, because it is all pretty difficult. The trick lies with understanding why you got a question wrong and reviewing it multiple times during the week. I suggest making a document with all your mistakes and your explanation for why you got it wrong, so that you can review it just before your exam.

What's your current strategy now? Do you just do the questions, check the answers and then leave it? I used to do that, and I would have gotten way higher if I didn't. Hope that helps!


Boi, its ok. Marks arent everything, its how you would find a subject engaging. If you current methods arent working, try to mix it with things you like (idk a way to mix it with kpop though, maybe you want to look into rubens tube).
So just try to change your ways slightly, and see if its working for you, if not try something else.
Like i like to draw, so to actually understand a problem i will draw it. I do it for everything (including english and all science subjects)
Once you start to see your subject from a different angle, you will start to understand it more.  :)
Hope it helps!
Thanks!


I echo this advice, well written lad :)

Getting low marks don't give the best feelings, but it's a great opportunity to see where you've gotten wrong, and improve on that for next time. Make sure you absolutely abuse your teacher with maths questions, they haven't given up on you at all and are there to facilitate you.
Thanks!


Mod edit: Merged triple post. You can quote multiple people in the one reply.