Methods exam 2020

[99.95_goal]

Hey guys, hope English went well - here's another poll to check how everyone's going with methods

[james.358]

I've clocked more than 60 exams now but still getting brought down by careless errors😭. Can't believe the exam is literally less than a week away now.

Speaking of which, I probably should stop procrastinating and resume my exam grind 

Good luck to everyone else doing Methods this year!

[99.95_goal]

I've clocked more than 60 exams now but still getting brought down by careless errors😭. Can't believe the exam is literally less than a week away now.

Speaking of which, I probably should stop procrastinating and resume my exam grind 

Good luck to everyone else doing Methods this year!

You've got this keep the faith!

[Genshai]

good luck to everyone!

[The Cat In The Hat]

Any tips for picking up marks by 30-40% before the exam, for both e1 and e2??
Currently getting <50% for e1, and ~55% for e2 - I want to pick these both up to 80+% before the exam. Any tips?
Please?

[colline]

Any tips for picking up marks by 30-40% before the exam, for both e1 and e2??
Currently getting <50% for e1, and ~55% for e2 - I want to pick these both up to 80+% before the exam. Any tips?
Please?

Honestly with only days to go, it'll be difficult to make any incredibly drastic improvement. You could potentially focus on the areas you're more confident in to ensure you can get 100% on those questions. You could also look at your weakest areas but if you've been struggling with them all year, it's unlikely you'll suddenly understand the concept now.

If you really are averaging 50s, I'd recommend completely ignoring the separator questions at the end of the exams - they're only worth like 2 marks and a lot of students waste too much time trying to do them. Instead use that time on the easier questions or checking your answers.

You get 1.5 minutes per mark on the exam so make sure to manage your time wisely.

[The Cat In The Hat]

My brother was saying we're not allowed to use pencil in the exam - I understood that you could in Methods?!
Someone tell me the rules please?
We haven't heard anything about that from our teacher...!

[eloisegrace]

My brother was saying we're not allowed to use pencil in the exam - I understood that you could in Methods?!
Someone tell me the rules please?
We haven't heard anything about that from our teacher...!

That's what I have been told by my teacher (who is an assessor). It is because they scan the exams and pencil often cant be seen.

[The Cat In The Hat]

That's what I have been told by my teacher (who is an assessor). It is because they scan the exams and pencil often cant be seen.

What about for graphs? My brother was also saying they won't mark it if it's in pencil.  I don't want to make that mistake!

[whys]

What about for graphs? My brother was also saying they won't mark it if it's in pencil.  I don't want to make that mistake!

Don’t panic! Graphs should definitely be in pencil so you can change it up if you make a mistake. Last year they specified on the exam cover sheet to use pen, but it’s missing this year. I’d still use pen for insurance, but not for graphs.

[Orb]

My brother was saying we're not allowed to use pencil in the exam - I understood that you could in Methods?!
Someone tell me the rules please?
We haven't heard anything about that from our teacher...!

That's what I have been told by my teacher (who is an assessor). It is because they scan the exams and pencil often cant be seen.

Both of these are definitely not quite right. It is true that pencil sometimes can not be seen but that's why you should always use 2B (or 4B, 6B, etc) pencils and not HB or lighter than HB.

2B is 100% fine and i'd personally recommend it. Always use pencil if possible for your exam because you will make mistakes in Maths.

[S_R_K]

The advice I've received from the assessors is that the main reason pencil is a problem is because if you rub work out and then write over it, both the erased work AND the replacement work can show up on the scanned image, and it is harder to mark.

The official line from VCAA is that, if this happens, the original paper is obtained so that it can be marked fairly.

Overall, I agree that dark pencil (ie. 2B) is best.

[The Cat In The Hat]

Both of these are definitely not quite right. It is true that pencil sometimes can not be seen but that's why you should always use 2B (or 4B, 6B, etc) pencils and not HB or lighter than HB.

2B is 100% fine and i'd personally recommend it. Always use pencil if possible for your exam because you will make mistakes in Maths.

The advice I've received from the assessors is that the main reason pencil is a problem is because if you rub work out and then write over it, both the erased work AND the replacement work can show up on the scanned image, and it is harder to mark.

The official line from VCAA is that, if this happens, the original paper is obtained so that it can be marked fairly.

Overall, I agree that dark pencil (ie. 2B) is best.

What about a mechanical pencil, are they allowed?

[darkz]

What about a mechanical pencil, are they allowed?

Yes, mechanical pencils are fine. Personally, I used a mechanical pencil for all my maths exams and it turned out fine, so definitely don't need to worry about using pencil vs pen.