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Author Topic: How to Get a Band 6 in HSC Mathematics  (Read 52792 times)  Share 

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jamonwindeyer

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How to Get a Band 6 in HSC Mathematics
« on: June 19, 2015, 02:12:16 pm »
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It’s exam day. Two years of hard work and dedication have lead to this moment. Your study notes are crumbled in your pocket… Wait a minute, you didn’t write any. Okay all good, at least you studied… Right?

This is the reality for, you can realistically guess, not an insignificant number of HSC students every October. And you can’t blame them. Two years of consistent work is really difficult, especially for 17-18 year olds. But there are a lot of things that can make it easier, even in this final stretch.

I’ve had a few people come up to me after hearing about my 99.80 ATAR and a score of 96 in both 2 Unit and Extension 1, and call me superhuman. Unnaturally intelligent. Lots of people assumed I woke up at 5am, studied until 12pm, then slept while listening to Band 6 English Essays. Completely untrue. While I consider myself an intelligent person and a hard worker, I don’t think I did anything that anyone else couldn’t do, given the right drive and motivation.

Mathematics was one of my most loved subjects. It made sense. None of this wondering how my creative writing would be interpreted by a marker rubbish. There is a right answer. If you memorise the methods, you can always get that answer. Here are a few of the pieces of advice I give to friends, students I teach, or even just the curious, on how to memorise the methods to the madness and apply it successfully in the HSC.

1. Study Notes

This is probably more for the Year 11’s. One of the biggest questions I get asked, study notes or no? I have a very strong opinion on this one; I say no and this is why.

For content intensive subjects, study notes are a beautiful thing. They summarise key ideas and help memorise facts and figures. Mathematics is not one of those subjects. It is a skill based subject, and as such, time spent towards it should be spent honing your skills! I personally did not keep Mathematics study notes, instead I created formula sheets. Closer to Trials and HSC I turned them into posters and stuck them anywhere blu tac would stick. Trust me, if you have Simpson’s Rule staring at you in the face while getting dressed in the morning, it will stick. Formula sheets like this will jog your memory of old topics quickly, and of course, it is essential you know your formulae, at one count, there were over 120 of them for Extension 1 students.

2. Studying Throughout The Year

Studying throughout the year is much more effective than any lump sessions at the end. It is more effective at creating neural pathways and muscle memories, and is guaranteed to make your July-October much easier the year of your HSC. Aim to do all the questions set by your teacher every week, plus a few extra if you are having trouble with a subject. Do practice exams in the lead up to class tests. Keep it all fresh by continuing to USE the skill.

3. Trials

My biggest piece of advice, do NOT stress about your mark for HSC Trials if it isn’t what you expect. And this goes for any test, really.

My half yearly exam for Extension 1 in Year 12 was a doozy. I remember coming out and feeling the absolute worst I ever had after an exam. My result reflected this, but rather than angering/stressing me, it woke me up. Sometimes, a bad result is the kick you need to shift into high gear, and ride the momentum through HSC. And yes, I believe momentum is a thing. And this is what the benefit of Trials is. If you do well, awesome, ride the momentum, build on that confidence and you’ll be in an awesome spot for HSC. If not, it doesn’t matter, because you have a whole 2 months to build that momentum back again! Trials are your measuring stick, don’t be stressed by them, learn from them.


4. Studying for HSC

Right, let’s get to the good stuff. How do you study for HSC? There is a single way I recommend. Practice. Practice. Practice.

My personal study plan for Mathematics and Extension 1 was to do as many past papers as possible. I bought myself one of the Success One Exam Booklets (they are absolutely fantastic, but every exam is online as well) and started doing a paper every morning. Under exam conditions, timed, the whole shebang. At first it killed me, but you get into a routine, and by the HSC, I had completed every past HSC paper for both 2 unit and extension.

This is like, over 50 papers, and something tremendously difficult to do, and I was blessed with a timetable which allowed me plenty of time to do this. Not everyone is so lucky, but there is a way to cover all the past papers in a very short amount of time:

5. Two Techniques for Efficient, Awesome Studiousness!

The first technique is designed for speed, to expose yourself to as much practice as possible while preventing wasted time. The method is simple. Set yourself up with a past paper, exam conditions, no timer. You are going to flip through the book, but not do the questions. That’s right. Give yourself 15 seconds maximum to look at each question, don’t spend more than 10 minutes reading the whole thing. As you look at a question, think to yourself, do I know how to do that? Have I seen something similar? Do I know the formulae? Be honest with yourself. If the answer is yes, move on. If not, mark it. Then you complete only the marked questions.

This technique relies on being your own harshest critic, and is suited for people wanting to challenge themselves as much as possible. It’s also awesome practice for reading time.

The second technique is better suited to someone struggling with the content. Set yourself a set of past papers. It could be 10, 20, all of them, pick however many you think you’ll get done. Do them under exam conditions, one by one, on a set schedule. Mark them as you go, and jot down the question numbers you get wrong. After they are all done, look at the questions you mixed up. Is there a theme? Revise the areas of issue and now attempt only the marked questions. Is there an improvement?

This technique is awesome for practicing exam technique, and identifying where you need to do extra revision.

These may seem really simple and obvious to many, but it is surprising how many people simply do not know how to study for skill based subjects effectively! Practice makes perfect.

6. The Morning Of: To Read or Not To Read?

There are a variety of very different opinions on studying directly before an exam. It’s majorly a matter of preference, however, I wanted to share an experience I had at uni. I had my first big math exam, and I decided to read over my formula sheets. I noticed a weird little derivation in the bottom of one section. This same derivation proved a major part of a question which would have easily been worth almost 7-8 of my marks. Had I not peeked, they would have been out the window.

Put bluntly, I say read. Don’t practice questions, you’ll work yourself up and tire yourself out. But reading formula sheets is a great way to occupy your mind, boost your confidence, etc. Maths is one of the few subjects for which this works. Then of course there is the other stock standard advice, which I highly support as well. Eat a good breakfast (I had bacon). For the sake of your ATAR, go to the bathroom, you do not want to waste a second during the exam. Also, figure out the best way to relieve stress! I find it best to move around a lot, so I walked 20 minutes to my exams to burn off the excess adrenalin. Others prefer mediation. Find what works best to have you feeling confident. And finally, my biggest piece of advice, and one which normally raises an eyebrow or two… Strut into the room.

I’m not kidding. Walk in there like you have just gotten back from landing on Mars and finding a cure for cancer. You are the most important person in the world. Channel your inner Kardashian, all that stuff. The truth is, the confidence in your body language will translate to your brain, and produce all sorts of awesome hormones and stuff like that. It loosens you up, sort of like why boxers do their moves before a big fight. To stretch of course, but the showboating serves a mental role you’ll be surprised at. Seriously, try it.

7. Exam Tips

I could give countless tips as to how to succeed in a HSC Mathematics Exam. But here are my favourites:

  • Relax. It’s just an exam like every other one you’ve sat.
  • Get in the habit of reading the questions twice, even three times. 2 Unit Exams especially are actually designed to be done in 2.5 hours (by the Band 6 students), so you have time to carefully consider what you are reading.
  • For graphing questions, make sure the graph is big enough for the examiner to read!
  • Request extra booklets as soon as there is even the slightest possibility of needing them. You do not want to have to be sitting waiting for paper when the solution is on the tip of your pen.
  • Handwriting in exams can be messy, pay special attention to things like z looking 2, i looking like 1, x looking like that multiplication symbol, etc. Don’t hold yourself up on this, but try to make it as easy for the marker as possible
  • Speaking of the marker, it very well could be someone up at 10:30pm with screaming children in the background. They will not do any work for you. Make your work logical, clearly set out. It is almost always infinitely better to attempt all but one question and do it properly, than to rush through the questions to finish.
  • Don’t skip steps. Yes, I know, you are Mr Confident, I am too, but swallow your pride just this once. Please?
  • You are allowed to request an extra exam book to scribble stuff in, if you need it.
  • When looking at questions in groups, remember that the first part is used in the second part 99.9999% of the time.
  • Use your reading time effectively! There is a technique to reading time. Your brain, aware of it or not, thinks about questions you have looked at. Making connections, remembering formulas. Your aim is to see the entire paper, so you can identify hard stuff and let your mind stew on it while you tackle the easy stuff. This leads to my next suggestion:
  • Do the multiple choice first! This goes back to that momentum thing I was talking about. If you attempt the hard stuff first, and get discouraged, you won’t do your best. MC’s are designed to be easy, and I do them first to give me some energy and get “into” the paper. If you are extremely worried about time, sure, leave them till the end. But otherwise, they are an awesome warmup for things to come. They jog your memory and wake you up.
  • Check all your answers with my simple checklist, the SURD Checklist! Of course you should read through your working if you can, but this technique will at least let you make sure your answer has a few of the easy things. It will prevent the sillier mistakes
Simplest Form?
Units?
Rational Denominator?

Does It Make Sense?


And finally, I want to talk about mark maximisation. There is a MASSIVE difference between maximising correct answers, and maximising marks. Case in point, I have sat down with 2014's HSC Paper: If you just wrote the answer for every question, with no working, even with every answer correct, you would fail. Also, if you gave perfect working, but an incorrect answer, YOU WOULD PASS! . There are lots of things to do to maximise your marks. Show working for every question. In my Trials, I got a tricky induction question in my Ext 1 Exam that I just couldn't crack. I got marks for just writing out the steps and doing some rearranging! I did practically nothing of relevance, but still got half the marks! Golden!

The point being, there will almost definitely be questions you can't do as well as you would hope. This is okay. Practice giving the best solution you can, and in the process, you might just get the answer anyway.

Be sure to register for an account and ask any questions you have below. I'd love to share any extra tips or strategies that I can, or answer anything you have to ask. I would also highly recommend checking out the notes and guides available on this site. I used to love the guides posted on the web, as well as notes, and the notes on this site are the best and most comprehensive I have ever seen. HSC is a collaborative thing!
« Last Edit: June 26, 2015, 03:48:23 pm by jamonwindeyer »

hsceebz

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Re: How to Get a Band 6 in HSC Mathematics
« Reply #1 on: June 19, 2015, 03:17:41 pm »
+1
Pls give me your brain lol

lozil

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Re: How to Get a Band 6 in HSC Mathematics
« Reply #2 on: September 19, 2016, 09:50:55 pm »
+1
I didn't do that well in trials so I decided I'd do one paper every day till HSC, but there's literally so much to do for all the other subjects as well that I have no time for maths  :-[

jamonwindeyer

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Re: How to Get a Band 6 in HSC Mathematics
« Reply #3 on: September 19, 2016, 10:58:28 pm »
+1
I didn't do that well in trials so I decided I'd do one paper every day till HSC, but there's literally so much to do for all the other subjects as well that I have no time for maths  :-[

Try to keep a balance for all your subjects! You must work on all of them, and even do more for ones that need a boost. Could you squeeze in half a paper every morning maybe? Like, Questions 1-13 on one day, 14-17 on the next? ;D

HughMungus

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Re: How to Get a Band 6 in HSC Mathematics
« Reply #4 on: September 20, 2016, 03:39:25 am »
+1
I wish I did HSC... I attempted the papers and they were much better than their VCE counterparts :P
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conic curve

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Re: How to Get a Band 6 in HSC Mathematics
« Reply #5 on: September 20, 2016, 08:26:33 am »
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I wish I did HSC... I attempted the papers and they were much better than their VCE counterparts :P

I don't think you'd like HSC science though. There's a lot of "history of science" and "environmental/societal impacts"

lozil

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Re: How to Get a Band 6 in HSC Mathematics
« Reply #6 on: September 20, 2016, 10:55:30 pm »
+1
Try to keep a balance for all your subjects! You must work on all of them, and even do more for ones that need a boost. Could you squeeze in half a paper every morning maybe? Like, Questions 1-13 on one day, 14-17 on the next? ;D

Yeah I suppose that would work!

fizzy.123

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Re: How to Get a Band 6 in HSC Mathematics
« Reply #7 on: September 21, 2016, 08:33:15 pm »
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there is a month left to go before the 2u HSC exam and i was wondering, how many papers should we get done before the exam? I feel as if completing a 3 hour paper everyday takes really long! Please Help!

RuiAce

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Re: How to Get a Band 6 in HSC Mathematics
« Reply #8 on: September 21, 2016, 08:36:04 pm »
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there is a month left to go before the 2u HSC exam and i was wondering, how many papers should we get done before the exam? I feel as if completing a 3 hour paper everyday takes really long! Please Help!
As many as you can. Because there's never enough; only you set your own constraints now. Because depending on how high you wanna aim, you may choose to do all the papers back to 2001.

3 hours does take ages. So try not to spend 3 whole hours on just a paper as well.

conic curve

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Re: How to Get a Band 6 in HSC Mathematics
« Reply #9 on: September 21, 2016, 08:58:42 pm »
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there is a month left to go before the 2u HSC exam and i was wondering, how many papers should we get done before the exam? I feel as if completing a 3 hour paper everyday takes really long! Please Help!

As said, as many as possible. Ensure that you are studying on your weaknesses rather than your strengths

If you feel that an exam paper takes really long, then cut the time down i.e. from 3 hrs to 1.5 hrs since that you'll be working under time pressure in the actual HSC exam

jamonwindeyer

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Re: How to Get a Band 6 in HSC Mathematics
« Reply #10 on: September 21, 2016, 09:08:58 pm »
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there is a month left to go before the 2u HSC exam and i was wondering, how many papers should we get done before the exam? I feel as if completing a 3 hour paper everyday takes really long! Please Help!

Will ditto with the above, as many as you can, but I will add that doing a past paper in less than 3 hours might not be where you are at right now. Like, if you can awesome, but changes are you won't get to that level until you've done a few (I managed to get down to about 1 hour 50 minutes by the time my exam rolled around) :)

I did 21 past papers for Mathematics (and another 21 for Extension, plus a few extras that I picked apart for additional practice); I did one of them every morning for a solid month. It was tough, but the routine helped a heap with making sure I got it done! I was probably a tad excessive though: You could try doing half a paper every morning maybe!

Ensure that you actively look for what topics you are losing marks in, and do extra study on those, in addition to the practice papers. Hell, JUST do the questions you struggle with from a paper, the benefit from that is almost equivocal and takes less time :)


lozil

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Re: How to Get a Band 6 in HSC Mathematics
« Reply #11 on: September 22, 2016, 09:22:26 pm »
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Will ditto with the above, as many as you can, but I will add that doing a past paper in less than 3 hours might not be where you are at right now. Like, if you can awesome, but changes are you won't get to that level until you've done a few (I managed to get down to about 1 hour 50 minutes by the time my exam rolled around) :)

I did 21 past papers for Mathematics (and another 21 for Extension, plus a few extras that I picked apart for additional practice); I did one of them every morning for a solid month. It was tough, but the routine helped a heap with making sure I got it done! I was probably a tad excessive though: You could try doing half a paper every morning maybe!

Ensure that you actively look for what topics you are losing marks in, and do extra study on those, in addition to the practice papers. Hell, JUST do the questions you struggle with from a paper, the benefit from that is almost equivocal and takes less time :)

Wooow that's dedicated! Well I'll try do as many as possible - I guess there's a lot more time in the day once stuvac starts (I graduate tmr)

RuiAce

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Re: How to Get a Band 6 in HSC Mathematics
« Reply #12 on: September 22, 2016, 09:41:35 pm »
+1
Wooow that's dedicated! Well I'll try do as many as possible - I guess there's a lot more time in the day once stuvac starts (I graduate tmr)
Tbh I wasn't gonna mention how I did like 15 for MX2 and probably 13 for accelerated 2U but then Jamon appeared...

fizzy.123

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Re: How to Get a Band 6 in HSC Mathematics
« Reply #13 on: September 22, 2016, 10:09:20 pm »
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Thank you all for your replies!

Would focusing on doing just trial papers from really top school as revision for the HSC maths exam give me a better advantage over others who just complete all the past HSC maths papers? Or is it the same? because I'm confused with what I want to do...

RuiAce

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Re: How to Get a Band 6 in HSC Mathematics
« Reply #14 on: September 22, 2016, 10:15:21 pm »
+1
Thank you all for your replies!

Would focusing on doing just trial papers from really top school as revision for the HSC maths exam give me a better advantage over others who just complete all the past HSC maths papers? Or is it the same? because I'm confused with what I want to do...
They don't necessarily reflect the type of questions you get examined in the HSC if you ask me.