ATAR Notes: Forum
VCE Stuff => VCE Mathematics => VCE Mathematics/Science/Technology => VCE Subjects + Help => VCE Specialist Mathematics => Topic started by: rowshan on August 22, 2008, 10:22:36 pm
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fuck these are incredibly hard, the wording especially the words. I just don't know what half of they mean. Is there any special approach to these questions?
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I'm with you, I can't seem to grasp the concept at all, no matter how many past exams I seem to go through in a week, or how many questions in the Checkpoints books I complete in an hour. What does it take to understand analysis questions in maths? :'(
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Hoping that I haven't interpreted this the wrong way:
Try making a list of every single piece of information you can find in the question. You will draw out some irrelevant stuff but hopefully out of the pieces you find, you'll see what you need to do.
Eg write down what you have, what you want, see if you can get from start -> end with what you have, if you can't go back and see if you missed something you need.
Thats how I did it anyway when I couldn't visualise it.
Also situations will repeat themselves, eg rates of change and those containers where you add stuff and mix it.
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Yeah thanks thats a good idea Caramel. Any other tips? Can practice remedy this problem? So far i think i have done the exam busters and Checkpoints for speco. What else is there?
And i make dumb mistakes...a shit load. What can i do about that?
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Practise can help but looking at what specifically you find hard could also benefit. Eg I found vector problems easy and things with lots of algebra not so easy so I knew what to work on more.
For stupid mistakes:
- In test/SAC situations, how much do they come up there? Generally you'll be more switched on then than when doing private study :P
- Double check your working at the end
- Check to see if your answer is reasonable right after you have done it
- Don't do too much working in your head when getting the right answer matters (eg exam situation)
I make them all the time still. In methods exam 1 I wrote d/dx (6x^3 + 18x) = 12x^2 + 18, and I can't remember what I did in spec exam 1 but it was something to do with squaring something wrong. Only 2 weeks ago I concluded if a right angled triangle has short sides of 4cm and 6cm, the long side (hypotenuse?) will be 8cm (somehow I got full marks on those questions still...)
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Yeah, i dunnoe its weird some times i do exceptionally well in SACs other times i screw it up. My last two sacs: for methods i got a 29/30 (which was easy), but for the specialist sac i got a 23/30 when i reviewed my mistakes i could see how easily i could have gained full marks. Argh...this sucks.
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I always do bad on SAC's :(. I think the highest mark I have ever recieved in Spesh was a 28/40. Around 70%. After that, you don't want to know... Hopefully I can learn something from all of the great members at VN before the exams! :)
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Best advice to give you from what you have said is to not be intimidated. Long questions look hard, but break it down. Don't look at it and go, now ok, what do I do to get to the end. Look at it and think, ok, what is the first thing I need to do, and go from there.
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Explain a little bit more? lol.
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I can't really lol, basically don't try to tackle the whole thing at once, go at it step by step.
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This is where reading time really comes into consideration. Read through the question thoroughly, note down every detail which is provided and ensure you've used every detail (well...usually you'll need to, but don't freak out if you're confident you've used everything you actually need), envision which formulas you may need and even browse through the formula sheet for some inspiration. e.g. Eliminating +1 and -1's with cos2x=2cos^2x-1 and cos2x=1-2sin^2x respectively. Lastly, well...practice+experience. Duh.
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Also, if you get stuck near the start:
CONSEQUENTIAL MARKS ARE YOUR FRIEND. Make up an answer to part a if you really have no bloody clue and keep going.