Is it possible to improve at maths?

[Trullzi]

So, im not the strongest at maths, i took it up along with Units 1-2 Biology, which im absolutely enjoying! But, maths is another story, i cant grip the concepts and in turn get horrific marks.

Is there any way i can improve this is if i put my mind to it and studied for unit 3-4?
Are you guys able to give any advice on improving? If you've been in the same place as me etc...

Thanks

[Orb]

Yes, definitely.

Moderate success (35-40) can be achieved just by cranking out large volumes of exam-style questions and having a moderate understanding of the course.

To break the 40+ range you would start looking to understand the actual concepts in the course (and the variety of ways in which you can apply your knowledge to the various questions which may pop up).

I would say,

1. Start with basic textbook questions and then progress to exam-styled/SAC-styled questions
2. Record your mistakes in a log-book (especially careless) and try to go through it at frequent intervals.
3. Try your best not to ROTE learn maths (it takes a lot more effort and generally doesn't pay high dividends down the line).

All the best!

[Aaron]

My opinion is going to be different from a lot of others on here - because I see first hand the struggles students have in methods (as i'm a preservice teacher), and let me tell you, you definitely are not alone.

Do you need maths methods for anything in particular? If you're struggling with understanding and don't need it for anything (e.g. a uni course), then I would consider dropping to Further. If i'm being completely honest, if you don't need it and are struggling.. don't put yourself through another year of it.

However - what i've said above is a last resort. Have you sought an explanation from anyone other than your teacher or a textbook? If not, that might be a good place to start. Pick a concept that you had trouble understanding and try to get someone else to explain it to you and see if you get that. It might just be an explanation barrier that's preventing you from understanding. Every person who teaches is different, and every textbook is different because all a textbook is, is an interpretation of the content.

You can definitely improve - but this improvement will take time and effort (you have to be fully committed). Just my thoughts, best of luck with whatever you decide

[Sine]

yep absolutely

Most of VCE maths (methods and spec is what i'm familiar with) the questions will be standard techniques where you would have seen this a similar type of question and you use an approach you have done before. The most difficult part of this is identifying when each technique is suitable. The other few questions are separator q's where the majority has not seen something similar to this before and on the day you might get or you might not.

Probably the most important thing to do with a subject that isn't your best is to have a sustained effort over the whole year rather than spurts of work days before sacs and exams. Also go slowly enough for you to ensure that you truly and fully understand the content. I have seen too many peers merely work through the textbook chapters in order to finish homework at the teachers request at a fast pace at the expense of learning what they are doing. It might feel like you know the stuff when you are getting textbook q's correct but it's neatly sectioned of into chapters and exercises in the exam their aren't any headers or titles to give you direction, this is why you must understand the processes you are applying.

If you aren't fairing too well (doing 3/4 next year?) go over the 1/2 concepts for methods as the majority of it is very much applicable to 3/4 and unlike many other 3/4 subjects you need to know the 1/2 content to learn the 3/4 content well. Sometimes even questions 1/2 students can do may crop up on the end of year exams.

[Trullzi]

Thats very reassuring to hear,

As i do need maths methods for my uni course, ill take onboard what you guys told me!
How do you guys recommend i balance out my maths? As im going into year 11 next year, i start my other VCE Subjects, how much should i focus on improving maths?

[exit]

Thats very reassuring to hear,

As i do need maths methods for my uni course, ill take onboard what you guys told me!
How do you guys recommend i balance out my maths? As im going into year 11 next year, i start my other VCE Subjects, how much should i focus on improving maths?

For Methods, it is essential to start slowly churning through practice exams. Through exposure, you will be able to determine what method to use without thinking and how to show it on the paper. By exam time, a lot of concepts you apply should be second nature. Being good at Maths certainly helps in the pace of understanding concepts but in the end regardless if you practice, how meticulous and accurate you are is going to be the determiner. This is achieved through practice. One way to speed up the learning of concepts is to understand how they work and why they work as you do practice questions. Another way is to buy study guides to gain alternative perspectives from knowledgeable people. Also look at the hard questions of every past VCAA paper and understand how they work.

[spectroscopy]

as someone who was ranked at rock bottom in methods but have been doing pretty well in math(stats) subjects at uni i can say yes you can improve at math but i think the biggest thing is setting up the foundations from earlier years.
i mucked around in year 10 when we learnt about quadratics and calculus and shit and never went back to learn it and it has come back to bite me in the ass all the way through to 2nd year uni LOL and every time i did try to re learn it (shout out to my math tutor in year 12) i would forget the process again. it wasnt until uni hit when we started learning new topics from scratch (statistics rather than calculus/algebra although there is some crossover) when i began to really try to understand things conceptually from day 1, and once that happened it became way way easier to do questions as they progressed in difficulty (until quadratics or calculus or something got involved LOL)  so yea you can improve but instead of just cranking out things and rote learning i would try to go back and make sure that you really know and understand the basics of everything so that it wont throw a spanner in the works in the future
theres nothing worse than knowing everything about a topic but you don't know how to transform an equation to get into into the right format you need to work with. haha
or if youre just looking at figuring out how to get a 25 in methods my best advice besides "study hard" is to get really good at using your cas because it can save you some crucial marks along the way

but yeah my advice is to go back to basics and make sure you understand everything then move forward

[TheCommando]

My opinion is going to be different from a lot of others on here - because I see first hand the struggles students have in methods (as i'm a preservice teacher), and let me tell you, you definitely are not alone.

Do you need maths methods for anything in particular? If you're struggling with understanding and don't need it for anything (e.g. a uni course), then I would consider dropping to Further. If i'm being completely honest, if you don't need it and are struggling.. don't put yourself through another year of it.

However - what i've said above is a last resort. Have you sought an explanation from anyone other than your teacher or a textbook? If not, that might be a good place to start. Pick a concept that you had trouble understanding and try to get someone else to explain it to you and see if you get that. It might just be an explanation barrier that's preventing you from understanding. Every person who teaches is different, and every textbook is different because all a textbook is, is an interpretation of the content.

You can definitely improve - but this improvement will take time and effort (you have to be fully committed). Just my thoughts, best of luck with whatever you decide

What are some methods u suggest for soughting an explanation from alternative soughts?
 Just thought it may be lecture books, tutor or online videos such as from the engage education website, but what do u suggest

[Cranium002]

1. Get a tutor if you are failing.
2. Understand concepts.
3. Practice other test or exams
4. Finish all set work
5. Focus