Dedicate equal effort/time on methods and spesh?

[pi]

Slightly of topic, but did u guys invest equal amounts of effort and time on exam 1 and exam2? or was one favoured more than the other? cause i was thinking that since exam 2s contribute more to our SS, i might spend more of my time practising exam 2 styled questions.

Honestly, I did more Exam 1's (because they are shorter to finish and test *most* of the skills). And when doing Exam 2's, I rarely did the MCQs (maybe 3-4 times), but usually did the ER section (except drawing graphs - cbs)

[Jenny_2108]

Not to make you nervous or anything, but he did so much more work than you have so far and you'd still like a higher SS than him looking at your sig

(haha, jks, no pressure, sorry, dw you've got this!!!)

ITS NOT JKS! YOU ARE RIGHT! I got what you mean. Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Slightly of topic, but did u guys invest equal amounts of effort and time on exam 1 and exam2? or was one favoured more than the other? cause i was thinking that since exam 2s contribute more to our SS, i might spend more of my time practising exam 2 styled questions.

I will spend more time for exam 2 especially extended response questions.

[paulsterio]

OMG! Why are you so hard-working? :OOO
I havent touched Methods textbook since holiday started although I'm year 12 ==!

Well what you have to consider as well is that 50%-ish of the Year 12 Methods course is actually the Year 11 course - like say take differentiation - most of it is the same except they decide to add the chain, product and quotient rules...etc.

What I've considered is that it is actually possible to do around 40% (or even more in some cases) of a Year 12 Methods paper, just by using Year 11 knowledge alone - thus you can see why it would make sense to push and extend yourself when you are in Year 11.

Slightly of topic, but did u guys invest equal amounts of effort and time on exam 1 and exam2? or was one favoured more than the other? cause i was thinking that since exam 2s contribute more to our SS, i might spend more of my time practising exam 2 styled questions.

I spent an equal amount (well equal actually means I spent double the amount of time I spent on Exam 1 on Exam 2) - because I would always do practice exams as a set, so say I wanted to do VCAA 2010, I would do both the Exam 1 and Exam 2 before moving onto another set.

I will spend more time for exam 2 especially extended response questions.

This isn't the best tactic, although I know a lot more people struggle with Exam 2 than Exam 1 - it is not because they lack experience with extended response questions, it is because they haven't fully grasped the techniques which can be perfected by truly doing and understanding Exam 1.

Also, don't overlook the multiple choice - it's work quite a large proportion and it is easy to lose marks - I know that I lost a 50 in Methods because of an MC. (Partially)

[Jenny_2108]

Also, don't overlook the multiple choice - it's work quite a large proportion and it is easy to lose marks - I know that I lost a 50 in Methods because of an MC. (Partially)

An MC and SS changes from 49 to 50? :O OMGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!
Btw, its a bit off-topic but did you get full marks for every single SACs at school? How's your exam 1 and 2 scores?

[paulsterio]

An MC and SS changes from 49 to 50? :O OMGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!
Btw, its a bit off-topic but did you get full marks for every single SACs at school? How's your exam 1 and 2 scores?

I lost one mark in Methods - so my SAC marks were 99/100 - scaled to 100/100
Exam 1 - 40/40
Exam 2 - 78/80

I lost one mark on an MC and one mark on an extended response, but I know that had I got 79/80 for Exam 2 - I would have gotten a 50

[Jenny_2108]

I lost one mark in Methods - so my SAC marks were 99/100 - scaled to 100/100

How does VCAA decide to scale the SACs scores? Like how many marks do they scale up/down?
If they scale down or dont scale up for me, I think I'm gonna cry now     

[pi]

MGC has a strong cohort, they should go up. Having said that, MHS SACs in spesh didn't go up last year...

As I said in another thread today, don't bother trying to play a numbers game with VCAA/VTAC, just play a "do the best I can" game and you'll be fine No need to stress over things that you can't change.

[keyan]

My breakup of work is hard to judge seeing as i do spesh through distance education but i would say it's about an 75%-25% split, i really only ever do methods at home when i get  frustrated with spesh or have a sudden urge to complete a chapter or two

[fedfan]

Overall I'd say I put in more effort on spesh than methods; mainly because spesh is kind of an extension on methods, (except for probability) so by doing lots of spesh problems you're training yourself at the same time for methods, which often contains easier problems anyway. I'd say my ratios for spesh:methods were:
-at the beginning of the year: 90:10
-when probability was introduced (all new to me): 60:40
-term 3 holidays onwards: 50:50

Right before a methods sac though, I'd put in a big effort and do harder textbook q's, prac sacs etc so as to really get my mind in the methods 'zone'.

Everyone's different though, so what works for me or anybody else might not work for you. I'd experiment a little bit and see how much effort you are able to put in to get the grades you want.