What to do after completing the textbook?

[pink_oyster]

So a lot of my friends are attempting to finish the further course and I hear a lot of people are also planning to do this. I've considered doing it too but the only question is what to do after completing it? Would you just start doing practice exams immediately? How would you prepare for sacs if you've done the entire textbook already? And lastly, what would you do in class while everyone else is working from the book?

[15_ckht]

I would definitely recommend starting your bound reference once you finish your textbook. Leave some space, in case your teacher gives some tips during future classes.

During my head start, I opted to finish my textbook and while I finished exercises, I made a note of my mistakes and later incorporated them into the bound reference so that I could know what to watch out for in future questions.

If you have access to practice exams then it would be a great idea to start those as well. You could also ask your teacher for some practice SACs (although some teachers may not be keen to hand them out early!).

During class, you could either redo exercises from the textbook to reaffirm your understanding or you could do more practice exams. The more questions you do, the better you'll become. 

In preparation for SACs, I would do exam-style questions related to the relevant topic. It's handy that the exams are sorted into its relevant modules, so you don't need to tire yourself and waste time sorting out the questions into topics by yourself. After this, I would pander my teacher for practice SACs (last year's SACs and all the years before).

Best of luck! 

[plato]

I assume you are using a new textbook written for the 2016 curriculum. If so, I suggest you look at the new study design on the VCAA website and make sure that your textbook covers all of the dot points and skills listed in there and that you have understood them.
If you are using a textbook from 2015 or earlier, you must definitely read the study design carefully to determine what is missing and what is now redundant in the book.
Remember, Data Analysis and the Financial modelling topic are both compulsory and then you must choose two modules out of the four available.

[heids]

(Without having done further), two comments:

1.  Quality > quantity: i.e. don't race through the book trying to get it 'done' in the holidays, or else you'll have to keep redoing it throughout the year; just three chapters mastered in the holidays is more important.

2.  Actually do the book before you start asking this   This is a trap I've fallen into myself - focusing on 'When I've done...' and then I don't even start doing that because I'm so busy thinking about the future.

[danielvang]

If you've finished the further course, just do your bound references, and do past exams.
Just careful because the course is quite different next year, and you'll need to fill in some gaps for next year.

[Orson]

Heaps of exams...

[wyzard]

Personally I will usually do two things :
1) Consolidate my learning by working on exercises, do exam papers, writing out summaries and notes, reflecting on ideas, connect the dots between the concepts etc. to solidify the concepts and reinforce my understanding.
2) Push on ahead and learn even more things that are outside the syllabus. There are many maths books out there teaching different things. The purpose is two-fold, one is to even further your understanding, and secondly is to prevent studying from becoming a grind. This is the fun part where you'll have the freedom to study without any pressure of doing well in exam, and learn things for the fun of it.

[Swagadaktal]

BTW this might be irrelevant, but make sure you aren't trying to compete with ur friends in a race to finish the textbook. Further is an easy subject that doesn't require solid preparation ahead of time to do well in - dont overload yourself and learn the concepts poorly.
If you finish it this early, you can start prac exams and stuff but tbh I'd get really bored really quickly. I enjoyed learning the concepts, but absolutely hated practice exams because they are so dry and repetitive

[Peanut Butter]

On the same note as Swagadaktal, although learning the entire course over the summer holidays has its advantages, you might be setting yourself up for wasting time in class because you've already "learnt" everything. Just a thought....

Be very careful about racing through further. As others have mentioned, it's highly competitive so you need to know everything extremely well and not just skim the surface of the content (especially since there is now a new study design).

Just my opinion! But all the best

[Syndicate]

In my opinion, there is no need to "finish the [whole] textbook", as Further is already easy enough. If, you believe that your teacher can explain Further Mathematics, very well, then why would you attempt to gain a head start? It will be extremely exhausting at some moments (if you don't understand, the issue), and may cause, you to spend more time on Further, rather than doing the other essential subjects (English etc....).

However, having a peek/ solving a FEW questions wont hurt, and would allow you to understand, Further topics much easily, and you may be deemed more prepared, or/ and "smarter", when it comes to the teacher, explaining the topics. Also, do keep in mind, not every chapter is taught/ used, so there wont be much of a point learning them.

Cheers

[Long]

If you intend to do the textbook during the holidays make sure you not only learn the content properly but consolidate it as well. Consolidating can easily be done through creating a bound reference which you can bring into the exam. I would still recommend you listen in class as your teacher will know the tricks that VCAA often uses and teach them to you, the textbook won't have that.

In terms of what to do after, you can definitely start exams to not only learn the tricks VCAA uses but learn the way they want you to answer certain questions so you can incorporate that knowledge immediately and start practicing with it in your SACS. There are a plethora of exams out there from multiple companies. VCAA exams are free and the most accurate representation of the actual exam (obviously), the other companies you can try obtaining through your friends,past students or waiting until you get back to school and your teachers should have access to them.

For SAC practice you'll have to get that from your teacher, ask them for previous school SACs. Asking friends from other schools is definitely viable but SAC difficulty definitely varies from school to school so be sure to consider that.

Final note is don't underestimate the subject, I know some questions are mind blowingly easy but one misreading of units or the like can result in several drops in your study score. Further is extremely competitive at the top.