Year 11 Methods or Further?

[notesguest11]

Hi everyone, I would like a bit of help regarding undertaking methods 1/2 in year 11

Ever since last year, I have strongly disliked mathematics. My teacher in year 10 was not great, and he made me look at a subject I had been an A and A+ student in in my past years as something I honestly despise now. Because of this, when I undertook advanced mathematics in year 10, I had almost failed the course (I got an A in the first test without studying at all, then proceeded to get only D's, E's and F's). I didn't study, as what the teacher was saying made no sense and I just gave up completely.

Going into year 11, methods 1/2 is a subject I'll undertake, but I'm really unsure of whether to keep it, do further maths or not do maths entirely. I'm primarily focused on doing law in uni, as I prefer English subjects. Although methods is not a prerequisite for law, I'm not sure what I want to do when I finish high school, and it would be nice to keep my options open. But, I'm worried that I won't be able to achieve even a 25/50 prerequisite for methods for other courses as when I even look at the questions, it almost seems like a different language to me.

My question is, since I have gone from being a great student in years 7,8 and 9 to absolutely terrible in year 10, should I try my best and work upwards of 1-2 hours a day to become better at Maths Methods, or is it not worth it seeing as though most questions don't even make sense/ are very difficult to me, and move to Further?

My current year 11 subjects for 2018 are: English Literature 1/2, Maths Methods 1/2, Global Politics 1/2, Psychology 1/2, Physics 1/2 and Legal Studies 3/4.

Sorry for the long question, thank you for reading

[Sine]

a tonne of people do well in years 7-10 but drop once vce kicks in for a number of reasons.
Here is what i think:
1. More competition - everyone (most people) is actually trying now whereas only a small minority would actually care before
2. Pressure - some work well others crumble

If you want to keep options open the obvious option is to do methods which all you need is around top 73% of the state (raw 25) iirc so definitely doable given ~5% won't even sit the exam and a lot of others would've given up by then. 

Definitely try not to be so dependent on your teacher if it impacts you a lot because you will find they aren't always the greatest apart from the top private schools.

[Yertle the Turtle]

Further Maths is a different style of maths to Methods. Various parts of Physics will assist your Methods, but in general there is far more competition in Further than in Methods, as many people do it is well as Methods, so up near the top, it is very hard to score high. Methods is more likely to help you in getting into uni for many things, and on the whole, if you put in the work and have the mathematical ability, then it is better to do Methods. Good luck in Year 11, whatever you choose, and whatever you choose, avoid the "what if" questions.

Good luck! ;P

[snowisawesome]

a tonne of people do well in years 7-10 but drop once vce kicks in for a number of reasons.
Here is what i think:
1. More competition - everyone (most people) is actually trying now whereas only a small minority would actually care before
2. Pressure - some work well others crumble

If you want to keep options open the obvious option is to do methods which all you need is around top 73% of the state (raw 25) iirc so definitely doable given ~5% won't even sit the exam and a lot of others would've given up by then. 

Definitely try not to be so dependent on your teacher if it impacts you a lot because you will find they aren't always the greatest apart from the top private schools.

Where did you find that 5% won't sit exams? And does that mean that 5% won't get a study score?

[lazaward]

You can always try out methods for one semester and see how you go. If you find it too challenging then you can just drop out to further and since it’s not a pre req and if you’re pretty sure you want to do law then that’ll be the best option for you! But give it a go first.

[Jocoaster]

It depends on you honestly, and how much effort you apply to the coursework. I did it in Year Nine (my school has an accelerated program) and trust me, everybody finds Methods difficult. Even though I've completed coursework of Units One and Two and scored 87% on the end of year examination and go to a semi-top tier school, I also find the exams another language. I'd recommend undertaking Methods because of pre-req to courses such as Medicine and Engineering, however I'm basically in the same dilemma as you going into Year Ten this year. Can you possibly elaborate on how the teacher hinders your learning? Can you can give some anecdotes. How confident are you with Mathematics at this point? I used to be appalling at Maths because I didn't try. Are you confident with basic linear and quadratic algebra? Are you able to sketch parabolas with confidence at this point? Giving us more details onto on your current mathematical progression will greatly help us out. 

[Sine]

Where did you find that 5% won't sit exams? And does that mean that 5% won't get a study score?

from the grade distributions they have a "not assessed" % given for Male, Female and Overall in each fo the graded assesments e.g. Sacs, exam 1 and exam 2

[snowisawesome]

from the grade distributions they have a "not assessed" % given for Male, Female and Overall in each fo the graded assesments e.g. Sacs, exam 1 and exam 2

Does that mean they won't get a study score?

[OchreOrca]

Hi everyone, I would like a bit of help regarding undertaking methods 1/2 in year 11

Ever since last year, I have strongly disliked mathematics. My teacher in year 10 was not great, and he made me look at a subject I had been an A and A+ student in in my past years as something I honestly despise now. Because of this, when I undertook advanced mathematics in year 10, I had almost failed the course (I got an A in the first test without studying at all, then proceeded to get only D's, E's and F's). I didn't study, as what the teacher was saying made no sense and I just gave up completely.

Going into year 11, methods 1/2 is a subject I'll undertake, but I'm really unsure of whether to keep it, do further maths or not do maths entirely. I'm primarily focused on doing law in uni, as I prefer English subjects. Although methods is not a prerequisite for law, I'm not sure what I want to do when I finish high school, and it would be nice to keep my options open. But, I'm worried that I won't be able to achieve even a 25/50 prerequisite for methods for other courses as when I even look at the questions, it almost seems like a different language to me.

My question is, since I have gone from being a great student in years 7,8 and 9 to absolutely terrible in year 10, should I try my best and work upwards of 1-2 hours a day to become better at Maths Methods, or is it not worth it seeing as though most questions don't even make sense/ are very difficult to me, and move to Further?

My current year 11 subjects for 2018 are: English Literature 1/2, Maths Methods 1/2, Global Politics 1/2, Psychology 1/2, Physics 1/2 and Legal Studies 3/4.

Sorry for the long question, thank you for reading

To be honest, choose one you like regardless of the score/scaling system. Just because Method scales high doesn't mean you choose it for that reason. If you are really suffering and getting bad grades, I recommend you choose Further. Further definitely has less workload than Methods and is comparatively easier in my opinion. BUT, you must be aware of the how fierce everyone is and how hard it is to score in the 40s. Seeing your course (Law) doesn't require any mathematical prerequisites (Methods is a common one), I highly recommend you choose Further. This is so you can work more on English and Legal Studies. Which I believe are the prerequisites for it.

[AngelWings]

Does that mean they won't get a study score?

Some students will receive something called a Derived Score, based on the individual's performance on other assessments, such as their SACs and their ranking. This is usually in the rare case that your exam is mishandled or, more likely, that the student was unable to sit the exam due to some reason (e.g. disabilities that would prevent taking the exam or in hospital due to life-threatening illness).

To be honest, choose one you like regardless of the score/scaling system. Just because Method scales high doesn't mean you choose it for that reason. If you are really suffering and getting bad grades, I recommend you choose Further. Further definitely has less workload than Methods and is comparatively easier in my opinion. BUT, you must be aware of the how fierce everyone is and how hard it is to score in the 40s. Seeing your course (Law) doesn't require any mathematical prerequisites (Methods is a common one), I highly recommend you choose Further. This is so you can work more on English and Legal Studies. Which I believe are the prerequisites for it.

Actually, at most places, Legal Studies is not a prerequisite, but just a middle band subject. Of course, Legal would be somewhat beneficial, but it isn't necessary per se. English - or its equivalent counterparts - (typically 20/25/30, maybe 35 raw SS minimum, IIRC) is usually the main criterion for a law degree.