AtarNotes book/notes Methods unit 3/4

[talixxa]

Hi all,

I would like to know if anyone had already buy the AtarNotes books containing notes about methods unit 3/4. If yes, can you telle me if it was helpful/useful or not? How do u find the content? can you find similar version for free?

Thanks !

Talixxa

[MathMethodsGuru]

Hey,

Yes, I purchased the book and frankly I have not found it helpful. For many reasons:
• Yes, a professor of mathematics would be able to pick up this book and have a glance at it and be able to read it off like an expert. But no one on this forum can do or as well the hell are you here.
• It is not a substitute for your textbook. The textbook goes in depth into explaining concepts and has video (Cambridge) explaining difficulty topics.
• Explains topics, not crucial concepts that are overlooked due to summarisation.
• In summary, there is no subsitutation for your teacher. Listen to him, take down notes write steps on how to solve problems and do all the practice questions.
• Do not try to find an easy way to be Methods by buying a book that misses key topics by some block with no experience in the course.

Overall: 3.5/10.

Hope this helps

[lazaward]

I bought the ATAR notes methods guide and topic tests. The guide is a very quick summary of the course, probably helpful towards the end of the year to just refresh the overall course. I would recommend the topic tests though since they have handwritten solutions so you can see exactly how to set out your answers to gain full marks. Notes for maths subjects in general isn’t really helpful, best to just use your textbook and watch videos and then buy extra practice questions.

[Bri MT]

Yes, I purchased the book and frankly I have not found it helpful.

Genuine question:
I noticed that earlier this year you posted this,  "...I also have ATAR Notes complete course notes (this is quite helpful)..."

What changed for you?

[exit]

Summary notes for maths may not be as helpful for Methods compared to other subjects but they are good for revision

[TheAspiringDoc]

Summary notes for maths may not be as helpful for Methods compared to other subjects but they are good for revision

100% agree. I never touched a textbook in PE or biology last year (edit: except in the very rare case that AN and connect summaries were both unclear on something), just used AN and Connect summaries. Understanding those summaries basically seemed all that was required. But maths is so application-oriented that you gotta practise all those applications in a textbook and come up with your own way of understanding the general processes.

My suggestion (at least what is working for me) is to do a chapter exercise (eg chapter 6H) and then write your own notes on that, including the theory (formulas and underlying principles - which commercial notes do cover - yet they only do so shallowly), and also examples of the different question types on that topic (e.g. for chapter 1G of the year 8 maths textbook, which covers multiplication, you might include examples of multiplying fractions, multiplying negatives, and the the geometric significance of multiplication: that a rectangle has an area of its width multiplied by its height etc.). This way you’ll be in control rather than relying on someone else’s notes, and you can even note down where you most often make mistakes. For example, you might have made the mistake of -(a)^2 = (-a)^2 = a^2 which is not true. Thus you would personalise your summary to your own needs to understand this little tidbit

I think the effectiveness of commercial notes for only some subjects is that they are written in English (as is biology), rather than in ‘math’ - which you need to manually translate and upload to your brain I guess