Methods 1/2 - Advice and Tips from eloisegrace

[eloisegrace]

Hello everyone! If you are reading this I assume that you are or are going to be studying methods 1/2 in your VCE journey. While all the lingo, letters numbers and signals may be intimidating, with some hard work you can enjoy this subject and do your best!

I completed 1/2 methods in year 10 (2019) and I am currently completing 3/4 methods in year 11 this year! You can read more about my vce journey here!

I hope this is helpful for everyone completing methods this year or in the future!

When to start?
As I told you I completed methods 1/2 as an accelerated subject in year 10. At my school, we accelerated maths from year 8 onwards and I believed this aided my preparation to methods. Methods requires a strong foundation of some concepts in 7-10 maths, which I will list later.

If your school offers an accelerated program and you have a decent maths background, I would recommend considering methods 3/4 in year 11. It is quite a time consuming and stressful subject but doing it in year 11 means you can prioritise this subject. However, I don’t think you will be disadvantaged completed it in year 12 as long as you work hard but more importantly work smart.

Foundations from year 10
These are topics from the Cambridge Essential Maths Year 10 book that are very important for methods 1/2. Other topics are still important for the year 10 but are not further built on in methods.
- Linear Relations
- Indices and Surds
- Trigonometry (namely the unit circle and graphs of trigonometric functions)
- Quadratic Equations
- Parabolas and Other Graphs
- Logarithms and Polynomials

General Advice:

Organisation
A key for succeeding in any subject is organisation. Be prepared at the start of the year with required stationary, a CAS and at least two notebooks (one for notes/bound reference and one for exercises). It is also vital that you keep up to date with textbook exercises. Falling behind is one of the main reasons that people don’t do well in this subject.

Textbook Exercises
This may be controversial but I do not believe that doing the textbook questions at a quicker pace the your school is necessary or very beneficial. I have seen people do this and become complacent and not listen to the teachers teaching. Teachers don’t appreciate this and they will often give you very good tips for approaching questions. As long as you are up to date with exercises on topics completed in class, you should be very much fine.

Relationships
Relationships are important for all subjects. Form a good relationship with your teacher so you are not afraid to ask questions and ask for help. Form some good relationships with people in your class that are also focused and wanting to do well in this subject.

Personally, I have found that having a friend that I “go through” methods with has been a large reason for my success. I know this isn’t very talked about but it is so important.

Bound Reference
Keep your bound reference up to date as much as possible. Fill it out with theory you don’t remember/understand fully, tips and difficult questions. However, don’t focus all of your methods energy into your bound reference. Practice questions are WAY more important.

Other Resources
For methods 1/2, I don’t think it is completely necessary to buy other resources. Your school will have a good amount of practice material relevant to your school which is all you need. Ask your teachers if you need any more resources as they will be more than happy to give them to you.

Topic to ensure that you are comfortable with in preparation for Methods 3/4
These are the topics that I believe are the most important to be comfortable with for 3/4. Almost everything (except topics that I will list later) will be extended on but these topics are the most important in my opinion.
- Sketching Polynomials
- Transformations
- Circular Functions
- Differentiation

Topics learnt in Methods 1/2 that are not relevant for 3/4
These are topics from the Cambridge Methods 1/2 book that are not required for 3/4 methods.
Edit: I should have been more clear about this, however these methods of working still can be useful but I believe that they are not required to be mastered for 3/4 as there are other "easier" techniques. Please see S_R_K's post below for more details about this, thanks for the help!

- The Bisection Methods
- Counting Methods
- Logarithmic Scales
- Newton’s Methods
- Second Derivative
- Rational Root Theorem
- Synthetic Substitution and Division

Some extra tips
- Know your CAS inside out. There are many CAS tips in the textbook and on ATARNotes.
- Read the questions twice! Make note of units or other key words.
- Working out is so important.
- Use all the free resources her available on ATARNotes. They are your greatest resource and I wish I had discovered them sooner.
- One bad test does not define you. I got a less than desirable grade on my first outcome but instead of being sad, I identified my weak areas and improved on these.

Some FAQ’s

Did/Do you do tutoring?
No, I have never received tutoring for any VCE subject. I feel as though if you use your teacher for questions and clarifications and complete you work diligently it is not necessary. If you are struggling, I suggest trying to seek out your available resources as they can most likely help you.

How much methods 1/2 work did you a week?
I completed the necessary exercises and went over my bound reference every week. When coming up to an assessment, I would complete as many practice tests/exams as my school offered and asked my teachers and peers for clarification on concepts I didn’t understand.

What grades did you get?
I maintained an A average for all my outcomes and received A+’s on both the end of the year exam. These were because of my hard work and dedication throughout the year.

I really hope this helps anyone completing year 11 methods! Keep working hard and have fun while completing this subject. If you have any questions or clarifications, please ask them! My PM’s are always open

Eloise

[lm21074]

Thanks so much for your handy guide, Eloise!
+10000

[S_R_K]

Good post, but I think matters with the below topics is a bit more subtle than just "not required for Methods 3&4", and it's worth clarifying what it's important / useful about these topics to understand for 3&4.

Topics learnt in Methods 1/2 that are not relevant for 3/4
These are topics from the Cambridge Methods 1/2 book that are not required for 3/4 methods.
- Counting Methods
- Second Derivative
- Rational Root Theorem
- Synthetic Substitution and Division

Counting methods. You should know how to calculate binomial coefficients by hand, using the factorial formula. It's also useful to know some of the important identities (ie. nCn = nC0, nC1 = nC(n–1) = n). It's also critical to know when to use addition / subtraction and when to use multiplication / division when counting elements of a sample space.

Second derivative. Not required, but very useful for finding max / min rates of change and testing nature of stationary points. I would recommend that Methods students learn this, it's a useful technique, and not difficult.

Rational root theorem. It's unlikely that you'll be asked to factor / find the roots of a polynomial without one of the roots already given, but it's possible. And if you aren't given a root, you need to know how to find one. The rational root theorem gives you some some guidance on how to do this.

Synthetic substitution / division. I prefer dividing polynomials by inspection (otherwise known as "equating coefficients"), and I'd encourage all students to try to master that technique for its efficiency. But ultimately you just need a method that works for you, and for some students it's synethic division.

[Sine]

added to the methods resource thread

[eloisegrace]

Thanks so much for your handy guide, Eloise!
+10000

I'm glad you enjoy it!

Good post, but I think matters with the below topics is a bit more subtle than just "not required for Methods 3&4", and it's worth clarifying what it's important / useful about these topics to understand for 3&4.

Counting methods. You should know how to calculate binomial coefficients by hand, using the factorial formula. It's also useful to know some of the important identities (ie. nCn = nC0, nC1 = nC(n–1) = n). It's also critical to know when to use addition / subtraction and when to use multiplication / division when counting elements of a sample space.

Second derivative. Not required, but very useful for finding max / min rates of change and testing nature of stationary points. I would recommend that Methods students learn this, it's a useful technique, and not difficult.

Rational root theorem. It's unlikely that you'll be asked to factor / find the roots of a polynomial without one of the roots already given, but it's possible. And if you aren't given a root, you need to know how to find one. The rational root theorem gives you some some guidance on how to do this.

Synthetic substitution / division. I prefer dividing polynomials by inspection (otherwise known as "equating coefficients"), and I'd encourage all students to try to master that technique for its efficiency. But ultimately you just need a method that works for you, and for some students it's synethic division.

Yes, I should have clarified this more. These are topics that I covered/didn't cover due to my school saying they were irrelevant to 3/4 that I haven't used so far in 3/4. If these techniques work for you, good for you, however they are not 100% necessary imo to do well in methods 3/4.
I have edited my guide to make this more explicit, thank you so much.

added to the methods resource thread

Thanks! I feel quite honoured and I hope this helps anyone.

[Holdstill123]

Foundations from year 10
These are topics from the Cambridge Essential Maths Year 10 book that are very important for methods 1/2. Other topics are still important for the year
- Linear Relations
- Indices and Surds
- Trigonometry (namely the unit circle and graphs of trigonometric functions)
- Quadratic Equations
- Parabolas and Other Graphs
- Logarithms and Polynomials

So, should you be focusing on these topics on the Cambridge Essential Maths Year 10 book?

[S_R_K]

So, should you be focusing on these topics on the Cambridge Essential Maths Year 10 book?

Yes, and the probability chapter.

It's also good to know some basic geometry (angles formed by transversals and parallel lines; special quadrilaterals; similar triangles) and measurement (standard formulas for areas and volumes). These aren't major topics in Methods, but officially all of the Year 10 curriculum is assumed knowledge, so they can appear in questions without warning.