2009 Exam

[m@tty]

I don't believe that getting a high score in Methods has to do with doing enough work, think about it, the exams don't measure the amount of work you do. They measure the depth of your understanding, and your ability to avoid your mistakes. Hence your efforts should be focused on these facets, rather than doing "enough work."

What should be done then to focus on these facets?

[kyzoo]

Hmm, I'm guessing "depth of understanding" is accomplished by most people, so I'll describe my approach to "ability to avoid mistakes." But as I haven't discussed this facet with other people, my process won't be optimal as it's based solely on my own limited ideas.

I did all my practice exams in timed conditions, and after each one, I painstakenly analysed the errors I made and devised heuristics (methods of doing problems) to avoid these errors in the future. This analysis composed a 17,000 word document. Furthermore I devised an exam procedure - I established a mental frame beforehand which I adopted whilst undertaking the exam, determined precisely how I would use reading time, and exacted a sequence of actions to perform whilst completing each question. In short, I tried to "perfect" my technique as TT puts it.

In the end I'm not sure whether my efforts paid off, the one mistake I made that cost me a 50 wasn't something I had come across in my analysis, it wasn't even in my "Compilation of Tricky Points," it was simply a matter of interpreting a question too hurriedly.

[Ilovemathsmeth]

But doesn't your understanding of the subject partially come through the completion of practice exams?

Kyzoo - do you mean 30 of exam 1 and 30 of exam 2 totalling 60?

m@tty - I see, that sounds like heaps!! =(

It also depends on anxiety I suppose. If you're the type to freak out in an exam, then you're stuck regardless of the exams you do

[kyzoo]

^ I count 1 exam as a whole set of a single exam 1, and a single exam 2, of the same company and year.

And I gained minimal understanding of the subject from practice exams, mostly a few extraneous concepts in the iTute exams. What I did gain from the practice exams however, was what types of mistakes you can make, and how to avoid them.

[ryley]

I too had 100/100 for SACS only to make stupid mistakes in the actual exam. I only did a handful of practice exams, but when I walked out of the exam my initial thoughts were that it was easier than the past two years and I was sure I'd aced it (unfortuanately only first thought was true ). And I agree with kyzoo regarding the relationship between sheer work output and score, for both methods and spesh there were plenty of kids who did more work then me at my school, but with all modesty, didn't understand the course as well so they didn't do as well.

[kyzoo]

^ Everyone but me thinks the exam was easy =( To be honest I found it more difficult than past VCAA exams I had done.

[Cataclysmic]

IMO it was easier than previous years. Everyone I asked seemed to make "silly" mistakes, not errors due to difficulty.

[m@tty]

^ Everyone but me thinks the exam was easy =( To be honest I found it more difficult than past VCAA exams I had done.

Which question(s) were hard? The last one?

[kyzoo]

^ All of the extended response. In hindsight though, it's probably just a perception stained by the awareness that it was the real exam.

[Ilovemathsmeth]

I did about the same as you, kyzoo. Except I scared myself by counting each individual exam as one exam

Yeah Methods practice exams helped me avoid mistakes. I also got exposure to harder questions, something which isn't always given in Essentials.

All in all, doing Methods exam 1s were fun Exam 2s were less fun

[kyzoo]

All in all, doing Methods exam 1s were fun Exam 2s were less fun

xD opposite experience for me. Most Exam 1 questions were straightforward; exam 2 questions were more engaging for me.

[Akirus]

Neither SAC performance nor quantity of practice exams done is directly proportional to your exam performance. To illustrate, I did 30 full (meaning both Exam 1 and 2) practice exams, and was rank 5-10 for SACs. Meanwhile my friend who was rank 1-2, and completed the same amount of practice exams as I had, ended up with low 40's.

I don't believe that getting a high score in Methods has to do with doing enough work, think about it, the exams don't measure the amount of work you do. They measure the depth of your understanding, and your ability to avoid your mistakes. Hence your efforts should be focused on these facets, rather than doing "enough work." It's far too simplistic to look at exams done as an indicator of performance, there are other factors at work, and only the real exam can properly examine these other factors.

Umm...damn, too vague and didn't articulate precisely what I wanted to say =(

This is essentially what I keep telling people.

[Ilovemathsmeth]

Exam 2 questions - I found - were stressful when the wording was absolutely crap as it is on some practice exams. I'd stress out when I lost marks because I was aiming for 50 (bad thing to do, never tell yourself you'd give anything for a certain study score ). Turns out it wasn't really worth all the stress as VCAA exams are much more easier to understand. They have better wording...usually.

[kyzoo]

Hmm I never got confused by wording, but sometimes I did stress when I didn't get full marks. But then I realised that was stupid, that it was natural to lose marks, and the best thing to do was to figure out how to improve such that the same mistakes were never made twice. The key is to focus on continuous improvement, rather than thinking you should be perfect right now.

[m@tty]

Hmm I never got confused by wording, but sometimes I did stress when I didn't get full marks. But then I realised that was stupid, that it was natural to lose marks, and the best thing to do was to figure out how to improve such that the same mistakes were never made twice. The key is to focus on continuous improvement, rather than thinking you should be perfect right now.

That explains how you did s many exams, you analysed your mistakes, but you made very little.

The first exam I did I epic failed, I hadn't yet covered probability though, I only managed 75%..... It was VCAA.....2006  :2funny: