Achieving High in Methods

[kyzoo]

Well thats what my plan is but i want to do REALLY well in methods 3 and 4.

Would it be a good idea to finish the whole methods course before school starts?

Hell no. I just learned the course as it came. Don't do anything in the holidays. Don't try to compress the whole course into 1-2 months. When you get to practice exam time, you'll see that it's not conceptual knowledge that will hinder you from getting the top marks. It's always the little, little details that you capture by paying attention in class.

[Andiio]

IMO doing the course beforehand is an awesome idea; you can basically relearn and revise as you go during class, subsequently refining your knowledge in such techniques.

[kyzoo]

I tried learning the Spesh course in 3 weeks in the summer holidays, and I did not pick up ANY of the trickier points that I can perceive now.

[TrueTears]

What about if you didn't understand something or a concept, what'd you do then?

just have to say VN was my best friend <3 (but lots of love goes out to Mao, kamil9876, ahmad, /0, neobeo, dcc and numerous others, the amount of maths i have/and still do discuss with them is tremendous)

http://vcenotes.com/forum/index.php/topic,19896.0.html

http://vcenotes.com/forum/index.php/topic,9192.0.html


Also note, to rush through the course is not a good idea, I can tell you I learnt it very precisely first time through, picked up alot of tricky points etc because I didn't simply glance over fundamentals etc, if you wanna become a good mathematician master fundamentals, never let tricky points pass you.

Some students often miss important details and fundamentals when they self learn, this could be a result of several factors: 1. not being precise and pedantic enough. 2. bad recourses (vce books are VERY bad for formalising definitions and important fundamental basic skills) which is why I suggest you read higher level books if you want to self learn, eg, stewarts calculus, it starts off elementary but FORMALISES everything so it's not just all 'intuitive' mathematics. 3. not getting enough help.

i would say 2. is probably the most important factor, if you try to self learn with a vce textbook, most likely you'll miss shitloads of details.

[Andiio]

Still; I mean it can't really be a bad idea going over the course (or a bit of it) during the holidays; it couldn't really do any harm. I guess i'm speaking for myself though o_O

[The Detective]

Still; I mean it can't really be a bad idea going over the course (or a bit of it) during the holidays; it couldn't really do any harm. I guess i'm speaking for myself though o_O

No I agree I'm planning on learning most of the material for next year on the summer holidays it'll definitely be worth it (aim: complete textbook, yes sounds impossible)

[Ilovemathsmeth]

Like TrueTears I did the course during the Summer hols. It's quite achievable. Took me 6 weeks but I did around 4-5 hours a day. I think it's really helpful to do this because you can consolidate your understanding throughout the year. I was able to begin practice exams from around mid July. If there was stuff I didn't understand, I'd ask my dad or I'd try and work it out myself. Usually that'd help, but when it didn't, I would make a note to ask a teacher once school started for the year. It helps you manage time effectively especially if you're doing more than one 3/4.

[TrueTears]

it is DEFINITELY worth it if you complete the course properly, or else just do what kyzoo said; self learning is often built upon trial and errors of mistakes (what method suits you as a mathematician?), which is something you don't want to play upon in VCE, do it once you're in uni or pre-VCE. Most of you want to maximise marks in VCE not become an academic.

[The Detective]

Like TrueTears I did the course during the Summer hols. It's quite achievable. Took me 6 weeks but I did around 4-5 hours a day. I think it's really helpful to do this because you can consolidate your understanding throughout the year. I was able to begin practice exams from around mid July. If there was stuff I didn't understand, I'd ask my dad or I'd try and work it out myself. Usually that'd help, but when it didn't, I would make a note to ask a teacher once school started for the year. It helps you manage time effectively especially if you're doing more than one 3/4.

hey I go to my dad for methods help too

[Bozo]

Well if its not THAT much different from year 11, i know most of the fundamentals from year 11 methods. So i guess it shouldn't be to bad?

[Ilovemathsmeth]

Yeah agreed with TrueTears.
If you suspect you have got your answer through trial and error, see a teacher ASAP to make sure.
I think it really helps if you read the theory carefully before doing the qs. I pity you if you've got Essentials, it's an awesome book but theory is not known to be the easiest to understand.

[TrueTears]

lol what i meant with trial and error was that, trial and error to see what kind of self studying method suits you the best, eg, i've realised i love to discuss mathematics, talk to others often brings up questions from a question that didn't even propose it (happens so much with my convo's with kamil haha) etc etc and self studying methods differs alot for different subjects.

often takes alot of time to see what kinda method suits you, which if you are willing to take the risk then do it, but you don't wanna waste time on these kinda things in VCE, better spend the time on memorising english essays! lol!

[Andiio]

Good thing is I have my bro for consolation ; he was a complete maths gun back when he did VCE in 2004.

[Bozo]

What book would you reccomend i get then?
I can source these from elsewhere.

What materials do you reccomend i get in general? For e.g is there like a methods dictionary that has a summary and examples of everything i need to know?

[Bozo]

Another thing is i'm self taught, no consolidation