Merely another, failing Methods 3&4 >.<

[natalie.krystal7]

Hi everyone;

As a result of a rather tragedic day with yet another vce-breakdown moment, I've realised a truly terrible truth about Mathematical Methods Units 3&4 CAS: I literally cannot do it.

Apparently, there are plenty of people out there who have felt or do feel this way, and I was just wondering if anyone at all could offer any advice on how to improve?

I am an A+ average student in all other subjects and have been since Year 8 when I first arrived here; but once Year 10 started maths was always a C subject.

I've only just realised that the action of taking Methods itself is probably the stupidest decision I have ever made to do with my education (Gosh, I should've done Business when I could >.<); but too late to change now.

I don't get ANYTHING in class when my teacher waffles on about stuff (as a sidenote, he has never been able to have a student score above 30 in his class :s), it's almost as if he's speaking a completely different language (and it's not because of his thick Egyptian accent either). I only get by through copying my mates' homework book (when they do it; most times they can't either), and SACs have been a nghtmare..

Is there anyway to get over this mind-blockage in methods? Or are some people just destined to fail this subject?

Also, if your SACs all suck but you somehow manage to do well in your exams, would someone be able to get into the low 30s?

So yeah. Bit of a depressed rant and desperate call for help; please feel free to add your two-cents worth if you've ever been in this position, know what to do if you're in this position, or can in any way help anyone who's in this position atm.


Thanks y'all, I know VN must be the best place to air this cause' everyone seems gun at methods ^^

[taiga]

Do you feel that you're not learning anything off your teacher? Or do you feel like something you haven't understood earlier means you can't understand anything from that point onwards?

How do you learn in your other subjects? Reading? Listening? Doing Questions?

I find that with a lot of students they have something fundamentally flawed in their approach to certain questions, and end up not understanding much beyond this point.

I can't recommend anything more than trying to build on your fundamentals (learning the basics of each component of the course, which in itself will get you a score of around 30 - which scales quite nicely). After you have the fundamentals down pat that is only when you attempt doing harder questions. Most schools just make kids do medium level questions all the time, and having not learned the basics completely, they end up resorting to copying and what not.

[Camo]

This seems to be my problem to. Somehow I am able to do the work and do it quite well most of the time but when it comes to SAC's my mind literally shuts off to the point I get a mark such as 12/40. :|

[iderf]

its often the questions which are REALLY sneaky that catch you out on sacs. watch out for the wording and think harder during sacs.

(it always catches me out too.)

[Keo]

My suggestion is get a tutor, there are plenty of good tutors on VN; some achieving 50!
Also VN is here to help you with anything you're struggling with and maybe you can try reading the examples in your textbook, ignore your teacher and do your own work in class?

[Souljette_93]

I recommend a tutor, you seem to have the will to do well, so investing in a good tutor starting from scratch is well worth the money

[natalie.krystal7]

Thank you, guys. Yeah, I'm utterly clueless in class; I'm so behind in my understanding I don't get anything that he subsequently teaches. I have a tutor, who also tutors me in Chem, Biol and Chinese but the problem there is that cause' I hate Methods that much, we never get round to it and put the other subjects as our priority.

I'll be attempting to try harder in second semester though; do yous reckon it's possible to rescue myself from a dismal study score with a better than average Unit 4 and end-of-year exams but a rather crappy Unit 3? (So right; SAC wordings mess me up at every turn.)

Thanks again, all!

[Souljette_93]

Yeah it is quite possible nat, exams is all what matters anyway ( the bulk) and SACs make up only 33%, unit 3 and 4 combined, so yeah

[taiga]

You need to focus more time on your methods, particularly with your tutor =\

You may want to consider getting a tutor just for the holidays to try and get up to speed with your methods.

Which textbook do you use? I think the Mathsquest textbook is extremely good for teaching the basics of each topic, their examples are crystal clear in my opinion.

[natalie.krystal7]

True, Souljette; I did forget about that weightage. Gives me some sort of hope, I guess. How do You go in Methods; just out of curiosity? And what dyou' employ to be good at it (I'm just taking for granted that you are ?

Taiga, I use MathsWorld Mathematical Methods CAS Second Edition and it's simply abysmal >.<

My school apparently got it because the fella' who's head (or ex-head, I'm not so sure anymore) of the Exam-writing department Phillip Swedosh is a co-author.

I have every other textbook fathomable as well, but I haven't known which to use as a supplementary text :S

I find that Methods seems really difficult to 'read' and 'study' in the ways you do say Chem or Biol.

What would be some ways I can 'teach myself' a little? The usual pattern I adopt, which has failed time and again (yes, stupidity I know ) is to attempt to read the examples, then attempt the questions but get stuck because not all scenarios are covered in the examples, and thus abandon the attempt altogether. Hence it always remain an attempt and not accomplishment

I'll have a better look at MathsQuest since you claim so; I tried Heinemann in the past and that didn't go well :S My teacher told me it wasn't brilliant and was far too easy.

I also tried 'reading' Cambridge's Essential Methods and that sort of worked, but the questions as I mentioned above always seemed impossible. >.<

I'll definitely be asking my tutor for more help in this area; 2 SACs coming up which I'm just in complete trepidation about :S

Also (lastly), how important is calculator use in the exams? We rarely EVER use our CAS calcs which makes me fear for the Tech-active Exam 2, and our books have no examples for the Classpad; only the TI. Should I find a way to familiarise myself with calc techniques, and if so, what would be your suggestion as to how?

Thanks for the continued replies, guys.

[taiga]

This is what pisses me off with schools, they use shithouse textbooks due to some teachers being in kahootz with certain companies (happened with MHS too), and others use below par inconvenient calculators like the ClassPad (which was actually UNABLE to solve something on last years exam).

I would rec giving mathsquest a go (borrow off a friend), if not definitely spend some time in these holidays just having 1 or 2 hour sessions with your maths tutor to try and get back to learning the fundamentals. You still have time, but you need to use these upcoming holidays well!

[xZero]

Yup, maths quest is definately the best book out there if you're having problem with the basics. Also regarding the exam question, it wasn't the fault of classpad but rather the user's.