Really Annoying Exam Questions Help please (2 Viewers)

[Gangstar1]

Hey Guys,

I'm really hating this subject now, over the past 2 exam i got and average of 24% and its really annoying the teacher only teaches the basic's of the course and in the exam she gives us like really hard ext1 questions which are nowhere like the question in the text book so there no point studying...anyways i was wondering could anyone post some websites which can help me?

Thanks in Advance

 

[SeCKSiiMiNh]

i've been told that the mcdonalds online maths tutor thing is useful for maths newbs.

I suggest that you use books instead.

I personally liked this book: EXCEL HSC - Fast Track HSC Step-by-Step Study Guide

and for harder questions, i used terry lee's book which had actual solutions and not just answers

edit: oh and my teachers inadvertently used several of terry lee's question in their books in the exams

 

[Timothy.Siu]

Firstly, I don't think you should blame your teacher that much. For maths, you only really need the basics to do most of the questions. Its up to you to consolidate this "basic knowledge" by doing exercises from a textbook. I also doubt the questions in the exam are as hard as you make it out to be. If they are, then your whole class would be doing bad as well, and then you shouldn't be worried about your "low" average.

So, to begin, make sure you understand all the theory/basics of each topic. From there, do some questions from textbooks as practice to ensure you can actually understand the topic. There's not going to be a quick fix for your problem. You have to be consistent in your maths work if you want to do well.

 

[Gangstar1]

Firstly, I don't think you should blame your teacher that much. For maths, you only really need the basics to do most of the questions. Its up to you to consolidate this "basic knowledge" by doing exercises from a textbook. I also doubt the questions in the exam are as hard as you make it out to be. If they are, then your whole class would be doing bad as well, and then you shouldn't be worried about your "low" average.

So, to begin, make sure you understand all the theory/basics of each topic. From there, do some questions from textbooks as practice to ensure you can actually understand the topic. There's not going to be a quick fix for your problem. You have to be consistent in your maths work if you want to do well.

Yer trust me class average was 40% and the highest mark was 57%..but thanks for commenting

 

[random-1006]

Hey Guys,

I'm really hating this subject now, over the past 2 exam i got and average of 24% and its really annoying the teacher only teaches the basic's of the course and in the exam she gives us like really hard ext1 questions which are nowhere like the question in the text book so there no point studying...anyways i was wondering could anyone post some websites which can help me?

Thanks in Advance

thought you had actual maths question.

exam questions are not always like textbook questions ( some are, but not alot), ask for the schools past exam papers if possible

post up an example of a question ( with the question number, questions usually get harder towards the end of an exam) , we can see if it really is hard exams or maybe something else

 

[ninetypercent]

you should download some past papers and do them since you say textbook questions are not as hard as exam questions

 

[hscishard]

What textbook are you using?
If it's maths in focus, you're screwed.

If not, then the questions are prob harder than normal and you should be ok in the HSC. Your class would prob get moved in your internals I think..

 

[pwoh]

Can you think of any examples of these questions? I'm interested to know what they are.

 

[Gangstar1]

What textbook are you using?
If it's maths in focus, you're screwed.

If not, then the questions are prob harder than normal and you should be ok in the HSC. Your class would prob get moved in your internals I think..

Lol nah were not using that were using fitzpatrick ... its not that the teachers bad it just she doesnt teach the right questions (exam questions)

 

[Gangstar1]

Can you think of any examples of these questions? I'm interested to know what they are.

o.k root x inside of root x inside of root x all squared = x^y find y..That was in my basic algebra test ..yes the first preliminary exam question...WTF!!!!

 

[Timothy.Siu]

Yer trust me class average was 40% and the highest mark was 57%..but thanks for commenting

Theres nothing wrong with a hard test...theres no excuse that you're not getting 40% then. A hard test just separates the students better and thats a good thing.

Lol nah were not using that were using fitzpatrick ... its not that the teachers bad it just she doesnt teach the right questions (exam questions)

A teacher's not meant to teach the exam questions. Exam questions are meant to examine you on how well u know the basics and then apply them. You're not always meant to know how to do the question from your first glance at it.

 

[random-1006]

o.k root x inside of root x inside of root x all squared = x^y find y..That was in my basic algebra test ..yes the first preliminary exam question...WTF!!!!

ok , it seems extremely confusing without actually seeing it written out mathematically, never the less, it still seems like fairly basic application of index laws and the fact that squareroot= to the power of 1/2

 

[hscishard]

o.k root x inside of root x inside of root x all squared = x^y find y..That was in my basic algebra test ..yes the first preliminary exam question...WTF!!!!

Well yeah, it is algebra. I've never done that question before but I know there are two ways to do it.
1. Calculator! Let x = a number and then find the power by trial and error
2. Indicies

Much harder than my exam (assuming all questions are like that).

 

[random-1006]

Well yeah, it is algebra. I've never done that question before but I know there are two ways to do it.
1. Calculator! Let x = a number and then find the power by trial and error
2. Indicies

Much harder than my exam (assuming all questions are like that).

tough love.... theres nothing wrong with hard exams, they are better than easy ones, you lose marks now, but you gain so many more for the final which is worth alot more. If i was a teacher i would set hard exams ( obviously not that hard that everyone gets 0) , theres no point sitting an easy exam

never by trial and error

either

1. you will be able to get LHS into the form x^(some power) then you equate the powers. { its most likely this way}

or

2. you use LOGS! for unknowns in the index,

you will be there for yrs with guess and check , and they will want it to some sort of accuracy

 

[fullonoob]

typical exam question that tests your basic understanding not your ability to bible and memorise info. It is from basic knowledge that allows you to deal with harder questions. I used cambridge for year 11, do the extension parts if you want a challenge

 

[random-1006]

typical exam question that tests your basic understanding not your ability to bible and memorise info. It is from basic knowledge that allows you to deal with harder questions. I used cambridge for year 11, do the extension parts if you want a challenge

nice to know someone could make some sense out of the question

im not quite sure what you did for the first line , but it is correct.

i would have done it

( x * (x^(3/2))^(1/2) )
= x * x^(3/4)
= x ^7/4 ( working your way from the inside to the out side), BODMAS, brackets first

 

[4025808]

What textbook are you using?
If it's maths in focus, you're screwed.

If not, then the questions are prob harder than normal and you should be ok in the HSC. Your class would prob get moved in your internals I think..

yeah maths in focus will really screw over students who only choose to use the textbook coz they cbf doing stuff from the other textbooks

and our school uses maths in focus. >_<
it's a pity that they dont use cambridge or fitzpatrick, since those are the textbooks that actually help you score the marks and give you the preparation. I was asking for the school to start using cambridge as opposed to maths in focus especially for the higher tier students (like me)

and that i had to fork out extra money and time to buy yr 11 and 12 3U cambridge, fitzpatrick 2U and 3U >_<

goddammit...

ahh well i'll reply to OP;

Firstly, working off a textbook is not sufficient enough (even if it's cambridge), you have to also try test papers (there are plenty of preliminary test papers on the BOS resources website).

That's the thing that screwed me over in the first two 3U exams, got 71 and 73 and only worked off cambridge and MIF. Next exam worked on baulko and ruse papers, got 89, 2nd in the grade =D

 

[random-1006]

yeah maths in focus will really screw over students who only choose to use the textbook coz they cbf doing stuff from the other textbooks

and our school uses maths in focus. >_<
it's a pity that they dont use cambridge or fitzpatrick, since those are the textbooks that actually help you score the marks and give you the preparation. I was asking for the school to start using cambridge as opposed to maths in focus especially for the higher tier students (like me)

and that i had to fork out extra money and time to buy yr 11 and 12 3U cambridge, fitzpatrick 2U and 3U >_<

goddammit...

ahh well i'll reply to OP;

Firstly, working off a textbook is not sufficient enough (even if it's cambridge), you have to also try test papers (there are plenty of preliminary test papers on the BOS resources website).

That's the thing that screwed me over in the first two 3U exams, got 71 and 73 and only worked off cambridge and MIF. Next exam worked on baulko and ruse papers, got 89, 2nd in the grade =D

Maths in focus teaches the basics, you need to learn how to walk before you can run.

i used maths in focus for hsc, wasnt that bad, i did do alot of questions though from like past paper books, and practice exam books. However, maths in focus is a little shit on some topics, and misses out some content completely, so watch out lol. I remember sketching derivative/integral graphs wasnt in there. and yeh just the way they as ask are not exam like ( especially in topics such as circles )

The teachers are there to teach theory, you teach yourself exam questions.

 

[fullonoob]

theres one important thing OP
If you hate the subject you will get nowhere. Learn to appreciate it or you will not enjoy it. And when you don't enjoy it, it will be very boring and will prob definitely cause you to drop mx1.
note to number guy: don't get cambridge mx2, its kinda (very) crappy compared to others

 

[pwoh]

theres one important thing OP
If you hate the subject you will get nowhere. Learn to appreciate it or you will not enjoy it. And when you don't enjoy it, it will be very boring and will prob definitely cause you to drop mx1.
note to number guy: don't get cambridge mx2, its kinda (very) crappy compared to others

I second this. Cambridge 3U however is very good.