Advice Thread for Prospective MX2 Students (1 Viewer)

[Zephyrio]

Hey everyone,

I'll be taking 4U maths in about a few weeks, so I was wondering if anyone here is keen to share study habits and all that jazz.

I'm thinking that I'll spend an hour each night on 4U (for homework from class) and another half-hour to an hour just studying what I've learnt and going through examples from other textbooks. I heard that Cambridge and Coroneos is the way to go, so I'll probably use these textbooks.

So is that enough? 1.5 - 2 hours each night. If this is the case, how long would I need for 3U?

Also, in preparation for exams, what would be the best way to go? I don't think I'll write notes since I should already know the methods and techniques/formulae in my head so writing notes would be sorta redundant... I heard that doing loads and loads and loads of past exams help. Does anyone else have any suggestions?

Thanks.

 

[tichondrius]

1.5 to 2 hours each night is way more than enough. I'm not trying to tell you to do study less but do not sacrifice your other subjects for the sake of 4 unit maths. Assuming you study a maximum of 5 hours each night, 2 hours should cover both 3 unit and 4unit maths on the same night.

And in addition to this I very much doubt you will be able to keep a systematic procedure such as that for every night - as school work is volatile and other subjects may demand more time on certain nights. Try to get all the work that your teacher and/or tutor set for you by the designated date, and if you have extra time go over the topics that you aren't very familiar with or pull out a past assessment task from your school and give it a try under exam conditions.

All in all the integral part of 4 Unit maths is having an in-depth understanding of each topic in the course - doing questions and memorizing methodologies will only get you so far. Understand the course and you will find that you can do questions of types that you have never seen before quite readily.

As for past papers, in preparation for your trials you should be doing trial papers from other schools and your own - attempt them under exam conditions once you have finished all the relevant topics, mark them and check the solutions of any questions you didn't get thoroughly. In a few days come back to see if you can do these questions that had you baffled before - the more types of questions you become familiar with the better.

As for beyond the trials I'm not completely sure, as I am beyond the trials right now and studying for the HSC. I guess its at this point you just start pumping out HSC papers under exam conditions.

As for notes, some people find them helpful - I go to SBHS and the top guy makes summary notes for each of the topics, but he finished the course last year so that may be because he has the time on his hands. It all depends on what method of studying you prefer - If you find yourself constantly forgetting stuff in tests that you DO know but just can't recall, making notes may help you get by.

It's also integral that you ENJOY maths, this may sound strange but the more interested you get in the maths you are doing the more inclined you will be to undertake productive study and really get into what you are doing and be motivated to do more.

 

[Kujah]

You doing 4U and History Extension as well?

 

[tichondrius]

If that's meant to be a joke, I dont get it =(

 

[Kujah]

If that's meant to be a joke, I dont get it =(

Huh? I'm asking if he's doing both like me?

 

[Zephyrio]

Thanks Tichondrius.

@ Kujah
I'm actually doing 13 next year, 4U maths, history extension and EE2. Now that I've heard that 2 hours a night on maths is good, it's all good. I'm dropping one of these if I can't manage them; but at this moment, provided timetables and whatnot align, I'll be doing these subjects. Hopefully, since the first term of EE2 and history extension are about just exploring your interests, I can knock down large portions of these majorworks to clear way for my remaining units. I've already got a topic for history extension on hand, and EE2 - well, writing is a huge passion of mine. I'm just doing 4U maths because I really like maths, and I often gasp at how elegant some solutions can be.

Again, before anyone tells me I'm insane - I'm dropping anything I can't handle. If that happens to be 4U maths, I'll try to do great in 2U.

 

[Kujah]

What topic are you thinking for your Major Work in Hist. Ext? And I agree with you - 2h/night will probably be enough Good luck though!

 

[Trebla]

I know students who spend more than 2 hours a night studying Extension 2 Maths, and they still cannot get good marks.

It's more of a matter of how you study it, rather than how much you study it. It really helps if you understand every concept in great depth as you don't need much practice and have better preparation for the harder questions.

Remembering a lot of formulae isn't very helpful either. It's better to remember where these formulae come from. All those tedious derivations of formulas and concepts that your teachers may go through may come in handy someday. These derivations will really enhance your understanding of the course by a lot.
I hate remembering formulae and I always refuse to believe in a formula unless it is proven and derived in front of me. So when it came to recalling a formula, I usually recall it from its derivation and this particularly helps in understanding in how to manipulate this formula.

Simply doing textbook exercises in those 2 hours, is not a good way to study. The only benefit doing so many tedious textbook questions can give is perhaps lowering your count of silly mistakes provided that you actually check your answers. Only about 30-40% of the exam papers will be routine textbook questions. The rest will be applying your knowledge and understanding into unfamiliar situations and problems. (which is the distinguishable feature of Extension 2 Maths above all other Maths courses)

I personally, only did textbook questions I was forced to do for homework because they were so boring. The good stuff comes from past exam papers with pretty 'interesting' questions which test how well you know your stuff, not to mention helps develop clever methods of solving problems in one line rather than ten.