Bast Maths Ext 1 or 2 textbook??? (1 Viewer)

[ripit]

Hi,

Can anyone tell me the best HSC textbook for Math Ext 1 and 2?

Thanks

 

[tempco]

ext2, i'd say cambridge.

ext1, fitzpatrick.

 

[dawso]

depends on what u want it for? theory or questions?? and what ur level of understanding already is? somethin like lee or patel is gud for harder questions, cambridge is easy

 

[turtle_2468]

personally, from using them a little + more using them in tutoring:

for ext1, fitzpatrick is good for basic stuff but I find that it doesn't have enough questions to get you used to stuff. Patel: Good overall. Cambridge is my preferred text here, because it has lots and lots and lots of questions, and you can stretch yourself however much you want... (some of the challenge questions are really quite hard.. *bias: My former teacher co-wrote this. But its supremacy in this area is agreed by most of the people I know...*

although, some people don't like cambridge for learning because it sets things out quite thoroughly. If you want the hard and fast facts, go with something like fitzpatrick/patel. Better still if you just want the facts then get a summary book!

ext2: Umm. Tricky I guess... cambridge, patel. Stuff like that... if you're serious about trying to get all the questions (not that you have to... most ppl I'd say try to get the first 6 done quickly first, then work on getting Q7+8 IN THAT ORDER (no point knowing how to do Q8 if you run out of time in Q5!)), then use a variety of books + papers. theory-wise most of them are good...

 

[Robbo_m8]

Definitly Cambridge

 

[LaCe]

Cambride isnt that good :S

Fitz is very good if you need practice on harder questions, however, if u want to learn theory go Cambridge i guess, but ur teacher should do a good job in covering theory anyway.
Patel is pretty crap for 4unit i have found, a lot of the questions are easy, although they provide scoffolding for typical questions that we could get in the HSC

 

[tempco]

ext1 - fitz
ext2 - cambridge

 

[withoutaface]

Textbooks aren't that crucial anyway, you just pick up te concepts and then do past papers.

 

[shafqat]

I'd disagree with that. I think very few past papers have questions up to the standard of the HSC. They are also very repetitive, using stock standard exam questions, and often don't contain questions on certain topics.

 

[withoutaface]

Yeah, but you got books such as cambridge giving students questions on tangents which an HSC exam will never send them on (in conics in particular), and imo a lot of the questions in there are a waste of time once a decent grasp of the subject matter has been reached.

 

[Idyll]

For Ext 1, Cambridge is an excellent textbook.
For Ext 2, I don't think any of the textbooks are particularly good in all areas. I think you actually have to use a combination (they all have their strong points).

 

[shafqat]

Agree completely with Idyll.
Cambridge does have some strange questions for conics, but I think students should always work a little above the standard required. Most conics questions in the hsc aren't as difficult, but if you just work for past papers you may struggle with some Q6,7,8 material.

 

[justchillin]

lol i agree with you all... I have lee, patel, cambridge and coroneous in my stock and from what i have done i would say that lee is v good for complex numbers and polys (some hard ones) but overall id have 2 say that cambridge for good questions and variety is best for 4 unit (patel has nice integration and volumes), and for 3 unit cambridge again... pender is a smart kid... the best thing 2 do though, is get all ur notes together so u make sure u know them, then hit the past papers. At first it'll be a bit tricky but once u get the hang of exam answers ur sweet mate...remember what you've done from a textbook doesnt mean anything when it comes to the HSC day... gl with it

 

[lfc_reds2003]

its very niice!