Well, Bombed out HY exams (1 Viewer)

[littlespartan]

So, we had our half yearlies and we got our results back today. I fucked up maths brutally:

Physics: 100% (assessment)
Chemistry: 96% (assessment)
Economics: 92%
English: 81%
Math 2U: 65% (assessment)
Math Ext1: 53%

Do half yearlies even play a big role in the HSC (all my half yearlies were 20% weighting)? And also, how the fuck does one improve their mathematics marks? I've been trying past paper questions, but that didn't work for thiese exams (obviously), I'm just wondering whether here is a proper way to learn maths other than what I'm doing right now (lots of past paper q's). I consider myself to be a bright student (and so do most of my teachers) but maths seems to contradict this entirely.
ATAR goal: rn, anything above 90. Thanks.

 

[softchillisauce]

Re: Well, fuck

The weightings of half yearlies tend to be rather high, so yes, it will have a rather large role in the HSC assessment mark. Don't fret yet though - you've got some more math tests + trials and the final HSC exams themselves to redeem yourself. A LOT of things can change.

Here's how I personally studied maths (PLEASE NOTE THAT IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO FIND OUT WHAT WORKS BEST FOR YOU).
Regardless of how you choose to study math, the golden rule is always PRACTICE, PRACTICE and PRACTICE and UNDERSTANDING concepts and FORMING LINKS between them when possible. Keep in mind that the brain is best at understanding concepts when clear, cohesive links are formed between concepts as opposed to learning/memorising 'disjoint' bits of information.

1) Go over theory and revise it. Make sure that you understand what it's all about.
2) Do various practice questions of all difficulty levels, whether it be from a textbook/your school hw or your tutor hw
3) Once you have done this, try past papers. Whatever you get wrong AND you don't understand why, look over your theory or ask your friends/teachers/tutors. Careless mistakes happen often, so to prevent this, always check your answers by back substitution (subbing answers back into equations where possible to see if you get it right).

 

[strawberrye]

Re: Well, fuck

To improve your maths marks, I think rather than going to try to do as many questions as you can, here is my advice
1. Make sure you spend more time on your weaker subjects-i.e. maths than your stronger subject
2. Do homework questions and check answers-if you get it wrong, understand why and write tips as a result of learning through doing questions-to be careful of certain types of question, hints to get better solution/avoid making silly mistakes, and before exam-practice those questions you got wrong/read over the tips to avoid silly mistake
3. Whilst it is important to do questions, you need to start recognising the different types of the question-and apply your knowledge to new types of question-it is not about doing endless questions, but more importantly take the time to UNDERSTAND how to go through the questions-because understanding how to go through questions-is such a valuable thing that is often undervalued... and that really explains why some do much better at maths even practising less questions-it might not feel like efficient enough for you, but sometimes things worth understanding takes time to understand it through