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Mathematics dilemma... (1 Viewer)

draksteel

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I have been doing rather terribly in mathematics this year (around the 40s-60s range).

So would you reccomend me to drop down to general maths? I know that it doesnt scale very well, and the other subjects i take dont have very high scaling either...

I take Modern History, Ancient, Economics, English Advanced and Multimedia(plan on dropping next year).

Or would it be better to drop maths off altogether, as maths is the only subject thats dragging me down.
 

xxheersaletixx

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I have been doing rather terribly in mathematics this year (around the 40s-60s range).

So would you reccomend me to drop down to general maths? I know that it doesnt scale very well, and the other subjects i take dont have very high scaling either...

I take Modern History, Ancient, Economics, English Advanced and Multimedia(plan on dropping next year).

Or would it be better to drop maths off altogether, as maths is the only subject thats dragging me down.


well in math are u actually trying hard? like doing past papers etc ?

do you like 2 unit math?

and yeah general scales shit..but if u do really well its not that bad
 

Fish Tank

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Drop maths if you feel your time is better spent studying for your other subjects (i.e. ones you're keeping). Personally, I'd say keep maths, but that's only cos I like it.

Talk to your careers counsellor, they usually know what they're talking about xD
 

Gussy Booo

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Keep maths. Obviously you're not studying hard enough. Keep mathematics, and try extra hard in year 12.

1) Do your homework
2) Study and revise as early as possible before exams
3) Do lots and lots and lots and lots of past papers.
 
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If you are genuinely unskilled at maths and its the only thing dragging you down perhaps it would be advisable to drop. I think this particularly applies if you aren't planning to do anything maths related in the future.

But as others have mentioned, if this is only because you haven't been working hard in it rather than it's not compatible with your skills, consistent and constant practise of past papers and revision will probably get you through.

You could probably talk to both your maths teacher/head and multimedia teacher and decide which is best to keep and drop. It sounds like it's better for you to drop maths altogether than take standard maths (unless its a prerequisite for any of your intended future studies or whatever) because it doesn't sound like your marks will drastically improve in standard and you will be scaled down.
 

TheStallion

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I'm in the same boat as you, but that's simply because I haven't given a shit in maths for prelim. There's no way i'm dropping to general, so it's obvious that I just need to work a lot harder - and I suggest you do the same.

So really, if you think you can knuckle down and study hard - keep it. If you're not willing to focus on it - drop it.
 

draksteel

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Well, tbh i really do not like maths in general. I seem to get really stressed out when doing maths, but i guess i have been trying...to a certain degree. Right now i plan on studying hard for my mathematics yearly, ill keep it if i get around 80%.

Does the scaling factor of general maths matter all that much? o_O
 

slyhunter

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Well, tbh i really do not like maths in general. I seem to get really stressed out when doing maths, but i guess i have been trying...to a certain degree. Right now i plan on studying hard for my mathematics yearly, ill keep it if i get around 80%.

Does the scaling factor of general maths matter all that much? o_O
Unfortunately yes. General maths does scale horribly and it is worth noting that it is a capped subject. That is achieving a raw mark of 100 for general maths, you will get scaled down to the low 90s (about 91-92).
 

Mu5hi

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I have been doing rather terribly in mathematics this year (around the 40s-60s range).

So would you reccomend me to drop down to general maths? I know that it doesnt scale very well, and the other subjects i take dont have very high scaling either...

I take Modern History, Ancient, Economics, English Advanced and Multimedia(plan on dropping next year).

Or would it be better to drop maths off altogether, as maths is the only subject thats dragging me down.
Thats only 8 units, once you drop maths. Also if your planning on going uni you need aleast 10 units.
 

ninetypercent

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You will need to choose between Multimedia and Maths

If you pick Multimedia, then drop to General maths since you're not doing well in 2U
If you pick Maths, then keep Multimedia.

Which is better: Maths or Multimedia?

My school advises people to NOT drop to General Maths because you would've missed out on a lot of work. If you are prepared to work hard, it shouldn't be a problem
 

xxheersaletixx

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You will need to choose between Multimedia and Maths

If you pick Multimedia, then drop to General maths since you're not doing well in 2U
If you pick Maths, then keep Multimedia.

Which is better: Maths or Multimedia?

My school advises people to NOT drop to General Maths because you would've missed out on a lot of work. If you are prepared to work hard, it shouldn't be a problem
catching up isnt that hard really... i started general first term of hsc lol and am top 5 ranked
 

draksteel

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You will need to choose between Multimedia and Maths

If you pick Multimedia, then drop to General maths since you're not doing well in 2U
If you pick Maths, then keep Multimedia.

Which is better: Maths or Multimedia?

My school advises people to NOT drop to General Maths because you would've missed out on a lot of work. If you are prepared to work hard, it shouldn't be a problem
lol im ranked 3rd in Multi and 100+ in maths, but asian who doesnt do maths=failure and multi is too much work >_> so i guess ill be staying with 2U for now...
 

TheStallion

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catching up isnt that hard really... i started general first term of hsc lol and am top 5 ranked
That's General maths though, which is piss easy. Catching up on 2U stuff like Calculus can be tough if you're not willing to work hard.
 

Schoey93

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Keep maths. Obviously you're not studying hard enough. Keep mathematics, and try extra hard in year 12.

1) Do your homework
2) Study and revise as early as possible before exams
3) Do lots and lots and lots and lots of past papers.
That's rather harsh, for all you know he could be trying very hard. And 'try harder' isn't necessarily the answer. Learning in Mathematics is progressive. That is, what you learn builds on what you have learnt in Years 7 - 10. If you didn't understand concepts studied in Year 10, then it is likely that you will struggle with the concepts studied in HSC Mathematics. It is possible that the OP's understanding of Year 10 Mathematics was underdeveloped, leaving him with a poor foundation for Year 11 Mathematics. So he might be too far behind to catch up before the 2010 HSC.

I say, drop Mathematics. Keep IT (Multimedia), unless you absolutely detest it, because from what you said (OP) you're actually doing quite well in Multimedia. You could drop to General Mathematics if you'd prefer to drop Multimedia, but General is really easy, and it could get boring, but on the other hand, what you learn in General Maths you can apply to your everyday activities (eg shopping, investing money, taxation).
 

oasfree

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Hey, people who are doing badly in mathematics won't be much good at University. Your choices at University will be very limited. That's not even talking about the fact that you virtually need math for everything nowadays. Even Biologists now need hard math as the science is moving into molecular level! Social science requires computing and math as well.

Why do some people do so badly in mathematics? I belive that any one who is not naturally good at mathematics should be able to be reasonable at it if the training is right and enough effort is made. The reason you are lousy at HSC math is because you are lousy at primary school math. Students who are lousy at HSC math won't be able to deal with difficult math problems for grade 5-6. Yes, even if you drop back to grade 6 and try hard stuff for grade 6 you will also fail.

The solution is simple but it takes time. The only way is to go back and learn lower grades. In many cases I would go as far as suggesting that year 11 students go back to grade 1 and work rapidly forward. Spend an average of 1 week on each grade from 1-4, then 4 weeks on grade 5-7, 8 weeks on grade 8-9, ... This depends on individual ability. Students who do this will start to discover all sorts of gaps in learning that they did not cover when they were young. Only by filling these gaps then restructure one's understanding of mathematical senses (number sense, fraction sense, ratio sense, geometrical sense, algebraic sense ...) in a solid manner one would be able to move forward. What they generally do when they have lost the basics is to rote-learn. And that's terrible. They will forget almost everything 12 months after graduation!

I studied mathematics at University level and I still learnt a lot by going back to grade 1-6 to see how the teachings have changed over the years. I still learn new things and new ways to solve problems!
 

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