Math textbooks used yr 11 for advanced and extension 1 (1 Viewer)

[Hipeople]

Hey guys,
Just curious about what books do yo use at school for yr 11 maths advanced and extension 1 and which one's you think are best.

 

[CheeseToast]

I use MIF (Math In Focus) for both subjects at my school.

Personally, I do not think it REALLY matters what textbook you use. I think textbooks are best used as a starting point to learn all the content for the subject and get comfortable with some of its primitive applications (or some slightly more complex ones). The "real" learning comes in past papers where you learn how different topics are used and what type of questions are realistically asked. Thus, whether you use MIF, Cambridge, New Senior or any other textbook will not make a significant difference in your learning. What will change the quality and quantity of past papers.

However, I do think it would be best to skim through each textbook because, sometimes, one textbook may contain crucial information that another textbook will not. For example, I know that MIF does not even mention nor asks about "coefficient of term x^_ in (x+a)^n" (or something equivalent) (i.e. binomial expansion application questions) but Cambridge do. I think the reason for this omission was the ambiguity to this topic in the syllabus because the Cambridge textbook places it as an enrichment exercise.

 

[Hipeople]

I use MIF (Math In Focus) for both subjects at my school.

Personally, I do not think it REALLY matters what textbook you use. I think textbooks are best used as a starting point to learn all the content for the subject and get comfortable with some of its primitive applications (or some slightly more complex ones). The "real" learning comes in past papers where you learn how different topics are used and what type of questions are realistically asked. Thus, whether you use MIF, Cambridge, New Senior or any other textbook will not make a significant difference in your learning. What will change the quality and quantity of past papers.

However, I do think it would be best to skim through each textbook because, sometimes, one textbook may contain crucial information that another textbook will not. For example, I know that MIF does not even mention nor asks about "coefficient of term x^_ in (x+a)^n" (or something equivalent) (i.e. binomial expansion application questions) but Cambridge do. I think the reason for this omission was the ambiguity to this topic in the syllabus because the Cambridge textbook places it as an enrichment exercise.

Thank you. This was helpful. I was asking because I wanted to buy a hard copy textbook and didn't know which to buy first because my school uses like 6 books.

 

[its_ace21]

Hey guys,
Just curious about what books do yo use at school for yr 11 maths advanced and extension 1 and which one's you think are best.

my school uses cambridge and nearly everyone gets band 6 (adv + extension)

 

[yourlocaliga]

Hey guys,
Just curious about what books do yo use at school for yr 11 maths advanced and extension 1 and which one's you think are best.

i use the math in focus ones, but i think it doesn't really matter. i've heard that cambridge questions are harder than math in focus ones(which my teachers have said are more of a good basic starting point), but i think other parts of your study(eg past papers) will have more influence on your studies than what textbook you use

depending on the school, some schools have specific textbooks that they may refer to when they assign homework or whatever, so you may have to check with your teachers for that

 

[howcanibesmarter]

i only use cambridge

 

[carrotsss]

cambridge but as said above textbooks aren’t the most valuable learning tool, I’ve barely used mine all year

 

[washi-tape]

Thank you. This was helpful. I was asking because I wanted to buy a hard copy textbook and didn't know which to buy first because my school uses like 6 books.

Rather than buying textbooks, ask teachers if they have a soft copy that they can share. They can get pretty expensive and sometimes your teachers will just upload it for free (depending on whether or not they care about piracy)

 

[WeiWeiMan]

Hey guys,
Just curious about what books do yo use at school for yr 11 maths advanced and extension 1 and which one's you think are best.

My school uses Grove (MIF) and Fitzpatrick (NSM). I’ve heard that Cambridge has some harder questions but personally I’ve just been doin past papers/ past hsc questions and using online resources. The A+ and excel study guide books are pretty good imo

 

[Hipeople]

Rather than buying textbooks, ask teachers if they have a soft copy that they can share. They can get pretty expensive and sometimes your teachers will just upload it for free (depending on whether or not they care about piracy)

Yeah, I actually have the soft copies of most of the books which I plan on using. Just wanted to buy one hard copy to use whenever I don't feel like using a computer.

 

[WeiWeiMan]

Yeah, I actually have the soft copies of most of the books which I plan on using. Just wanted to buy one hard copy to use whenever I don't feel like using a computer.

Have you already done prelim exams

 

[Hipeople]

Have you already done prelim exams

I should have mentioned, I'm in year 10.

 

[WeiWeiMan]

I should have mentioned, I'm in year 10.

Oh, does your school have access to any online stuff like mathsonline or smth

 

[Hipeople]

Oh, does your school have access to any online stuff like mathsonline or smth

yeah

 

[Chiprr]

My school uses maths in focus, but I found a Cambridge pdf textbook online for free and it helps a lot with specific topics and finding harder questions for those topics. Also, all of the topics (at least compared to MIF) are spread out a lot more meaning everything can be focused on for a little bit longer.

I used MIF in class and for exercises outside of class, and used Cambridge as a supplement for harder and more questions. Cambridge was definitely a better resource coming up to prelims rather than MIF imo.