Incorrect Answers in Textbooks (1 Viewer)

[vinlatte]

Currently, my class is using the New Senior Mathematics as our main textbook but we have been finding wrong solutions, especially in the induction chapter.

The steps of substituting with 1 or the assumption that n=k usually work, it's always the last step that is incorrect. Somehow, the answer pages turn a plus into a minus (and vice versa) but it doesnt make sense. And we end up disproving the question by subbing the another number (usually 2 or 3), so the question is also wrong and we wasted time in class trying to make it work.

I understand that the textbooks for the new syllabus were rushed (like the Maths In Focus 'Advacned' typo on the spine) but it's annoying to think that you got wrong answer when the solution was incorrect in the first place.

Is anyone else in this situation? Are there better textbooks with correct solutions? And does anyone have worked solutions for the induction chapter?

 

[tywebb]

You can buy worked solutions for New Senior Mathematics: https://www.pearson.com.au/9781488618369

The one you can buy only has odd numbers however.

Also, if your teacher has a teacher account then they can also download the even number solutions from the publisher’s website. Note however that the even number solutions are only available to teachers.

 

[foxxraven]

That's ridiculous, I understand that they had to rush content for the new syllabus, but they could have at least checked it better. How are students supposed to use something which has the wrong answers? I'm so glad my school doesn't use that book, we use a mixture of Cambridge/Nelson textbooks (depending on what level of maths you take, Cambridge for Standard and Nelson for Advanced and Ext 1 and 2). And you can only buy the worked answers which are odd numbers? That's super odd. This whole situation seems like a mess, I'm sorry you've been going through this annoyance.

 

[tywebb]

And you can only buy the worked answers which are odd numbers? That's super odd.

Well that’s how it was for the second edition too.

The thing which is new however in the third edition is that teachers can also get the even number solutions too. That wasn’t available for the second edition. So that is an improvement I think.

 

[foxxraven]

Well that’s how it was for the second edition too.

The thing which is new however in the third edition is that teachers can also get the even number solutions too. That wasn’t available for the second edition. So that is an improvement I think.

At least there is that improvement.

 

[tywebb]

As for other books solutions, the easiest ones to get are the new Terry Lee books because they come with complete solutions for the whole book. You can get them at his new website at http://advancedmathematics.com.au

As for Cambridge, there are solutions - but only for teachers with a teacher account - and even then they are incomplete. Teachers can then give access to students via the Cambridge website, but what is the point of that if they are incomplete?

As for Maths in Focus - solutions are also available - but only if the school agrees to use Maths in Focus for the whole year group. Many schools find this restriction unacceptable and therefore haven't bothered with it.

The Mastering HSC Mathematics books have a website https://www.masteringhscmathematics.com.au which is supposed to have solutions, but often the website isn't working, or somehow sends you to the wrong website. The last time I saw it when it was working, the solutions were incomplete.

There is also Harder HSC Mathematics available at https://www.harderhscmaths.com which come with complete solutions too. BUT ... so far it is only for year 11. They were supposed to have released material for Year 12 last year .... but didn't!

So as things stand now, for solutions, the best one is Terry Lee, followed by New Senior Mathematics. I wouldn't bother with the others at this point. They are either too hard to access - or too incomplete to bother with.

However, things may improve a bit for some of them in the future. In particular, Mastering HSC Mathematics people have told me they intend to fix their website and eventually have all the solutions there.

Pascal Press are also supposed to be releasing new material for Adv/ Ext. 1 and maybe even Ext. 2 in 2020. They already have a lot of books for Standard - and a lot of books for the old calculus courses - but nothing for the new Adv/ Ext. 1/ Ext. 2 so far. What is encouraging about that is that their Standard books come with complete solutions! So if they can replicate that for Adv/ Ext. 1/ Ext. 2 that would be great.

 

[foxxraven]

As for Maths in Focus - solutions are also available - but only if the school agrees to use Maths in Focus for the whole year group. Many schools find this restriction unacceptable and therefore haven't bothered with it.

Wouldn't this not be possible in many cases because Maths in Focus doesn't offer Standard textbooks, therefore full solutions can't be offered to schools which have students taking Standard Maths?
My school uses Maths in Focus for Advanced and Ext 1 & 2(as well as Nelson's other textbooks for science) and I think that the textbooks are good but this is a huge drawback (and by solutions offered, I assume that you mean the answers with all the steps to work them out?).

 

[tywebb]

Wouldn't this not be possible in many cases because Maths in Focus doesn't offer Standard textbooks, therefore full solutions can't be offered to schools which have students taking Standard Maths?
My school uses Maths in Focus for Advanced and Ext 1 & 2(as well as Nelson's other textbooks for science) and I think that the textbooks are good but this is a huge drawback (and by solutions offered, I assume that you mean the answers with all the steps to work them out?).

Actually Nelson do have Standard texts, but they go by the name New Century Maths, not Maths in Focus.

Same rule applies to get solutions. School has to agree for the whole year group to use the book to access full solutions.

I think if your school already uses Maths in Focus for your whole year group then your school will already be eligible to be able to access the full solutions.

By "whole year group" I mean for example everyone in Extension 2 using the Maths in Focus Extension 2 book. For some schools that might mean just 3 Extension 2 students using the book. They would then be eligible to get the Ext. 2 solutions - even if the other courses in the year use other books.

So if your school uses Maths in Focus for Adv/Ext. 1/Ext. 2 for the whole year group, it won't matter if they use something else for Standard. You will still be eligible to get the Adv/Ext. 1/Ext. 2 solutions. Maybe not the Standard solutions.

It doesn't have to be all courses in each year. It just has to be an entire cohort within a year - all using the same book.

My point before is that Nelson's rules are not looked upon favourably by schools and many schools don't like this restriction.

The problem is that say you have 200 students doing Adv/Ext. 1 or Ext. 2 and 50 of them buy the book and out of say 10 teachers, 5 of them also buy the book. That is not enough to qualify the school to get the solutions. I think that is not acceptable and many schools have complained about it and have given up on Maths in Focus/New Century Maths as a result.

They are the only publisher with this rule and are basically shooting themselves in the foot with it.

Nevertheless it seems that your school is probably eligible to get the solutions.

 

[foxxraven]

Actually Nelson do have Standard texts, but they go by the name New Century Maths, not Maths in Focus.

Same rule applies to get solutions. School has to agree for the whole year group to use the book to access full solutions.

I think if your school already uses Maths in Focus for your whole year group then your school will already be eligible to be able to access the full solutions.

By "whole year group" I mean for example everyone in Extension 2 using the Maths in Focus Extension 2 book. For some schools that might mean just 3 Extension 2 students using the book. They would then be eligible to get the Ext. 2 solutions - even if the other courses in the year use other books.

So if your school uses Maths in Focus for Adv/Ext. 1/Ext. 2 for the whole year group, it won't matter if they use something else for Standard. You will still be eligible to get the Adv/Ext. 1/Ext. 2 solutions. Maybe not the Standard solutions.

It doesn't have to be all courses in each year. It just has to be an entire cohort within a year - all using the same book.

My point before is that Nelson's rules are not looked upon favourably by schools and many schools don't like this restriction.

The problem is that say you have 200 students doing Adv/Ext. 1 or Ext. 2 and 50 of them buy the book and out of say 10 teachers, 5 of them also buy the book. That is not enough to qualify the school to get the solutions. I think that is not acceptable and many schools have complained about it and have given up on Maths in Focus/New Century Maths as a result.

They are the only publisher with this rule and are basically shooting themselves in the foot with it.

Nevertheless it seems that your school is probably eligible to get the solutions.

Thank you for such a clear explanation, that was really helpful. I never knew that they had Standard texts. I agree, they really are shooting themselves in the foot here, but I think you're right that my school is eligible for solutions.

 

[vinlatte]

You can buy worked solutions for New Senior Mathematics: https://www.pearson.com.au/9781488618369

The one you can buy only has odd numbers however.

Also, if your teacher has a teacher account then they can also download the even number solutions from the publisher’s website. Note however that the even number solutions are only available to teachers.

Unfortunately, the questions we found that were incorrect are even numbered. I could ask the teacher, but they're more likely going change our main textbook.

 

[vinlatte]

As for other books solutions, the easiest ones to get are the new Terry Lee books because they come with complete solutions for the whole book. You can get them at his new website at http://advancedmathematics.com.au

As for Cambridge, there are solutions - but only for teachers with a teacher account - and even then they are incomplete. Teachers can then give access to students via the Cambridge website, but what is the point of that if they are incomplete?

As for Maths in Focus - solutions are also available - but only if the school agrees to use Maths in Focus for the whole year group. Many schools find this restriction unacceptable and therefore haven't bothered with it.

The Mastering HSC Mathematics books have a website https://www.masteringhscmathematics.com.au which is supposed to have solutions, but often the website isn't working, or somehow sends you to the wrong website. The last time I saw it when it was working, the solutions were incomplete.

There is also Harder HSC Mathematics available at https://www.harderhscmaths.com which come with complete solutions too. BUT ... so far it is only for year 11. They were supposed to have released material for Year 12 last year .... but didn't!

So as things stand now, for solutions, the best one is Terry Lee, followed by New Senior Mathematics. I wouldn't bother with the others at this point. They are either too hard to access - or too incomplete to bother with.

However, things may improve a bit for some of them in the future. In particular, Mastering HSC Mathematics people have told me they intend to fix their website and eventually have all the solutions there.

Pascal Press are also supposed to be releasing new material for Adv/ Ext. 1 and maybe even Ext. 2 in 2020. They already have a lot of books for Standard - and a lot of books for the old calculus courses - but nothing for the new Adv/ Ext. 1/ Ext. 2 so far. What is encouraging about that is that their Standard books come with complete solutions! So if they can replicate that for Adv/ Ext. 1/ Ext. 2 that would be great.

Oh wow, this is very extensive, thank you so much. I'll look into the Terry Lee textbooks, I've heard good things about it in other threads.

 

[vinlatte]

Actually Nelson do have Standard texts, but they go by the name New Century Maths, not Maths in Focus.

Same rule applies to get solutions. School has to agree for the whole year group to use the book to access full solutions.

I think if your school already uses Maths in Focus for your whole year group then your school will already be eligible to be able to access the full solutions.

By "whole year group" I mean for example everyone in Extension 2 using the Maths in Focus Extension 2 book. For some schools that might mean just 3 Extension 2 students using the book. They would then be eligible to get the Ext. 2 solutions - even if the other courses in the year use other books.

So if your school uses Maths in Focus for Adv/Ext. 1/Ext. 2 for the whole year group, it won't matter if they use something else for Standard. You will still be eligible to get the Adv/Ext. 1/Ext. 2 solutions. Maybe not the Standard solutions.

It doesn't have to be all courses in each year. It just has to be an entire cohort within a year - all using the same book.

My point before is that Nelson's rules are not looked upon favourably by schools and many schools don't like this restriction.

The problem is that say you have 200 students doing Adv/Ext. 1 or Ext. 2 and 50 of them buy the book and out of say 10 teachers, 5 of them also buy the book. That is not enough to qualify the school to get the solutions. I think that is not acceptable and many schools have complained about it and have given up on Maths in Focus/New Century Maths as a result.

They are the only publisher with this rule and are basically shooting themselves in the foot with it.

Nevertheless it seems that your school is probably eligible to get the solutions.

My school already uses the Maths In Focus for adv and ext 2, and they're quite small classes. I could probably ask for worked solutions from the head teacher. My only concern, from what I heard from others, is the level of difficulty it isn't challenging enough.

 

[vinlatte]

That's ridiculous, I understand that they had to rush content for the new syllabus, but they could have at least checked it better. How are students supposed to use something which has the wrong answers? I'm so glad my school doesn't use that book, we use a mixture of Cambridge/Nelson textbooks (depending on what level of maths you take, Cambridge for Standard and Nelson for Advanced and Ext 1 and 2). And you can only buy the worked answers which are odd numbers? That's super odd. This whole situation seems like a mess, I'm sorry you've been going through this annoyance.

Yeah, it became normal in class that whenever we can't solve a question, it's almost always the textbooks fault ugh.

I'm planning to borrow textbooks from the old syllabus and refer to relevant chapters. I'll even request the head teacher to buy more textbooks, there's only 3 ppl in my ext 1 class.

 

[vinlatte]

Update: Ugh, I found an error on a extremely simple question.

"MX2, 2.1 Q8: provide 3 examples that are consistent with the statement, and then a single counter example to prove that the statement is actually false.

(c) If p is a prime number, then 2p-1 is prime

Answers in the textbook; examples: 2, 3, 5. counterexample: 11"

But isn't 2(5)-1= 9, and that is not a prime number as 3x3=9. So their example is actually a counterexample. I wish they properly check answers smh.