Maths and unable to score full marks. How can I stop this? (1 Viewer)

[MzRobinHood97]

Hello,
I'm in year 11 and I spend SO much time in 2 unit maths. I understand all concepts and can answer everything correctly when completing homework and studying. But in exams, I make stupid mistakes and feel like I waste my study time. I got a 83% and a 73% and I feel like I either don't read the question correctly. One time the question mentioned to draw a certain graph but my mind told me to draw another graph and I know this concept REALLY well, and well I looked at it again. I thought it was right. Like I was mindlessly agreeing in the exam. It was like a snap to reality when I was collecting the papers to return to the teacher that I saw everyone's graphs and then realised my mistake. Or I dont have enough time. I dont have a tutor and don't plan to get one.

I don't understand why I get these marks, regardless of studying so much? Is it exam anxiety? I want to get full marks in year 12 but don't understand why I can't stop making these mistakes?

 

[youngsky]

It's most probably exam nerves compromising your marks. You can study as much content as you want for 2u, but at the end of the day it all goes towards prepping you for doing well in exams. Since you still have time until year 12 begins, it might work for you if you make a habit of timing yourself/using exam conditions for all the past papers/exercises that you do.

 

[Carrotsticks]

Could you perhaps be rushing through the paper too quickly?

 

[Joshmosh2]

What my friend did was to do the questions really slowly. We were fortunate to have a relatively easy exam, and doing so minimised the risk of losing marks due to mistakes.
I rushed through my exam however, and had over 30 minutes left. Still did quite well but there were a few marks that I could have easily won..
Calculate the amount of time you need to use on each question, and distribute time accordingly

 

[Queenroot]

Well that's way better than I did, so be proud of yourself.

 

[emilios]

Had this exact same problem in yr 11 and it was really frustrating. Just do a tonne of past papers, its really the best cure. Commit the algebra to pure muscle memory.

 

[integral95]

yeah pretty much before the exam you should practice the easy questions slowly, so that you're more aware about the kind of mistakes you usually make.

During the test/exam, only think about the question you're doing and not the whole paper as a whole i.e don't be like "I fricken need to score full marks."

Also read the whole question a few times to ensure you know exactly what it's asking.

Finally don't expect the blitz the test and hope to pick up the mistakes when you check again, cause you'll subconsciously think it's right and somehow miss it.

 

[v1]

i scored 100% a few times during my HSC assessments.
1. understand all content thoroughly (can derive equations via first principles) - that way you don't need to memorise anything and can derive everything on the spot if you ever forget or doubt yourself.
2. Do routine questions from textbooks to test understanding
3. Do school past papers/ trial papers timed, and pretend the mark u get from the trial paper is the actual mark you are going to get (go hard out 100% srs mode). That way you put pressure on yourself when doing the practice exams. After doing about 15 or so you will get used to it, and in the exam you can hopefully perform.
4. Also while doing trial papers, record every question/silly mistake you get wrong on another paper (Should drop to almost none if understanding is great). Redo them 1-2 days before exam to remind yourself to not make these same mistakes.

 

[Futuremedstudent]

do lots of past papers.

 

[photastic]

1. Do the exam in a steady pace.
2. Do not rush, you half plenty of time (3hrs).
3. Calm the pho down during checking time.
4. Past papers.

This is why I do calculations better in physics than maths cos I plan before attempting lololol

 

[faisalabdul16]

Do a lot of past papers! When doing exams read questions carefully

 

[BLIT2014]

As your HSC isn't until 2017, you have 3 years to perfect this.

They could be accelerated in Mathematics?

 

[Kurosaki]

Uh, OP said that they're Year 11...

 

[HeroicPandas]

Silly mistakes.. possibly the most feared obstacles to be overcome by everyone

I believe the main cause of this is lack of focus. You might be doing the tests too quickly (as others have said), and the quicker you do them, the lesser focus you have on the small details. To remedy this problem, slow down (as others have said) and be careful!

In addition, you also seem to study hard but maybe you are not focused enough during those study periods?

" I feel like I either don't read the question correctly" - You can fix this (and silly mistakes) by devoting 100% of my focus while studying, and it can enhance concentration greatly!!! Stay 100% focused even when doing 3+7, or differentiating e^(2x) with respect to x. When you see easy questions, you naturally lower down your focus - prevent this to become the best you can be

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