Maths Help (1 Viewer)

[jashan123]

In year 7 and 8 i was great in maths. Averaging 90 when i didn't even study. In end of year 9 everything went bad and i even for the first time in maths (any subject) i failed a test ( 49%). In the start of this year i was really determined and for the first test i got 71%(quadratics and further consumer) which i studied really hard for. Most of them were just really silly mistakes and thats why i wasn't that disappointed.

Now that is out of the way my question is am a too far behind everyone. I want to do 4 unit maths but is it too late. Is the gap too big. Or does senior maths not care about before years. Like if i start going hardcore this year will i catch up. If i can catch up how many hours a day. Im really determined and if there is a chance i will change everything. Maximum i can go is probably three hours on a weekday just for maths. (because im doing advanced chemistry in year 10 and dont have much time)

 

[Hkaur_]

I was the same back in year 9 and 10 , if your willing to do it and really really keen, you'll get there. my mathematics class was full this year and when the assessment task came along majority failed and left. from what i've read above, you will catch up for sure, your not behind.

 

[strawberrye]

Never diminish the impact of silly mistakes, silly mistakes can often come as a result of a lack of practice, or more often, a lack of awareness of identifying these mistakes and avoiding them, you should treat them as seriously as treating mistakes coming from a lack of genuine understanding because at the end of the day, they both equate to a loss of marks. By adopting a serious attitude towards identifying and evaluating any mistakes you have made, it will assist you to improve your maths results dramatically alongside with regular practice Best wishes for this year

 

[Cleavage]

I have a mate who was scraping 80's in Year 9 and 10 maths, and he is now a very capable MX2 student.

Don't worry too much, work hard, and make sure you do well enough to get into MX1 in Year 11, and then take it from there.

 

[lilcutetricker]

HAHAHA year 7 and 8 is always easy. Year 11 should be the determiner for whether you should do extension 2 mathematics. I think the thing you should concern yourself with is getting into extension 1 mathematics.

 

[BLIT2014]

If you believe it you can achieve it ?

 

[rumbleroar]

Well tbh I did pretty badly in maths during junior school, got average or below it and I'm doing 4 unit now. It's not uncommon to do not so well in junior years and better in senior years. Tbh it's not about how hardcore you go, but it's about targeting your weak areas and making sure you nail that assessment and have a strong conceptual understanding. In year 11, I only did 30 minutes of maths homework a night (very little in comparison to now where I can spend whole nights doing maths) and still got into 4unit and ranked well above average. I didn't do more work, I just worked a lot smarter when it came to tests. I also made sure I understood everything inside out.

It's honestly not too late and I think you need to get your conceptual understanding really strong and aim for accuracy and speed to nail your tests.

Good luck

 

[obliviousninja]

If you are going to be undertaking 4u, I would say 2hrs spent on both 3u/4u a day is the minimum.

Also in terms of sillies, are corny generic as it sounds, they can only be weeded out though practice.

I have never failed a maths test, except my MX2 HSC. LOL.

 

[Squar3root]

If you are going to be undertaking 4u, I would say 2hrs spent on both 3u/4u a day is the minimum.

Also in terms of sillies, are corny generic as it sounds, they can only be weeded out though practice.

I have never failed a maths test, except my MX2 HSC. LOL.

... kind of ironic but whatevs

 

[emilios]

Lol omg I can't believe what some of the people in this thread are saying. When I was in yr 9/10 I didn't even know if I wanted to do ANY maths let alone thinking about 4U, but now I'm ranking first in MX2. I didn't realize I wanted to do 4U until around the end of year 11 and all my previous teachers were shocked, lots of people just shook their heads and told me 'good luck'.

Anyway all I'm trying to say is that it's never too late to step up your game (well except if its the week before HSC... then you're screwed LOL). In fact, for me, it was probably better to stay under the radar for the junior years. In terms of what you'll need, there's some useless stuff in the course like most of the financial maths, stats is never looked at again, and some of the tripped out volume and areas (ok well those can come back to bite you in the arse sometimes). What you definitely WILL need is a solid understanding of algebra, indices, straight lines (use the intercept method to graph em) and quadratics.

But for god sakes stop thinking about 4U. You'll hype it up way too much. It's not some behemoth, it's just a subject. In the mean-time, familiarize yourself with the content of the 2U and 3U yr 11 courses. A lot of it is a recap of juniour years (straight lines, quadratics and algebra are entire topics in themselves!). Aim to smash 3U above all else and the confidence will come with it.

And one last thing; in subjects like English and History, your teachers criticisms, critique and advice is very important. In maths, stuff your teachers. Stuff your tutors. There's plenty of resources on the net and textbooks are invaluable. When you learn to become truly independent with your maths (don't need to hold your teachers hand), that's when you really start to feel like a boss. Perfect practice makes perfect, so aim to expose yourself to a wide variety of questions, beyond even those that your teacher gives you. I'd recommend getting the green 3U cambridge book by Bill Pender and 'Senior Mathematics' or something by Fitzpatrick. The questions in those two will be way, way more than enough.

 

[panda15]

But for god sakes stop thinking about 4U. You'll hype it up way too much. It's not some behemoth, it's just a subject. In the mean-time, familiarize yourself with the content of the 2U and 3U yr 11 courses. A lot of it is a recap of juniour years (straight lines, quadratics and algebra are entire topics in themselves!). Aim to smash 3U above all else and the confidence will come with it.

This. I didn't even know what 4U was until I hit year 11, and didn't get offered to do it until 4 weeks before year 11 finished, but I still got an E4.

 

[enoilgam]

Now that is out of the way my question is am a too far behind everyone. I want to do 4 unit maths but is it too late.

You are only in junior school, so it definitely isnt too late. However, that isnt a license to get complacent. Unlike most other subjects, there is little room for gaps in your knowledge when it comes to maths - if you enter Prelim without a solid foundation, then it is going to be really difficult for you to do higher level maths. So just ensure that you have a strong understanding of the work.