Maths Summary Notes?

[Chemystery]

It's something I've never really heard of but are there any methods for math summary notes? I'm used to creating summary notes for science subjects and would love to know if there's a way to compile all my knowledge of maths (and 3U too!) into one book, or one each!

Any advice is super duper appreciated!

[jamonwindeyer]

It's something I've never really heard of but are there any methods for math summary notes? I'm used to creating summary notes for science subjects and would love to know if there's a way to compile all my knowledge of maths (and 3U too!) into one book, or one each!

Any advice is super duper appreciated!

Hey! So normally I'd say summary notes aren't the most useful thing for Math - You are definitely going to get far more worth from practice papers and other applied study. That said, I can definitely appreciate the benefits of having one place where all your knowledge is summarised so you can access it easily without flicking through a textbook. I'd even recommend purchasing a good set of study notes for this purpose (if you can find some that suit your style and needs), the ones offered by ATAR Notes are pretty bloody brilliant.

That said, if you are writing your own, keep it super organised by topic area. Focus on processes and skills. Math is full of standard question types - Your summary notes should detail the processes for attacking them as a way of remembering your content. For example:

Sketch the curve...
1 - Differentiate twice
2 - Turning Points (\(\frac{dy}{dx}=0\))
3 - Test Turning Points with Second Derivative
4- Find Intercepts
5- Sketch

Having these handy process outlines is a great resource for quickly recalling how to tackle certain questions, and could definitely be useful for your summary notes.

Use diagrams and colour to your advantage - Use examples if you like to see something done in front of you rather than explained. Basically, tailor the notes to your learning style! Any summary note tips we give, you should think, "Do I learn like that?"

Just a few thoughts, I hope they are helpful

[Chemystery]

Hey! So normally I'd say summary notes aren't the most useful thing for Math - You are definitely going to get far more worth from practice papers and other applied study. That said, I can definitely appreciate the benefits of having one place where all your knowledge is summarised so you can access it easily without flicking through a textbook. I'd even recommend purchasing a good set of study notes for this purpose (if you can find some that suit your style and needs), the ones offered by ATAR Notes are pretty bloody brilliant.

That said, if you are writing your own, keep it super organised by topic area. Focus on processes and skills. Math is full of standard question types - Your summary notes should detail the processes for attacking them as a way of remembering your content. For example:

Sketch the curve...
1 - Differentiate twice
2 - Turning Points (\(\frac{dy}{dx}=0\))
3 - Test Turning Points with Second Derivative
4- Find Intercepts
5- Sketch

Having these handy process outlines is a great resource for quickly recalling how to tackle certain questions, and could definitely be useful for your summary notes.

Use diagrams and colour to your advantage - Use examples if you like to see something done in front of you rather than explained. Basically, tailor the notes to your learning style! Any summary note tips we give, you should think, "Do I learn like that?"

Just a few thoughts, I hope they are helpful

This honestly helped me a heap! Makes me feel more confident coming into hsc this year, thanks heaps Jamon!

[parthie]

Not sure if this will help but here is a summary

[QC]

Legit for 2u, the ref sheet is summary notes. For 3u maybe write notes for parametrics and trig but realistically this is unnecessary as it can be derived in the exam and if you do enough past papers, you should have plenty of time

[jamonwindeyer]

Legit for 2u, the ref sheet is summary notes. For 3u maybe write notes for parametrics and trig but realistically this is unnecessary as it can be derived in the exam and if you do enough past papers, you should have plenty of time

There are quite a few formulas that aren't on that reference sheet - So it will definitely still be beneficial for a lot of people to have something summarising that extra knowledge (the Log Laws spring to mind as one example). I personally practiced way more, but I did make posters with formulas on them before we got a reference sheet (you lucky ducks). That sort of thing definitely still has its place

But be careful of over relying on that sheet - NESA will trick you

[jahony]

I don't usually write down summary notes, I just copy down the class notes and then do the textbook questions. Summary notes just seem to take too much time to write.

[RuiAce]

I don't usually write down summary notes, I just copy down the class notes and then do the textbook questions. Summary notes just seem to take too much time to write.

Everyone does things differently. This was me as well, but might not work best for others.

[QC]

There are quite a few formulas that aren't on that reference sheet - So it will definitely still be beneficial for a lot of people to have something summarising that extra knowledge (the Log Laws spring to mind as one example). I personally practiced way more, but I did make posters with formulas on them before we got a reference sheet (you lucky ducks). That sort of thing definitely still has its place

But be careful of over relying on that sheet - NESA will trick you

But I mean by the time you are going into the exam (I acc last year) the log laws and stuff are already pretty ingrained in my head so I didn't really need the ref sheet at all. 2u was essentially what we had learnt in yr 10 so it was like doing all the content twice.

[jamonwindeyer]

But I mean by the time you are going into the exam (I acc last year) the log laws and stuff are already pretty ingrained in my head so I didn't really need the ref sheet at all. 2u was essentially what we had learnt in yr 10 so it was like doing all the content twice.

Yep, I totally hear what you are saying! I was much the same by the time I got to my HSC. But as Rui said above, everyone works differently

[sophiemacpherso]

Any tips for memorising formulas?! I feel like I'm just going to forget a ton of formulas that aren't on the reference sheet on exam day 

[jakesilove]

Any tips for memorising formulas?! I feel like I'm just going to forget a ton of formulas that aren't on the reference sheet on exam day 

Practice practice practice! Spend some time writing out each formula that you could be assessed on, and create some sort of beautiful summary sheet. Rewrite the equations onto palm-cards (in colour, dependant on the topic area) and test yourself. Keep doing this again and again until you've got it down pat!

Another way that helped me was actually understanding where the formula came from. If you can derive a formula, you'll never have to memorise it!

[RuiAce]

Any tips for memorising formulas?! I feel like I'm just going to forget a ton of formulas that aren't on the reference sheet on exam day 

Essentially every formula that you will ever require can be derived straightforwardly straight off the ones that are.

List down the ones that are not on the reference sheet, and figure out how you can derive them off ones that ARE on there.

That being said, if you practice enough you shouldn't expect to forget them either.

[Wales]

Practice practice practice! Spend some time writing out each formula that you could be assessed on, and create some sort of beautiful summary sheet. Rewrite the equations onto palm-cards (in colour, dependant on the topic area) and test yourself. Keep doing this again and again until you've got it down pat!

Another way that helped me was actually understanding where the formula came from. If you can derive a formula, you'll never have to memorise it!

I second this.

At the beginning of year 10 I was introduced to the formula sheet. That ugly mammoth double sided page of contents. At that point the ONLY formula I remembered was the Quadratic formula. My advice for you is to do questions. Look at the formula sheet, that's not a problem. After a few weeks, months. You will remember it. It will become second nature. Don't stress about memorizing it. It will come naturally as it did for me. The only one's that I still struggle to recall are the Trig Exact Values. I memorised them by writing 2 pages of random angle to exact values every hour for a week. After that it'll stick with you...Sure you can work it out using your calculator so it's not that big of an issue.

Goodluck