Textbooks

[galaxy21]

Hi. So I'm doing 3/4 methods next year, and my school uses the Jacaranda Maths Quest textbook, however a few of my friends have also purchased other textbooks from different companies. Is it a good idea to have multiple textbooks, for different theory and questions? Or is it a waste of money? Which ones would be best as well?
Thank you!

[TheAspiringDoc]

They're all pretty good imo.
The most important thing is practise exams and VCAA questions, so maybe try getting your hands on some Checkpoints or otherwise just printing off some older VCAA exams (2005-2010 Exam 1's) and filling them out throughout the year as you go. Don't worry about running out of VCAA papers because with the introduction of NHT papers and also sample exams for new study designs you've actually got HEAPS available!!

[galaxy21]

They're all pretty good imo.
The most important thing is practise exams and VCAA questions, so maybe try getting your hands on some Checkpoints or otherwise just printing off some older VCAA exams (2005-2010 Exam 1's) and filling them out throughout the year as you go. Don't worry about running out of VCAA papers because with the introduction of NHT papers and also sample exams for new study designs you've actually got HEAPS available!!

Good point, thank you!. Do any have better theory, as I don't want to be missing anything important in my summary book? Or is it easier just to identify these areas in the practice exams?

[TheAspiringDoc]

Good point, thank you!. Do any have better theory, as I don't want to be missing anything important in my summary book? Or is it easier just to identify these areas in the practice exams?

Yeah so it is important to grasp the fundamental ideas - which is normally where a textbook comes in. But that being said, you can also just rely on exposure through practise questions or I also just discovered Worm's Maths Academy on youtube at the end of year 12 - which is a very very great resource - especially when watching his efficient methods to approach VCAA style questions

I think learning comes down to repeated exposure to the topic/theory, but from slightly different angles/perspectives. So yeah, if finances permit, there's no harm in getting another textbook - but there are many other ways (I forgot to mention study groups!!!) to get these perspectives as well

[galaxy21]

Yeah so it is important to grasp the fundamental ideas - which is normally where a textbook comes in. But that being said, you can also just rely on exposure through practise questions or I also just discovered Worm's Maths Academy on youtube at the end of year 12 - which is a very very great resource - especially when watching his efficient methods to approach VCAA style questions

I think learning comes down to repeated exposure to the topic/theory, but from slightly different angles/perspectives. So yeah, if finances permit, there's no harm in getting another textbook - but there are many other ways (I forgot to mention study groups!!!) to get these perspectives as well

Awesome, will definitely check out the youtube channel, and see how I go for the year. Thank you so much!

[TheAspiringDoc]

Awesome, will definitely check out the youtube channel, and see how I go for the year. Thank you so much!

No worries.
P.s. - a really important thing that many teachers don't emphasise enough is CAS skills. It's something I feel wasn't really covered enough in methods or specialist but just before the exam I discovered all these amazing shortcuts (mainly for MCQ questions) like finding the angle between two vectors (sorry for the spec intrusion but I love it solo much hehe  ) which are incredibly fast. To use it on CASIO you type [1 1 1],[0 0 0] and highlight it and go interactive>vector>angle ​and you get 90*. There's about a thousand other tricks I found too like setting a shift key to be Define f(x) , and then I just hit shift 9 and then within 2 seconds I've defined f(x) as sin(sqrt(x)). Sorry I'm on a roll now but another great one is to define f(x)=sin(sqrt(x))​ and then in the next line go judge(f(2x)=2f(x)) and it will say FALSE. Then you can keep changing the judge condition and it's a really great way to do those multiple choice questions about "which of the following is true for f(x)=3x^2" etc. 

[galaxy21]

No worries.
P.s. - a really important thing that many teachers don't emphasise enough is CAS skills. It's something I feel wasn't really covered enough in methods or specialist but just before the exam I discovered all these amazing shortcuts (mainly for MCQ questions) like finding the angle between two vectors (sorry for the spec intrusion but I love it solo much hehe  ) which are incredibly fast. To use it on CASIO you type [1 1 1],[0 0 0] and highlight it and go interactive>vector>angle ​and you get 90*. There's about a thousand other tricks I found too like setting a shift key to be Define f(x) , and then I just hit shift 9 and then within 2 seconds I've defined f(x) as sin(sqrt(x)). Sorry I'm on a roll now but another great one is to define f(x)=sin(sqrt(x))​ and then in the next line go judge(f(2x)=2f(x)) and it will say FALSE. Then you can keep changing the judge condition and it's a really great way to do those multiple choice questions about "which of the following is true for f(x)=3x^2" etc.

Aha I have no clue what most of that is about, but I guess that is the fun I can look forward to next year ! Definitely will be a very good idea to get that stuff sorted, because from what I heard from this year's exam, any shortcuts to save time will be extremely beneficial. Thank you!

[Sine]

I think the maths quest textbook is great for understanding concepts since they go through them in an orderly manner with example questions.

The other option is cambridge mathematics where the explanations arent as good but the questions that are provided are at a higher standard.

Hope this helps

[TheAspiringDoc]

cambridge mathematics where the explanations arent as good but the questions that are provided are at a higher standard.

Yeah actually I often found the cambridge explanations to be a bit ott with their formality. As in, it was full of rigorous and formal proofs and details, when in reality what matters to most students is just a clear explanation without too many distractor details when first learning the content.

Galaxy, in your position I personally wouldn't buy the Cambridge book - but as Sine mentioned if you're really desperate for more questions than it's a decent resource

[use your student email for time wasting like this]

No worries.
P.s. - a really important thing that many teachers don't emphasise enough is CAS skills. It's something I feel wasn't really covered enough in methods or specialist but just before the exam I discovered all these amazing shortcuts (mainly for MCQ questions) like finding the angle between two vectors (sorry for the spec intrusion but I love it solo much hehe  ) which are incredibly fast. To use it on CASIO you type [1 1 1],[0 0 0] and highlight it and go interactive>vector>angle ​and you get 90*. There's about a thousand other tricks I found too like setting a shift key to be Define f(x) , and then I just hit shift 9 and then within 2 seconds I've defined f(x) as sin(sqrt(x)). Sorry I'm on a roll now but another great one is to define f(x)=sin(sqrt(x))​ and then in the next line go judge(f(2x)=2f(x)) and it will say FALSE. Then you can keep changing the judge condition and it's a really great way to do those multiple choice questions about "which of the following is true for f(x)=3x^2" etc.

exactly what I wanted