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March 28, 2024, 07:45:37 pm

Author Topic: Methods is so frustrating to study for  (Read 16300 times)  Share 

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JR_StudyEd

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Methods is so frustrating to study for
« on: April 01, 2019, 05:10:39 pm »
+5
Last week, I was actually doing fine. I was doing Checkpoints questions to consolidate my knowledge. I couldn't answer all the questions, but I legitimately felt I was making some inroads. Then today happened. Teacher gave us a quiz, I looked at the first question, seeing it was about solving a trig equation. Let's just say from then on my brain was all like:  :'( :'( :'(

Look, I get it. This subject is far from easy. But why, oh why, does this subject make me feel so bad about my maths ability? It's chipping away at my self-esteem. Honestly, I'm not the most mathematically-oriented student, but I'm not completely clueless either. If this were a relationship, the root of the problem wouldn't be that I loathe Methods, Methods loathes me. It's like the content is incompatible with my brain or something. And I'm not lazy. I'm really trying to cooperate. I want to get better. How?

EDIT: Methods is so intensive. What I mean is that it requires such a significant expenditure of effort and time in order to understand, let alone apply the understanding to challenging questions. But the intensity that is required to learn the content is so draining that I can't even be bothered trying to practice it. Circular functions and company, I'm looking right at you.

Finally, I've barely touched the textbook questions lately. And you wanna know why? Because I don't want to fall further behind! I want to be more efficient, doing more work in less time, so I've, for the most part, dedicated my Methods study time to Checkpoints questions, only looking at the textbook and its questions when I'm really stuck. To what extent is this going to help me?
« Last Edit: May 08, 2019, 02:58:38 pm by JR_StudyEd »
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guac

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Re: Methods breaks my heart daily (Change my mind)
« Reply #1 on: April 01, 2019, 09:30:02 pm »
+4
Hey JR_StudyEd,

Maths is a struggle for a lot of us. Please don't feel too disheartened! You're going in the right direction - the key to doing well is just practising as much as possible.

I think you should try out some of the textbook questions before you do checkpoints questions. Textbook questions are all about practising your fundamental grasp of the basic rules and concepts that you learn, while checkpoints is more about testing how well you can apply that knowledge in a more practical setting. You need the former to do the latter!

Don't worry too much about how efficiently you're using your time when you do methods - just handle it one question at a time. Even if you're stuck on the same problem for aaaages, eventually it'll finally click and things will make sense. From there, as you continue to build up your understanding of the content, things will gradually get easier.

Just persevere and keep working hard and things will eventually fall in place :)
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JR_StudyEd

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Re: Methods breaks my heart daily (Change my mind)
« Reply #2 on: April 01, 2019, 10:07:17 pm »
0
I think you should try out some of the textbook questions before you do checkpoints questions. Textbook questions are all about practising your fundamental grasp of the basic rules and concepts that you learn, while checkpoints is more about testing how well you can apply that knowledge in a more practical setting. You need the former to do the latter!

Don't worry too much about how efficiently you're using your time when you do methods - just handle it one question at a time. Even if you're stuck on the same problem for aaaages, eventually it'll finally click and things will make sense. From there, as you continue to build up your understanding of the content, things will gradually get easier.

Just persevere and keep working hard and things will eventually fall in place :)

Thank you so much. Exactly what I needed!  :)
When Googling for advice on how to improve in Methods, I found something along the lines of 'Spend no more than 20% of your time on exercise questions', which is kind of the reason why I've resorted to mainly the Checkpoints book, and occasionally referring back to the textbook when I have no idea. I will eventually have to use Checkpoints for revision, though, so I can't completely abandon it. What do you think? Should there be a reasonable balance between textbook and exam-style questions?

Also, I absolutely do not have the time nor can be bothered doing all the textbook questions. I've made it a rule that once I understand the section that is being studied, I move on to the next. Is this a good (and more time-efficient) idea?
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guac

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Re: Methods breaks my heart daily (Change my mind)
« Reply #3 on: April 01, 2019, 10:16:21 pm »
+4
It really varies person to person. I certainly think that you should make sure you can do the textbook questions before you jump to checkpoints, but of course you don't necessarily need to do all the textbook questions either.

When it comes to textbook questions, pick and choose. I think a good way of doing it is to just look at the question and ask yourself if you think you could actually get the answer in a reasonable amount of time. For a lot of questions that will be a 'yes', and so it's probably fine to skip those. But for some, you might not really know - those are the questions  that you want to try to do.

I wouldn't really tell you to follow some hard rule on how you should split your study time, but I think the best thing to do is to make sure that as long as you encounter a question that you can't do or think you can't do, you make sure you do it and keep doing it until you eventually get to the answer and understand exactly what's happening in the solution. Better to be confident about a smaller number of things than to have really patchy knowledge on the entire course, because it's easier to become a methods expert with the former rather than the latter as your foundation.
« Last Edit: April 01, 2019, 10:44:28 pm by guac »
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JR_StudyEd

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Re: Methods breaks my heart daily (Change my mind)
« Reply #4 on: April 04, 2019, 01:36:43 pm »
+1
This quiz has shattered my persistence. It's not like I haven't tried to do better. This week, (possibly due to it being the last week of term), I've been so sick and tired of habitually studying, Methods being the epitome of that.

Many people choose to study Methods due to it being a prerequisite. Actually, I originally chose Methods because i thought it would open up more course options post-Year 12, plus at the time I thought I'd be capable of it. That was back in the middle of Year 10. Now, with a bit more knowledge under my belt, I've decided to try to drop Methods, and maths in general. Why? Because I don't even exclusively need maths, let alone Maths Methods for the vast majority of courses I'm interested in. (e.g. My number one goal for VCE is to gain entry into Monash Medicine, but I only need Chem and English).

It takes a lot for me to give up, but Methods has drained my brain power. It's crushed my spirit. Like I sort of touched on earlier, the best way to describe my plight is that the content in Methods and my brain do not mix well. I know a fixed mindset is kind of unhealthy, but I really don't think I can improve enough to pass the upcoming SAC.

Thank you for everything Methods, it was fun while it lasted.
(that is if I can actually manage to drop out of it, otherwise what on earth can I do?)
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Ionic Doc

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Re: Methods breaks my heart daily (Change my mind)
« Reply #5 on: April 04, 2019, 03:01:03 pm »
0
This quiz has shattered my persistence. It's not like I haven't tried to do better. This week, (possibly due to it being the last week of term), I've been so sick and tired of habitually studying, Methods being the epitome of that.

Many people choose to study Methods due to it being a prerequisite. Actually, I originally chose Methods because i thought it would open up more course options post-Year 12, plus at the time I thought I'd be capable of it. That was back in the middle of Year 10. Now, with a bit more knowledge under my belt, I've decided to try to drop Methods, and maths in general. Why? Because I don't even exclusively need maths, let alone Maths Methods for the vast majority of courses I'm interested in. (e.g. My number one goal for VCE is to gain entry into Monash Medicine, but I only need Chem and English).

It takes a lot for me to give up, but Methods has drained my brain power. It's crushed my spirit. Like I sort of touched on earlier, the best way to describe my plight is that the content in Methods and my brain do not mix well. I know a fixed mindset is kind of unhealthy, but I really don't think I can improve enough to pass the upcoming SAC.

Thank you for everything Methods, it was fun while it lasted.
(that is if I can actually manage to drop out of it, otherwise what on earth can I do?)

what if you don't get into Monash medicine ???
number of students than move on the Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences and than later down the track pursue medicine.
But to get in bachelor of biomedical sciences you need a study score of at least 25 in Math Methods ...
 :(
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JR_StudyEd

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Re: Methods breaks my heart daily (Change my mind)
« Reply #6 on: April 04, 2019, 06:21:58 pm »
0
what if you don't get into Monash medicine ???
Slightly off-topic, but many Health Sciences courses don't require maths. Monash Science lists Maths as one of the prerequisites, but also lists Bio and Chem. So yeah basically my reasoning behind wanting to drop it is because I have more reasons to drop it than to keep it.

But if anyone is able to help me out in terms of persevering in Methods, then feel free! I'm kind of hanging by a thread.

MODIFICATION (I'd love to double post, but I can't) (9/4/19): I'm in a state of limbo with Methods at the moment. I still want to drop it, but have got no response as to what further action can be taken. So, I have to stay put until the head of learning does anything. I don't think my cries for help last week were a one-off anymore, or just a fleeting expression of emotion, as I went to the Methods lecture last weekend and I still am deadset on wanting to drop it.
« Last Edit: April 09, 2019, 02:48:26 pm by JR_StudyEd »
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JR_StudyEd

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Re: Circular Functions is the bane of my existence
« Reply #7 on: May 03, 2019, 05:00:32 pm »
0
Mods, allow me to double post just this once. Pretty please? No one's responded to this thread in quite a while.

So I've just changed the title of this thread. I've realised that I don't have the same problem with the entire course. It's just Circular Functions (so far, anyway). About all I know is special angles and the unit circle concept, and that's about it. Sketching sin, cos, tan graphs? No. Solving trig equations? Nope.

I don't know if it's just me, but I just can't seem to grasp it. And I'm really trying, but not really getting anywhere.
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JR_StudyEd

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Re: Methods is so frustrating to study for
« Reply #8 on: May 12, 2019, 02:54:06 pm »
0
Been more than a week since I last posted here, and since then I've changed up the thread title again.

If you couldn't already tell from previous posts in this thread, to say this subject is a pain to study would be an understatement. I already knew after finishing 1/2 Methods last year that I wouldn't be scoring highly in 3/4 Methods. I know how to do a few things, but likely not enough to pass. The stuff I don't know how to do consumes my mind and makes me forget about what I am able to do. I'd be kidding myself if i said that I've mastered Algebra, but I can do a little bit of it.

A Mt Everest's worth of work is left for me, and even taking that first step seems so daunting. At this point, the only way for me to get me to start on any Methods work would be if I had a Methods class. No way would I start work on my own, because I know I'll be stuck, and get a throbbing headache immediately afterwards in an attempt to understand and apply the method. And I know the only way for me to get help is to get started, but I'm at a crossroads. Dropping it is not an option for me (given there's so little time left), so what is? Persevering and weathering the storm that will only get stronger? I've suffered enough at the hands of this cruel slave driver.

Would now be a good time to ask for a tutor?

(And I would like to apologise to those students who actually love this subject. Hope you understand where I'm coming from.)
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mango8

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Re: Methods is so frustrating to study for
« Reply #9 on: May 12, 2019, 04:00:57 pm »
+6
Persevering and weathering the storm that will only get stronger? I've suffered enough at the hands of this cruel slave driver.

Would now be a good time to ask for a tutor?

(And I would like to apologise to those students who actually love this subject. Hope you understand where I'm coming from.)

Hey there. I totally understand where you're coming from. In fact, as I was reading through your post, I was astonished by how much everything you were saying resonated with me and my feelings towards this fairly unpleasant, unforgiving subject. Literally everything you've said makes a lot of sense. So maybe you won't think much of what I have to say since I'm no maths whiz or genius, but I thought I'd offer it anyway. I absolutely despise circular functions and have always been annoyed with the sheer amount of time and effort I have to put into comprehending concepts, let alone answering textbook questions (incredibly time consuming) and furthering my knowledge with checkpoints/additional applied questions/vce exam questions.

First off, I don’t think solely focusing on checkpoints is going to be the best approach. I feel you on the falling behind at a rapid rate (my teacher does an average of 3-4 exercises per lesson and that’s 4 lessons a week so I would know about falling behind A LOT), but as guac said, in order to do further questions, harder questions, checkpoints, exam questions etc, you really need to consolidate your understanding of the concepts first. You need to properly and fully grasp the content before hurtling ahead and doing all the more practical questions. Now, when you’re doing textbook questions, don’t do them ALL. My school has excel spreadsheets of selected questions, but I’ve never looked at those, instead, since you are the best judge of your own abilities, strengths and weaknesses, if there’s a topic/concept you’re struggling in, as much as it’s boring and repetitive and time-consuming, the only way it will get easier, is to do MORE of those types of questions. Also more of the challenging chapter review questions. Whereas if you find certain topics/concepts simple and you find after doing a few questions you grasp them easily, as I said they are repetitive so move on to other types of questions. But I can not stress the importance of textbook questions enough.

In terms of efficiency, while I used to stare and stare at a hard question for hours, that is not a productive way to use your time, I can guarantee the solution won’t magically pop into your head all of a sudden, so make a note (do NOT just skip it and ignore it and never come back to it, I have been guilty of this, but really you shouldn’t), and then the next day maybe have a look again, and it might come to you, but if in most cases you are still stuck, ASK your teacher. Your teacher is an incredibly valuable resource, they are there to help you achieve your very best, they WANT you to do well. I ask my teacher for help almost every lesson, and with me and other students, once she’s finished teaching the class the material, she will spend as much time as needed with us individually to make sure we understand, even going into recess and lunch and just book times with your teacher outside of class too. If your teacher isn’t willing to help you then don’t be afraid of asking previous maths teachers you had or other maths teachers. Otherwise, I would highly recommend a tutor. I have one, he has greatly improved my understanding, and is so so helpful. Once you ask for help, things will start clicking into place. Methods is not an easy subject by any means, and I know you know this, but you won’t see results unless you keep pushing.

I definitely understand the feeling of ‘Mt Everest worth of work’, and you and I have probably heard this a million times, but you just need to take that step and start again. Once you start, you will keep going, Methods is only for 6 more months, not for a lifetime. Try your best to keep going and pushing till then.

You can’t give up, I can tell you, with effort, time, dedication and perseverance, it will all work out, and you will see results.

Hopefully you found this helpful. If you need any more help with anything, just ask me!

JR_StudyEd

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Re: Methods is so frustrating to study for
« Reply #10 on: May 20, 2019, 12:56:17 am »
0
Once you ask for help, things will start clicking into place. Methods is not an easy subject by any means, and I know you know this, but you won’t see results unless you keep pushing.

I definitely understand the feeling of ‘Mt Everest worth of work’, and you and I have probably heard this a million times, but you just need to take that step and start again. Once you start, you will keep going, Methods is only for 6 more months, not for a lifetime. Try your best to keep going and pushing till then.

You can’t give up, I can tell you, with effort, time, dedication and perseverance, it will all work out, and you will see results.

Hopefully you found this helpful. If you need any more help with anything, just ask me!
Hi mango8. Thank you. I'm so conflicted on what to say to you. Upon reflection, I guess it's mostly down to mindset. I'm sure you've heard of the whole fixed mindset vs growth mindset thing, yeah? Well, like yourself, I'm definitely NOT a maths-oriented person and probably never will be. I've approached Methods with a fixed mindset, thinking that because I can't seem to get anything right and/or even understand what I'm doing, I'll never be able to improve, and that'll be the end of that. The difficulty of the work prevents me from thinking I will ever get better.

I know it's too early to generalise, seeing as we still have an entire unit to go, but I feel it is fair to state that studying and learning Maths Methods provides me with absolutely no satisfaction whatsoever. Not one topic has gained my interest so far. It's like the end-of-period bell is a signal to end my misery. I thought learning was supposed to be fun, or if slightly painful, the suffering wouldn't last the duration of an entire year so far, like it has with this subject. I can do it, but a) there's too much to learn and apply, b) it's painfully tedious to learn and apply, and c) because of the tedium, I'm lured by either other subjects which are comparatively much more interesting, or away from studying entirely.
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Re: Methods is so frustrating to study for
« Reply #11 on: May 24, 2019, 05:10:29 pm »
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I relate so much to this thread it's freaky. We literally just had our first Methods SAC and I feel so useless. I could spend twenty times more effort and time on something compared to people who look at something once and understands right away. It's so tiring and I feel so useful and dumb and *insert 200 more negative adjectives* and I just hope this can all come to an end.  :(

Thanks for the post - it felt nice knowing I'm not the only one.
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Ionic Doc

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Re: Methods is so frustrating to study for
« Reply #12 on: May 24, 2019, 08:00:35 pm »
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damn . . . methods sounds like it gets hella hard in year 12  :-[

guess I'm doing average in methods 1/2 even though I spend a vast amount of time on the subject.

The only reason I'm doing methods is incase I don't get into BSci at Monash than I can go to Melbourne. . . but after high school ( methods can go away)
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JR_StudyEd

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Re: Methods is so frustrating to study for
« Reply #13 on: June 05, 2019, 04:29:03 pm »
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I relate so much to this thread it's freaky. We literally just had our first Methods SAC and I feel so useless. I could spend twenty times more effort and time on something compared to people who look at something once and understands right away. It's so tiring and I feel so useful and dumb and *insert 200 more negative adjectives* and I just hope this can all come to an end.  :(

Thanks for the post - it felt nice knowing I'm not the only one.

Thank you! Suffering together is always better than suffering alone! And yeah, I don't know if it's the subject's fault, but it does make me feel pretty bad knowing that there are others in my class who seem to be doing so much better and having a deeper understanding, whilst I just flounder.

damn . . . methods sounds like it gets hella hard in year 12  :-[

Hey Ionic Doc! Methods is only as difficult as you make it out to be. If you seek help persistently, then you should be fine. Do NOT be scared to ask for help. Please do not worry about what others or your teacher will think of you or your aptitude in Maths. Asking questions shows that you care about your learning. This subject is far from a cakewalk, but constant practice (especially on weak areas) will benefit you!  :)



I'm not aiming 'high' in Methods (i.e. 40+ study score) or anything specific. I just want to be able to cope with my maths anxiety that has slowly built up over the years. Last week, I wrote out what worries me about Methods. Hopefully this gives you a bit more of an understanding of my thoughts and perspective on my situation:

What worries me about Maths Methods

- I'm not able to grasp Circular Functions, and this affects my ability to complete questions from other chapters
- My belief that Maths, in particular Methods is boring and monotonous leads me away from doing any work
- Fear of getting it wrong and accepting that it is something that I will never be able to rectify because it takes lots of time and effort to learn, understand and apply

I can't really control what content is taught in Methods, nor how my teacher teaches. I can only really control my own approach to doing questions and SACs, and my attitude towards learning.
« Last Edit: June 05, 2019, 04:33:57 pm by JR_StudyEd »
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Snow Leopard

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Re: Methods is so frustrating to study for
« Reply #14 on: June 05, 2019, 04:53:10 pm »
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Is Methods really that hard?
Also, what's the workload like?