Hi everyone!
I've been thinking about making a guide on Further for a long time now, but I never really thought I was good enough to be making one due to my final results. This guide has been sitting on my computer for a while and at one point, I was tempted to delete it but after much debate, here it is for you guys! I may have not did well in the exam, but there is definitely one thing I did well in this subject which is: *Drumroll please*
Making a bound reference and using my CAS! (The secret tips no one tells you about)
So this guide is going to be a step by step process on some ideas that you can use during the year to help you get better at making a bound reference that meets VCAA requirements as well as becoming best friends with CAS! I'll also be including into this guide some recommended study guides/exam companies as well as an overall approach to Further Maths!
Time for some CASual Further Maths!
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✰Mini Intro to CAS✰ (This guide is for people using the TI-nspire CAS calculators)Welcome to Further Maths 3/4, where your CAS means everything to you!
You CAS should be on Float, degrees and approximate mode in your calculator settings. Those that do Methods 3/4 or even Specialist 3/4 in conjunction with Further should be aware that you will need to change calculator settings constantly, so make sure you are using the right one.
Below is a list of the most common CAS Shortcuts that I have used frequently during the year. (I did Matrices/Geometry module so these CAS shortcuts will be based on those). You will also be using spreadsheet and data & statistics quite frequently too. (We never rearrange equations in Further, we CAS it!)
Most common CAS functions in Further:
Name of function : Shortcut
Solve : Menu -> 3 -> 1
Numerical Solve : Menu -> 3 -> 6
Multiple simultaneous equations : Menu -> 3 -> 7 -> 2
Determinant : Menu -> 7 -> 3
Transpose : Menu -> 7 -> 2
Financial Solver : Menu -> 8 -> 1
Effective Interest Rate : Menu -> 8-> 5 -> 2
Creating Matrices : "The button with 3 boxes next to the book Icon" or Menu -> 7 -> 1
One thing people seem to forget about the CAS is that it's a mini-computer, you can use Copy and Paste! If you want to copy something from another document hover over it till it highlights and press ctrl + c and then to paste press ctrl + v.
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✰Bound References✰Now the big question is, what is the ideal bound reference?
Well for starters the ideal one is one that passes VCAA standards. This includes:
· One horizontal or vertical spine
· Must be SECURELY attached. None of those clips that can hold paper and open. It needs to be permanent (There are people in the exam room that check/shake your bound reference so watch out).
· No tabs must extend off the page. You also can’t have brochure-style stuff stuck inside that may fold out beyond A4 size.
You should construct your bound reference on the very first lesson of Further
. I used a 128 Page exercise book as my bound reference for SACs during the year (highly recommend the grid paper one) and pretty much filled it with CAS functions and challenging questions. I also did a one-page summary sheet after each topic so, in an assessment, it would be easy to flick to what I want. After June, I started to type my bound reference up and by my last SAC, my final bound reference was only 5 double-sided pages! During the time of exam revision (September to November). I bought a small B5 notebook that would be my new
mistakes book. Every time I did a question wrong, even for simple mistakes, it would go into this book and I would always check it to make sure I don't repeat the same mistakes.
My main reason for having a small bound reference was that when I did practise exams, I would rely more on the formula sheet. Once October hit, I pretty much stopped using a bound reference and formula sheet entirely. As weird as this sounds, my bound reference had photos of my friends and teachers inside with messages from my teachers so that if I did get stressed during reading/writing time, I could look at them to calm myself down. (The front cover of my bound ref is literally a drawing I did for my teacher for her birthday
) My bound reference sole purpose was to make the exam not feel like an exam and to remind me I had one person who believed I could do well in this subject.
Your bound reference is for you to constantly revise and remember concepts throughout the year! You should construct as much as you can by yourself and try to avoid making a bound reference solely on other people's notes as you may find it hard to find certain pieces of information during an assessment.
Everything you could possibly need in Further is on the formula sheet provided in the exam. Get familiar with it as it will stop you from going to your bound reference for simple formulas. Lastly, do not chuck excessive amounts of examples in your bound reference as a substitute for doing the work. It will not work. Don’t be that person, it will come to bite you at the end of the year exam. Study smart throughout the year and you won’t even need the bound reference, trust me.
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✰Study Guides✰I went through quite a bit of stuff during Further 3/4. Here is a list of highly recommended, recommended and also some stuff I personally didn't find too useful:
Highly recommended guides/questions/notes:A+ Notes: This was my saviour alongside Checkpoints the whole year. Has a great number of questions for each topic in preparation for SACs and has some good original questions you wouldn't find anywhere else.
Checkpoints: Past questions from other Further exams all mashed into one. Will spoil VCAA exams but are worth the investment.
Recommended:Vic Maths Notes: Great for making sure you have everything you need for bound references!
ATAR NOTES Course Notes/Topic Tests: I loved using the course notes throughout the year as all the info was laid out in a simple and concise way. The topic tests were great for the core areas (Data Analysis and Financial) however, some of the modules (Matrices/Geometry) sections could have been a bit harder. (If it was a bit harder, this would most likely be in the highly recommended area) For the topic tests, you only have 10 tests to go through.
Not worth it:NEAP:
Don't do it. Just no. The quality of these questions are seriously everywhere and sometimes don't even relate to things in the current study design. Also avoid the practise exams for this company if possible. I really don't like saying this type of stuff about companies, but Neap and Further Maths do not mix together well.
Connect Education: If you have already purchased A+ Notes and/or ATAR NOTES course notes, don't buy this. The connect education notes don't really come with any questions and pretty much have the bare basics of what you need. For a maths subject, I wouldn't recommend these however I'm sure for more wordier subjects these notes would be great!
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✰Company Practise Exams✰Here is my take on the Further Maths Exam company hierarchy! I recommend doing anything but VCAA/VCAA NHT first as practice and then going straight to VCAA as they will be the closest exams you can get to the real thing! (This may also apply to Methods exams too)
1. MAV MAV MAV MAV MAV MAV
2. VCAA NHT
3. Insight/Kilbaha/Heffernann
Do note: Heffernann is probably the closest you will get to VCAA excluding NHT. Highly recommend these exams!
The exam companies to avoid: (I'm really sorry)
NEAP: I had so many teachers and Further Examiners tell me to never touch a Neap exam and guess what I did? That's right, I did a few Neap ones to see if they were right and I can safely say that for my future maths studies in Methods that I will never touch Neap again. The questions are either really easy or they don't address the study design properly (not to mention they have a few mistakes in their solutions). I can't comment on their smart-study questions book but I can say after doing some of their commercial exams that it's a waste of your time.
QATs: Didn't find the questions really challenging and the wording was quite ambiguous at times.
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✰Ashmi's Bound Reference✰Here is a copy of my Bound Reference for those interested!
- TO BE UPDATED (Hopefully some common mistakes soon!)-