Doing every question in the book = 40+ SS?

[deStudent]

I'm doing methods and spesh 3/4 and hope to get 40-45 in both. My method teacher keeps saying that if we want to get a score of 40+ in methods, we must be willing to do all the questions in the book (Cambridge).

Is this true? I don't think this is studying smartly...I usually do most questions in the exercise questions and try to do most questions in the chapter reviews (all hard tech-free and extended response questions). I don't want to waste time doing the easier things that I know how to do because I want to start sac/exam prep asap.

What should I do? I also have checkpoints that I plan on doing, maybe sac revision? I planned on doing them after finishing the respective exercise but I don't think I'll have time.

[extremeftw]

 Just use common sense. Doing every single question in the book won't magically give you a certain study score and it is clearly a waste of time to do questions that you are already very competent in. I imagine doing every single question would be a great way to get burned out and would probably end up doing more harm than good!

[Sine]

I'm doing methods and spesh 3/4 and hope to get 40-45 in both. My method teacher keeps saying that if we want to get a score of 40+ in methods, we must be willing to do all the questions in the book (Cambridge).

Is this true? I don't think this is studying smartly...I usually do most questions in the exercise questions and try to do most questions in the chapter reviews (all hard tech-free and extended response questions). I don't want to waste time doing the easier things that I know how to do because I want to start sac/exam prep asap.

What should I do? I also have checkpoints that I plan on doing, maybe sac revision? I planned on doing them after finishing the respective exercise but I don't think I'll have time.

yeah....nah

I wouldn't take that advice literally, maybe you should be able to answer every single question in the textbook but not have them done. Usually when I was completing exercises for methods and spec I would look at all the questions, the first 80-90% (sometimes 100%) of the exercise requires no real thinking. i.e if you know the concept you get the question correct. The last few questions + a lot of the chapter reviews are more exam style question and require you not only to know the math but to understand what they are asking and sometimes requires you to "think outside the box". So in the end I would do a few questions from the start/middle just to make sure that I actually do know the concept(also to show the teacher i'm actually doing work lol) then do all of the "final" questions. The ones that you don't really know how to do until you start writing down stuff.

With the newer concepts such as Statistics I think i completed most if not all questions just due to the lack of questions accessible to me on those concepts.

imo the textbook is good to learn the concepts but the real impact on your study scores is gonna be how well you use practice exams as there is a distinct difference between exams and the textbook in terms of question style so make sure you have enough time at the end of the year to do enough practice exams (that is gonna vary for everyone)  and be familiar with the language and style of them so that you can be confident going into your exams.

[deStudent]

Thanks for the replies.

[TheProphetPancake]

The way i always did it was that i'd do some of the questions in the beginning of an exercise, and if they were easy, i'd simply do every second question or the left side (if it was in list form), etc., but try (rather than do, per se) all the questions cuz in methods (and spesh) technique and process is (in my opinion) the best way to learn the information itself, and it worked out favourably for me 
Also, if you think you can do a question without difficulty, and have already demonstrated so by actually doing some, move on or read ahead or ask for more complex stuff from your teacher/online.

[Quantum44]

I'm doing methods and spesh 3/4 this year as well and am doing every question in each exercise. This is by no means the only way to do well at VCE maths but I feel that it is the best way to fully understand the content and give yourself the best chance at achieving the highest possible score you can get. It also worked well for my brother, who got 45 in methods and 40 in spesh.

[pha0015]

I know someone who's weak point was in methods, but since he tried every single question in the Cambridge textbook, he achieved a SS of 40 raw. In maths, I think that practice does reap its rewards, however I do personally think that doing all of the questions is a bit excessive, especially if you have a good understanding already.