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Author Topic: Methods raw 42 TIPS AND STUFF I REGRET NOT DOING  (Read 7026 times)  Share 

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BlinkieBill

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Methods raw 42 TIPS AND STUFF I REGRET NOT DOING
« on: February 23, 2017, 09:06:38 pm »
+12
Hey,
I got a raw 42 last yr in methods (i was in year 11) and i wanted to share some tips and reasons why i could've gotten higher. (I know this score doesn't give me a lot of credit but meh)
It's very important to start practicing exam questions early in the year - so checkpoints are great. Everytime we finished a chapter in class I'd complete the relevant checkpoints questions. This helped me in my SACs a lot. And you've probably finished 1-2 chapters by now- so start  doing some checkpoints or even questions from other textbooks! (The older edition of Maths Quest is great- they have 'exam practice questions')
With application questions the key is understanding the concepts and then obviously applying that to the questions, and practice of this is crucial to success in Methods. (Again start practicing extended response questions from checkpoints or even Cambridge chapter reviews 👌)
For those PRONE TO SILLY MISTAKES : I also think it's important to keep a record of your mistakes (from tests, anything else) and to revise them regularly. If you have these in mind then you're less likely to do them again. This saved me in my later SACs last year.
My school's SACs had trial exam questions - so maybe yours do too. Even if they don't one thing I definitely regret is not starting to do them early enough.
It's also very important to re-do practice exams (the ones you've stuffed up or scored low on). This ALWAYS helps in consolidating what you've learnt from the exam and to ensure that you've understood your previous mistakes. I regret not doing this as much as I should have, especially for Kilbaha and NEAP exams as their application questions are very difficult.
I achieved great scores in my SACs because I worked hard and got ahead at the start of the year when I hardly got homework. Maybe try and do this if you can from NOW.
With Methods (and any subject)  I also think it is important to not give up or start thinking negatively in the middle of the year. A lot of my friends with tonnes of potential did this and got a score that was lower than what they could've gotten. I was also upset abt a SAC score but this only motivated me and I achieved a great score in the next SAC. And btw I'm not considered 'smart' but I am hardworking so dont think that methods is only for freaks.
« Last Edit: February 26, 2017, 08:49:42 pm by BlinkieBill »
"One thing which sounds obvious - but is terribly overlooked - is that you have to be willing to work hard, no matter how bright you are." Dr Catherine Krupnick

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Syndicate

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Re: Methods raw 42 TIPS AND STUFF I REGRET NOT DOING
« Reply #1 on: February 23, 2017, 09:34:23 pm »
+6
i'm not considered 'smart' but i am hardworking so dont think that methods is only for freaks.

In my opinion, this is the most important part of doing well in methods. From seeing past students gaining high 40's and 50's in methods, I learnt that being talented (like knowing 3rd university maths in year 10) doesn't necessarily mean an automatic 50 in any of the subjects, it's all related to hard work, and the amount of time you put in the subject that gets you a good result.

So to anyone out there who feels like they have to be a freak at maths to get a good score in methods/ specialist/ further, I am just going to say it's all a lie, and that with hard work, nothing is impossible to reach.

Note: I am also doing methods this year, and I am just acknowledging what I have learnt over my last few years of school. 
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Aaron

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Re: Methods raw 42 TIPS AND STUFF I REGRET NOT DOING
« Reply #2 on: February 23, 2017, 11:11:11 pm »
+4
Thanks so much BlinkieBill for taking the time to post your experience :) I'm sure this will help plenty of those currently completing this subject!
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deStudent

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Re: Methods raw 42 TIPS AND STUFF I REGRET NOT DOING
« Reply #3 on: February 24, 2017, 12:11:59 am »
+3
You guys give me hope.

Joseph41

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Re: Methods raw 42 TIPS AND STUFF I REGRET NOT DOING
« Reply #4 on: February 24, 2017, 10:46:21 am »
+2
Outstanding post, BlinkeBill! 42 raw in Methods is outstanding.

This is going to be really helpful - thanks so much for posting. ;D

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Quantum44

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Re: Methods raw 42 TIPS AND STUFF I REGRET NOT DOING
« Reply #5 on: February 24, 2017, 05:32:51 pm »
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It's very important to start practicing exam questions early in the year - so checkpoints are great. Everytime we finished a chapter in class I'd complete the relevant checkpoints questions. This helped me in my SACs a lot. And you've probably finished 1-2 chapters by now- well start checkpoints!
It's also very important to re-do practice exams. This ALWAYS helps in consolidating what you've learnt from the exam and to ensure that you've understood your previous mistakes. I regret not doing this, especially for Kilbaha and NEAP exams as their application questions were difficult.

I've heard a lot of people recommend checkpoints but doesn't it ruin the VCAA practice exams for the end of the year as they just copy questions from them? Also, isn't re-doing practice exams a waste of time since, similarly to using checkpoints, you will be able to instantly know how to approach every question as you have done them before, therefore eliminating the difficultly of the question. Surely it would be better to do new exams as you will be exposed to different questions and be able to better learn and practice applying knowledge to questions you have never seen before.
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BlinkieBill

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Re: Methods raw 42 TIPS AND STUFF I REGRET NOT DOING
« Reply #6 on: February 24, 2017, 06:28:37 pm »
+1
Yes, Quantum44 i completely agree. Maybe rather than checkpoints questions from another textbook are better.I think I forgot to write this in the post but I also did this, and EXAMBUSTERS also helped me very much (awesome book filled with detailed solutions to exam questions pre 2005 )

But for checkpoints and trial exams I did them again after a long time so I didn't have that problem where I remembered how to do each question.

And with the kilbaha and neap exams - i couldn't work out how to do whole application questions and when I went over the worked solutions I hardly did anything afterwards. But during the exam revision period what I did try to do was write down a list of difficult questions in my trial exams and then re-do them after completing quite a few practice exams.
"One thing which sounds obvious - but is terribly overlooked - is that you have to be willing to work hard, no matter how bright you are." Dr Catherine Krupnick

2016: Mathematical Methods 42 | LOTE (CCAFL) - Punjabi 37
2017: English 41 | Chemistry 38 | Further Mathematics 50 (Premier's) | Specialist Mathematics 41 | Physics 45
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exit

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Re: Methods raw 42 TIPS AND STUFF I REGRET NOT DOING
« Reply #7 on: February 24, 2017, 06:33:14 pm »
0
Um I agree mostly as someone with 45. Not sure about the redoing of neap and kilbaha exams, especially since you could be using that time to do other exams.  A lot of their questions would be out of scope for VCAA. Redoing VCAA exams might be a good idea though.
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BlinkieBill

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Re: Methods raw 42 TIPS AND STUFF I REGRET NOT DOING
« Reply #8 on: February 24, 2017, 09:53:15 pm »
+1
Thanks exit  :)
Just to be clear, I thought re-doing neap and kilbaha exams was good for me because I couldn't even start the difficult application questions and then I would just read the worked solutions to figure it out. I think its important that after learning how to do such difficult applications questions it's imporant to actually attempt it.
Plus, I hardly consolidated what I learnt in previous exams. So I was just forgetting the concepts required for such questions when I did more exams.   (This is just my personal experience, so maybe it's just me who did that)   ;D

"One thing which sounds obvious - but is terribly overlooked - is that you have to be willing to work hard, no matter how bright you are." Dr Catherine Krupnick

2016: Mathematical Methods 42 | LOTE (CCAFL) - Punjabi 37
2017: English 41 | Chemistry 38 | Further Mathematics 50 (Premier's) | Specialist Mathematics 41 | Physics 45
ATAR 99.40

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exit

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Re: Methods raw 42 TIPS AND STUFF I REGRET NOT DOING
« Reply #9 on: February 24, 2017, 11:28:56 pm »
+2
Thanks exit  :)
Just to be clear, I thought re-doing neap and kilbaha exams was good for me because I couldn't even start the difficult application questions and then I would just read the worked solutions to figure it out. I think its important that after learning how to do such difficult applications questions it's imporant to actually attempt it.
Plus, I hardly consolidated what I learnt in previous exams. So I was just forgetting the concepts required for such questions when I did more exams.   (This is just my personal experience, so maybe it's just me who did that)   ;D

Oh yeah that makes sense. It really just depends on what the question is. If you gain a useful skill then it's always worth revising. If it's some dodgy question that doesn't make sense that would never be asked by VCAA then its better to move on.

But yeah, Methods requires constant revision of hard concepts, not just formulas and basic stuff which most people already do.
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cookiedream

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Re: Methods raw 42 TIPS AND STUFF I REGRET NOT DOING
« Reply #10 on: February 25, 2017, 12:34:02 pm »
+6
Awesome post BlinkieBill!
As someone who got a raw 44 last year, I want to add some things to this.

I think it's essential to go to your teacher whenever you're confused with anything. Go to them regularly throughout the year!
A lot of the time I sacrificed my lunchtimes and used my private studies to spend an hour on methods questions with my teacher, but it was totally worth it!!

Also, make your bound reference throughout the year and don't leave it to the very last minute (which quite a few people did rather than doing practice exams). With my bound reference, for every chapter I had a page-long summary as well as any questions that I was stuck on that related to that specific chapter in the pages after the summary.

I definitely agree with doing checkpoints and re-doing practice exams! I remember neglecting this and I often forgot how to do those questions when similar questions came up on my sacs. Even when I put them in my bound reference, I didn't understand the thinking behind the working out....

Another thing I did (which I also did for Psych) was that after every practice exam I finished, I wrote a little summary on the front page of the exam on the mistakes I made, what topics I should revisit, how I made silly mistakes and what I should do to prevent that. For instance, while I had the correct working out in my head I would write the wrong thing out, so I made a note to myself that I should mouth or whisper my working instead to keeping it in my head so I have better track of it.

My last tip would be to try to apply your Methods knowledge to whatever is around you, like idk what's the area of your garden excluding the circular pots that are around the vicinity, etc etc. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it reinforces your application skills so you're more ready for whatever your sacs or vcaa has to throw at you.

Good luck to everyone doing methods this year!!
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