Likely to appear tricky questions

[Lear]

Hey all!
With the exams upcoming I thought we should start a thread predicting what sort of curveball questions may appear this year.

I’ll start off


Core (Stats)
- Being able to identify ordinal/categorical variables when presented with an ambiguous case. (they also might throw a switch up and give us a numeric this year)
- Proper understanding of the difference between Significant figures and Decimal points
- Being able to interpret and justify an analysis of given data
- Classic question asking you what you need multiply the actual value to deseasonalise it given the seasonal index
- Given data type select most appropriate graph to illustrate the data


Core (Financial)
- From a given graph discern what the likely loan/investment is and it’s properties. Also vice versa
- Question on interest only loan or perpetuity requiring one to know the value stays the same.
- Question requiring you to find interest earned from an investment which you also added to periodically.
- Knowing how to fill in an Amortisation table properly and how to obtain information from a given one such as percentage interest, payments etc
 

Matrices
- Emphasis on understanding one step and two step matrices and how to form them from given information
- Finding the percentage of items that change using a transition matrices given a condition such as ‘Of the people who picked A last year...’ See question 3C 2017 Exam 2
- Finding a matrix that, when multiplied, displays data in a certain way or only displays data from select sections of the original matrix. See question 1cii 2017 Exam 2
- I am expecting a harder permutation matrix question this year requiring the student to form a permutation matrix in order to change a word into another word given in the question
- Understanding of culling and restocking when using transition matrices


Graphs and Relations
- Understanding of how sliding rule works. Including cases where the objective function gradient is both negative and positive
- Trick question requiring you to find an integer solution that is not a corner point
- A question checking one’s understanding that if all values  on a certain line are a solution, the objective function must have the same gradient

[VeryJuicyLemon]

geometry
- identifying similar triangles
- ambiguous case of sine
- knowing when and how to convert areas and volumes
- scale factor questions

[vceme]

graphs and relations-
identifying the constraint or making your own from the question

[studyingg]

Data Analysis:
-  a question about understanding the difference between causation, common response, coincidence
-applying the 68–95–99.7 rule to a symetrical histogram (showed up on VCAA 2002 + 8 years then on VCAA 2010 + 8 years ... perhaps today?)
-I think we probably will get a two way table

Financial:
-lump sum stuff?

Matrices:
- a question where you've been given some information about a round robbin comp, and you have to discern who bet who and answer a question based off that (simillar to NHT q7 2017, and 2016 q8)

Graphs
-setting up inequations I suppose
-I think the last graphs question may be a piecewise function instead of a linear programing question (they did L.P last year, 2016 and both of the recent NHT exams) judging from past exams they eventually switch it up.

[dimenc]

is lump sum on our SD?

[studyingg]

is lump sum on our SD?

I don't think it's explicitly mentioned, but I think it's assessable based on the point referring to changing the terms of a loan, as it appeared in exam 1 2016, last question in section A

[Lear]

Lump sums are effectively just a massive payment without interest that reduces the balance of the loan. It’s assessable.

Also for graphs and relations people, I’d strong recommend getting familiar with the sliding rule. I mentioned this above but VCAA consistently checks your understanding of sliding rule by giving questions were you simply can’t use corner point.
Sliding rule is also incredibly useful in other linear programming questions too. I genuinely use sliding more often than I use corner point these days.

[studyingg]

Lump sums are effectively just a massive payment without interest that reduces the balance of the loan. It’s assessable.

Also for graphs and relations people, I’d strong recommend getting familiar with the sliding rule. I mentioned this above but VCAA consistently checks your understanding of sliding rule by giving questions were you simply can’t use corner point.
Sliding rule is also incredibly useful in other linear programming questions too. I genuinely use sliding more often than I use corner point these days.

I got this really cool gridded ruler, so they better assess it!

[Lear]

Any thoughts on what sort of random theory based questions they may ask @studyingg?

I was thinking they may chuck a question of sampling and populations.

[dimenc]

how do you do MC 3 on that 2010 exam (finding sx from histo) ! - sticking in the example for if you are right!

[dimenc]

i was thinking maybe the definition of a least sqaures regression like in NHT 2017?

I also put one in about the population sampling i think from a MC from an external company

[Lear]

how do you do MC 3 on that 2010 exam (finding sx from histo) ! - sticking in the example for if you are right!

Just about all the data lies between 173 and 187.
We know 99.7% of the data lies within 3 standard deviations of the median.
That means between 173 and 187 there must be roughly 6 standard deviations.
(187-173)/6 =2.33333
2 is closest.

[studyingg]

Any thoughts on what sort of random theory based questions they may ask @studyingg?

I was thinking they may chuck a question of sampling and populations.

I hope no theory based tbh but  I asked my teacher about that, and he said the difference between observation and experimentation and the data you collect from it (pretty straight forward based off key science skills from chem or physics). I also think sampling and populations. If they're being nice they'll ask  'which of the following can never be negative'

[studyingg]

I don't remember if i've seen this come up in recent exams but the concept that the median is greater than the mean for negatively skewed distributions and the mean is greater than the median for positively skewed, and mean=median for symetrical

[Lear]

I hope no theory based tbh but  I asked my teacher about that, and he said the difference between observation and experimentation and the data you collect from it (pretty straight forward based off key science skills from chem or physics). I also think sampling and populations. If they're being nice they'll ask  'which of the following can never be negative'

There's always a random theory based question