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Author Topic: How early should I cover the entire syllabus?  (Read 2074 times)  Share 

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SS1314

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How early should I cover the entire syllabus?
« on: October 23, 2019, 05:21:16 pm »
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Hello,

I am currently in the midst of devising a plan for Maths Methods 3/4. Now, I will be doing this subject alongside another 3/4 in year 11 so I am able to invest more time compared to the year 12s doing MM3/4. How early should I complete the entire Cambridge Math Methods 3/4 book (excluding the review chapters)? How beneficial is it even to finish it early? How early is beneficial by how much?

I am asking this question because I have heard 50 SS scorers covering the entire syllabus before the year even starts!

Thank you :)

MOD EDIT: 3 hours is not a sufficient amount of time to warrant a double post :) ~ Regards Sine
« Last Edit: October 23, 2019, 08:43:25 pm by Sine »
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SS1314

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Re: How early should I cover the entire syllabus?
« Reply #1 on: October 24, 2019, 06:42:15 pm »
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Anyone? I would really appreciate some suggestions :)
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caffinatedloz

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Re: How early should I cover the entire syllabus?
« Reply #2 on: October 24, 2019, 07:17:25 pm »
+7
Do you think you would find it beneficial to work ahead? What would it allow you to do?
Do you think that there might be any negatives? Or difficulties? If you get stuck on something, would you have someone who could explain it to you?

SS1314

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Re: How early should I cover the entire syllabus?
« Reply #3 on: October 24, 2019, 07:56:23 pm »
-1
Do you think you would find it beneficial to work ahead? What would it allow you to do?
Do you think that there might be any negatives? Or difficulties? If you get stuck on something, would you have someone who could explain it to you?

I was really hoping for some suggestions not more questions being fired back at me, but thank you for replying anyway.
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Re: How early should I cover the entire syllabus?
« Reply #4 on: October 24, 2019, 08:25:24 pm »
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I was really hoping for some suggestions not more questions being fired back at me, but thank you for replying anyway.

I feel like these are quite important questions to reflect on to see why you think this is an appropriate option for you.

People differ, and where covering the entire course material super early may benefit some people, it may not benefit everyone. Knowing why you may be considering this, what you intend to be getting out of it, and contingency plans gives us a bit of insight.

How beneficial is it even to finish it early? How early is beneficial by how much?

I am asking this question because I have heard 50 SS scorers covering the entire syllabus before the year even starts!

Not being rash, but to me, it seems you might be questioning it yourself already and doing it only for the sake of emulating past 'successful' pupils, rather than really considering what you would get out of it (or if it's even feasible).

I will tell you now, though, it is possible to get score high without having to essentially go through the entire course before you're even formally taught it. So if I had to answer your question from my point of view, it would be completely useless for me to do something like this - even at uni.
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caffinatedloz

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Re: How early should I cover the entire syllabus?
« Reply #5 on: October 24, 2019, 08:38:36 pm »
-1
I was really hoping for some suggestions not more questions being fired back at me, but thank you for replying anyway.
Like www said, I was hoping that you could think about whether or not it would personally benefit you. I have not done methods and thus I have no place in giving you advice. I also know nothing about you or your study style so I don't think that advice that works for one person who does methods would necessarily work for you.

For biology, I worked ahead, but I did not cover the entire curriculum before the year started. I found that having a little bit of an understanding of something was helpful when it was taught in class as then it was just being solidified for me. However, I only worked a week or two ahead in terms of content so that it would be solidified for me before I forgot it. I think that attempting to learn all of the content before the year started would have been ludicrous.

However, biology is different from methods as it is more oriented around information and concepts, instead of building skills, so I don't know how applicable the answer I could give you would be.

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Re: How early should I cover the entire syllabus?
« Reply #6 on: October 24, 2019, 09:36:58 pm »
+3
Hello!

I'm doing methods 3/4 this year, albeit using the Jacaranda textbook and not Cambridge (though I also did some questions from Cambridge in my spare time). This is purely my experience but to answer your questions:

Quote
How early should I complete the entire Cambridge Math Methods 3/4 book (excluding the review chapters)?
While there is no set time to complete it by, you generally would want to be doing it at a quicker pace than the one the school set. Many of the students in my cohort who are ranked towards the top end finished the textbook around term 3. For me, I finished the textbook during the holidays between term 2 and 3.

Quote
How beneficial is it even to finish it early?
While this will depend on the individual, generally it's beneficial as
1) If you burn out some time during the year and really need to take a break, you won't be left behind
2) If it takes you more time to fully learn a concept, starting early will give you a more solid foundation
3) You will be able to identify what areas you struggle with early on, so when your teacher goes through the concept during class, you will know exactly what areas you need to work on.
4) Textbook questions aren't exactly up to the level of VCAA exams. If you finish the textbook early you'll have much more time to familiarise yourself with exam-style questions, which are much more important.

Quote
I have heard 50 SS scorers covering the entire syllabus before the year even starts!
Yes, this is true. I also know people who covered the 3/4 textbook before the year started but ended up with study scores in the mid 30s. Others finish the textbook much later but still end up with high 40s - 50 study scores. Do not rush through the textbook for the sake of finishing early. Make sure that you are building a solid foundation for yourself.

Also, do not try to do every question in the textbook. Generally, it's the worded problems that you'll want to focus on.

I hope this answers your questions! If you have any more, feel free to ask ^-^

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SS1314

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Re: How early should I cover the entire syllabus?
« Reply #7 on: October 24, 2019, 10:01:43 pm »
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Hello!

I'm doing methods 3/4 this year, albeit using the Jacaranda textbook and not Cambridge (though I also did some questions from Cambridge in my spare time). This is purely my experience but to answer your questions:
While there is no set time to complete it by, you generally would want to be doing it at a quicker pace than the one the school set. Many of the students in my cohort who are ranked towards the top end finished the textbook around term 3. For me, I finished the textbook during the holidays between term 2 and 3.
While this will depend on the individual, generally it's beneficial as
1) If you burn out some time during the year and really need to take a break, you won't be left behind
2) If it takes you more time to fully learn a concept, starting early will give you a more solid foundation
3) You will be able to identify what areas you struggle with early on, so when your teacher goes through the concept during class, you will know exactly what areas you need to work on.
4) Textbook questions aren't exactly up to the level of VCAA exams. If you finish the textbook early you'll have much more time to familiarise yourself with exam-style questions, which are much more important.
Yes, this is true. I also know people who covered the 3/4 textbook before the year started but ended up with study scores in the mid 30s. Others finish the textbook much later but still end up with high 40s - 50 study scores. Do not rush through the textbook for the sake of finishing early. Make sure that you are building a solid foundation for yourself.

Also, do not try to do every question in the textbook. Generally, it's the worded problems that you'll want to focus on.

I hope this answers your questions! If you have any more, feel free to ask ^-^

My friend and I are planning on doing 1 exercise per day (2 days for chapter review) from today and completing the entire book (excluding review chapters) by the start of March 2020. We plan on going to a tutor together (one on two) so we can build a solid understanding of the concepts as we do the questions. Would you personally recommend this? Is this too ambitious? Or just plain stupid (one part of me thinks it is)?

Also (completely random question) how difficult is probability (and statistics) in MM3/4 compared to MM1/2? This is my biggest worry for next year. :-\
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colline

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Re: How early should I cover the entire syllabus?
« Reply #8 on: October 24, 2019, 10:32:15 pm »
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My friend and I are planning on doing 1 exercise per day (2 days for chapter review) from today and completing the entire book (excluding review chapters) by the start of March 2020. We plan on going to a tutor together (one on two) so we can build a solid understanding of the concepts as we do the questions. Would you personally recommend this? Is this too ambitious? Or just plain stupid (one part of me thinks it is)?
TBH, I don't think this is too ambitious, nor do I think it's a stupid idea. Personally, I did the same thing and found it helpful, so I'd say to go for it.

Quote
Also (completely random question) how difficult is probability (and statistics) in MM3/4 compared to MM1/2? This is my biggest worry for next year. :-\
Contrary to popular opinion, I find the probability/stats part of methods to be quite simple (they are definitely the easiest parts of methods 3/4 for me). I can't remember too well what probability was like in unit 1/2 so I can't make a good comparison, but I don't think it's anything to worry about.

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SS1314

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Re: How early should I cover the entire syllabus?
« Reply #9 on: October 25, 2019, 07:15:38 pm »
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TBH, I don't think this is too ambitious, nor do I think it's a stupid idea. Personally, I did the same thing and found it helpful, so I'd say to go for it.
Contrary to popular opinion, I find the probability/stats part of methods to be quite simple (they are definitely the easiest parts of methods 3/4 for me). I can't remember too well what probability was like in unit 1/2 so I can't make a good comparison, but I don't think it's anything to worry about.

Thank you for replying :)
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