Maths paper 2: further probability

fuinneamh

why do only 3% do this question? its a lot easier than further calculus and is a lot quicker. Usually only requires half a page of A4 to do. average mark is higher than calculus aswell, 42 as opposed 37. or is it the case that its not taught, as i had to teach myself it.

ZorbaTehZ

I think this came up before in some thread. AFAIK that question is in another book, not T&T5.
You say you taught it to yourself? Where did you get the info?
I really want to try to replace further calculus as well because it's such a terribly long question tbh.

cocoa

I've already got further calculus ready so I'd be reluctant to go for further probability. I had a look at the Q on the paper though and it seems as though there isn't that much extra to do... I suppose the real problem with answering any question on probability is that because there's so little method to write out, you can lose a lot of marks for a simple mistake.

I would bet that the reason so few do it is because of their teachers.. I know in my school the teacher chose which 'option' to do, not the students.

Further Calculus was always dead easy. And besides, I always hated probability.

Nehpets

I'm not even doing probabilty so it's out of the picture!

md99

I hate Max/Min problems, ruins Further Calculus for me.

boger

further calculus rocks. power to the people

colm-ccfc84

Further calculus is what I am doing and I think it is one of the easiest topics. I am not doing the probability topics at all so this was never a possibilty!

md99

colm-ccfc84 wrote:

Further calculus is what I am doing and I think it is one of the easiest topics. I am not doing the probability topics at all so this was never a possibilty!

you're missing out, i mean the probability Qs are a joy, one (Q6) is at least - difference equations! gotta love them.

colm-ccfc84

I guess I will never know md99!

fuinneamh

ZorbaTehZ wrote:

I think this came up before in some thread. AFAIK that question is in another book, not T&T5.
You say you taught it to yourself? Where did you get the info?
I really want to try to replace further calculus as well because it's such a terribly long question tbh.

got the info from the older version of texts and tests. my sister used it for her leaving cert. But its very little extra. question A is always finding z numbers(more complicated version of standard deviation)
or basic probability. (B) is always a question involving the same formula (C) is applying the z numbers to samples or hypothesis testing. around 5 short new formulas and thats it. the best thing about it when done with the other 2 prob. questions is that you usually have time to do an extra question as a result and to check your paper.

JoseJones

Probability is almost impossible to learn. I think you either get it or you don't.

dan719

is anyone else out there planning on doing the groups option??? Also the further probability ques is more stats then probability. I.e the two tailed test etc. The actual probability in it is no harder then ques 6 or 7. Also if you do want to do the probability option the revise wise books have it covered.

KnifeWRENCH

fuinneamh wrote:

average mark is higher than calculus aswell, 42 as opposed 37.

well that figure doesnt really say much,when you consider 42 is the average mark for 3% and 37 is the average for 90% +
surely someone studying further statistics should know to be wary of that statistic?
i started a similar thread a while back.i was just curious to see if anyone else out there was doing a different option.everyone who replied did FCAS.
i think FCAS is an okay option.for me the hardest bit is max/min problems.
FPAS looks an okay option too.i am definetly doing q.6 and q.7 coz i like probability,but a lot of students just dont get it.
the options on further probability and statistics AND the option on groups are in the old edition of T&T5 (the edition i have) groups,i think,looks very interesting,but also quite difficult.
if anyone really hates FCAS and wants to do a different option,you would probably have to track down that book.id imagine its out of print now,though. (although i have 2 copies )

fuinneamh

dan719 wrote:

is anyone else out there planning on doing the groups option???

Started it but found it was too long and more difficult than the other two options, rather spend the time finishing the applied maths course

square_igloo wrote:

well that figure doesnt really say much,when you consider 42 is the average mark for 3% and 37 is the average for 90% +

statistics only include those who prepared fully for the question and didn't decide to do it on the spur of the moment and has been consistently higher for the last few years. to quote form the report

"As regards the optional material, Further Calculus and Series continues to be an almost universal selection, despite the fact that it consistently delivers a relatively moderate return compared with the other options, although it did hold up better than usual this year.Anecdotal evidence indicates that it is perceived to be easier or faster to cover than the other options. This is not necessarily the case, and the more conceptually difficult aspects of the
topic are very poorly handled, indicating that perhaps insufficient time is being devoted to them."