HL Maths

partyatmygaff

Now i've got an odd predicament when it comes to maths. When i'm learning a new topic for the first time in class I manage to do pretty well on it ( As in understand it perfectly well and can tackle most if not all of the problems). But the thing is that the moment I move on to another topic I completely forget all that I did in the previous topic and end up doing pretty poorly when I try and revise.

Here's an example, in fifth year I did Trig back in March and at that time I was able to do almost any trig question out of the exam papers including part Cs. Three months later during my summer exams and during study for the exams I was stumbling on As and Bs.

Anyone have any tips? Barring "Do questions out of the exam papers"

Ciaramb92

I am the very same. I would suggest writing out the main forumla and stuff for each chapter so when you revise at least you know what you should be doing? Also take a step back (with trig questions) and look at what you know and what you can find out, even if it's irrelevant to the question. It will build your knowledge and understanding and make you quicker at answering!

partyatmygaff

Hmm, that gave me a good idea. Writing a short concise method for each operation and then just looking over that anytime I needed to revise.

Cpt_Blackbeard

The only way to do Maths is to practice doing exam papers. Just writing down methods and looking at them wont help unless you recognise the questions that go with the methods.

Studying maths early in the year can be hard because there will be little parts you haven't done/done well. Its all about familiarising yourself with the paper; This will happen over the course of the year though.

Personally, I think that understanding is something that doesn't leave you easily. If you forget how to do a question its most likely because you learned a method but have know idea where it came from. Understanding maths becomes exponentially harder when many Maths teachers in the country only know the methods themselves. :rolleyes:

After every line you write ask yourself: Does that make sense? Is it a correct statement?

Chaotic_Forces

Let me guess: you're a "book" kinda guy?

Try it without the book, constantly. See if you can just rattle off problems without looking at the examples.

Paczini

I'll tell you what's my plan for the second half of the school year.
Few months before my Junior cert I started to do one paper each week (Either 1 or 2)
By the Junior cert exams I was able to do most of the Q's fromthe past papers and I ended up with A on higher paper. I'm going to do very same thing for the Leaving cert. It takes time but it's worth it.

partyatmygaff

Chaotic_Forces wrote: »

Let me guess: you're a "book" kinda guy?

Try it without the book, constantly. See if you can just rattle off problems without looking at the examples.

Not really no =/

I tend to stick to the exam papers and my notes but even at that I can revise a topic and get my standard back up again to what it used to be but two weeks later i'd have forgotten it all again.

Chaotic_Forces

partyatmygaff wrote: »

Not really no =/

I tend to stick to the exam papers and my notes but even at that I can revise a topic and get my standard back up again to what it used to be but two weeks later i'd have forgotten it all again.

It's interesting then.

I remember attempting it (please tell me you did higher for 3rd,4th and 5th), but because of the teacher in 3rd I had to do pass ( I could never understand her) and by 5th and 6th it was just too much.

I'm afraid you might have to drop to pass. Though how are you at other subjects?

Emmerz

That answer my friend would be the Holy Grail to me...Trig in particular is a bitch...just all HL maths is hard I just keep doing questions again and again and again...I still am crap tho lol! Hello Leaving 2011 :P

jumpguy

Writing down methods for questions isn't really good, since often in maths you need to change things and writing down methods is very inflexible.

The best thing to do imo is to do the chapter again yourself. Yeah, it's pretty time-consuming but that's why they say HL maths isn't a walk in the park. If you have Text and Tests, for example, do a few questions in every exercise of the trigonometry chapters, make sure to vary the questions so you get all possibilities covered, if you can't do a question look at the examples and notes before them. Keep going through the exercises like this in the chapter until you've finished the chapter.

THEN go on and do your exam questions in that topic!

AddictedToYou

jumpguy wrote: »

Writing down methods for questions isn't really good, since often in maths you need to change things and writing down methods is very inflexible.

The best thing to do imo is to do the chapter again yourself. Yeah, it's pretty time-consuming but that's why they say HL maths isn't a walk in the park. If you have Text and Tests, for example, do a few questions in every exercise of the trigonometry chapters, make sure to vary the questions so you get all possibilities covered, if you can't do a question look at the examples and notes before them. Keep going through the exercises like this in the chapter until you've finished the chapter.

THEN go on and do your exam questions in that topic!

This is what I do. Seems like a waste that I have to basically do the chapter again in a night, but it works for me. I feel it's pointless going straight to the papers if you don't know the chapter properly. After going through the chapter I can then do exam questions without referring to notes or the book.

I always say to myself that it would be a good idea to do a revision question from each chapter every week to keep it fresh in my mind, but this hasn't happened yet.

I also put a star next to any question I found hard or was tricky and then concentrate on those when revising a chapter.

Integration test tomorrow, should really go do some questions...

partyatmygaff

Chaotic_Forces wrote: »

It's interesting then.

I remember attempting it (please tell me you did higher for 3rd,4th and 5th), but because of the teacher in 3rd I had to do pass ( I could never understand her) and by 5th and 6th it was just too much.

I'm afraid you might have to drop to pass. Though how are you at other subjects?

Not a possibility. I've done HL all throughout 1-3rd year as well as 5th year and it's not as if I can't do the Maths. When the topic is still fresh in my mind I do excellently but after a few months I seem to forget.

jumpguy wrote: »

Writing down methods for questions isn't really good, since often in maths you need to change things and writing down methods is very inflexible.

The best thing to do imo is to do the chapter again yourself. Yeah, it's pretty time-consuming but that's why they say HL maths isn't a walk in the park. If you have Text and Tests, for example, do a few questions in every exercise of the trigonometry chapters, make sure to vary the questions so you get all possibilities covered, if you can't do a question look at the examples and notes before them. Keep going through the exercises like this in the chapter until you've finished the chapter.

THEN go on and do your exam questions in that topic!

That sounds like a solid plan but it's fairly time consuming. I know writing down methods in maths would be a very foolish thing to do as the questions in the exam ask questions in an abstract way.

Chaotic_Forces

partyatmygaff wrote: »

Not a possibility. I've done HL all throughout 1-3rd year as well as 5th year and it's not as if I can't do the Maths. When the topic is still fresh in my mind I do excellently but after a few months I seem to forget.

Hmm, do you generally do questions every two weeks or so?

partyatmygaff

Chaotic_Forces wrote: »

Hmm, do you generally do questions every two weeks or so?

I've been at it every 2-3 days since the start of this year and i've been improving somewhat. Last year I did nothing whatsoever throughout the year and crammed the last week before the exams and pulled a 12 hour study marathon of fifth year Maths and managed a C2 =/

Needless to say that's not my plan for this year but as of yet I haven't quite yet managed to figure out a study regime that'll be effective in getting me up to the grade I need.

Chaotic_Forces

partyatmygaff wrote: »

I've been at it every 2-3 days since the start of this year and i've been improving somewhat. Last year I did nothing whatsoever throughout the year and crammed the last week before the exams and pulled a 12 hour study marathon of fifth year Maths and managed a C2 =/

Needless to say that's not my plan for this year but as of yet I haven't quite yet managed to figure out a study regime that'll be effective in getting me up to the grade I need.

Ah no, that's not what I meant.

Let's say you learn about venn diagrams today, in about two weeks time will you have done more questions on them? If you find there aren't any in your book/papers to do, look on the internet for sites that teach them and do the questions.

And yes; I know venn diagrams are for first years but it was the first thing to come to me.

jumpguy

AddictedToYou wrote: »

This is what I do. Seems like a waste that I have to basically do the chapter again in a night, but it works for me. I feel it's pointless going straight to the papers if you don't know the chapter properly. After going through the chapter I can then do exam questions without referring to notes or the book.

I always say to myself that it would be a good idea to do a revision question from each chapter every week to keep it fresh in my mind, but this hasn't happened yet.

I also put a star next to any question I found hard or was tricky and then concentrate on those when revising a chapter.

Integration test tomorrow, should really go do some questions...

I circle the questions we're given for homework in my book, our teacher usually gives a very good assortment of questions for homework. I then try and repeat them questions when revising the chapter. If I have trouble, I have all my maths exercise copies (onto my 6th exercise copy now I think ) well labelled with each question I've done so I can go back and find the question and see how I did it.

It is fairly time consuming, to get a maths chapter done in one night I'd probably dedicate a night's study to it tbh, maybe even 2. No point half-arsedly doing it and then going to have to do it AGAIN.

whiteandlight

I wouldn't really recommend you aiming to do any chapter in one night, theres too many concepts involved. As a teacher and what worked for me a few years ago (A1 HL) is to keep ticking over.
Like at the weekends I would do a couple of questions from a variety of topics that I wasn't doing in school at the time. That way instead of not seeing a trig question for up to 6 months I'll probably have done one every 2 weeks at least keeping it fresh in my head and committing it to long term memory!
I usually recommend to my students that when revising a specific topic lets take trig that they start with their textbook and copy. Skim read the example the take three questions from the first exercise-spaced out-one from the beginning, middle and end and check the answers. If those work out, happy days, move onto exercise 2. If they don't use the examples and your old copy to work out where you went wrong. Once that is finished, close your old copy and try three different questions, again beginning/middle/end! Repeat the cycle until you can confidently and in the correct time answer the three questions and then move to the next exercise. Once you have gone through the chapter move to paper questions.
If you find that you have completed every question in the exercise and still cannot get three successive questions out then there is a fundamental problem which you should get checked out, either with a friend/someone at home/teacher in school so that it can be sorted out.

Hope thats of some benefit, but everyone learns differently!:)

sparagon

I think you must be learning methos for specific questions
Whereas with maths you need to understand a method to apply it to any question

johnmcdnl

When you start your revision it'll all come back - trust me - I was the exact same

Just every now and then go back all flick through your notes and try to do a couple of exam questions and you'll get used to switching between topics...

Everyone is the same - as long as your picking it up and understanding it as you do it rather than learning the methods by heart you'll be grand..

i'll emphasise the learning how to do it part - don't just try to learn methods off... that doesn't work - understand how and why your doing each step and as long as you do this it'll all come back once the revision starts