The Battle of the Textbooks.
Here’s a common discussion amongst Methods students – which textbook is better?
Cambridge Essentials or Maths Quest.
Today I’m going to share with you my opinion on which textbook could be better for you.
If you’ve been reading any of my posts – you’ve probably come to the conclusion that your Methods textbook – doesn’t matter which one – are only good for learning the basics, and they won’t prepare you for the SACS and exams (on its own).
In saying that, you can’t do without one either.
So which textbook is better?
This answer is, it depends on YOU – what kind of student are YOU?
If you’re struggling to get your head around Methods then I suggest you use the Cambridge textbook.
The reason is, the questions in this textbook start off easy and gradually increase in difficulty.
Giving you enough practice to grasp the fundamental ideas and slowly building your confidence to attempt harder questions.
Whereas the Maths Quest textbook questions aren’t like this – the questions don’t ‘smoothly’ progress in difficulty.
For the weaker students this is a nightmare because they get stuck very quickly and don’t know how to do half of the chapter questions.
But again, this is only my opinion.
Now if you’re the struggling student and your school has ‘prescribed’ the Maths Quest textbook – then I suggest you buy a cheap second hand Cambridge book and work from this textbook as well.
If you’re not struggling and feel confident with your maths skills then it doesn’t matter which textbook you use – because at the end of the day textbook questions aren’t at the same level as SAC and exam questions…
and if you want to do well in methods the most important thing is doing practice exams and VCAA questions.