Straight up – Maths Methods is a hard subject.
Arguably, harder than Specialist Maths.
Far-Fetched? Well it can be argued – and argued convincingly.
But we’ll leave that discussion for another day.
Let’s say you’re not doing spesh anyway.
Methods will still most likely be one of your hardest subjects.
So, why is Maths Methods so hard?
IMO it’s not the content in Methods that’s hard – but the application of it is what makes the subject so hard.
There’s not much new content covered in Methods units 3 & 4. It’s just extending on the stuff you learn in units 1 & 2.
Technically, because you’re not learning ‘newer’ content, you’re expected to have a much deeper understanding of each concept.
Let me repeat for emphasis, you’re expected to have – a – much – deeper – understanding – of each – concept.
(Circular Functions I’m looking at you)
As a result, you get asked really tricky questions and “bloody” challenging application problems…
and these types of questions come up more in the exams than any other time.
That’s because examiners have no other way of telling which students actually know what they’re doing.
The bad news is, if you’ve been rote learning textbook questions I’m sorry to say, you’re going to find Methods harder and harder as the year progresses.
I suggest you go back and make sure you really know and understand the basics of every topic so that it won’t throw a spanner in the works later on.
Once you have the basics covered – then exam questions are what will really test your level of understanding.
Now, if you want to test your level of understanding on any given topic – then login to the Maths Methods Club where you can group Methods exam questions by question type ie Extended Response.
Test yourself, and if you see the extended response questions are giving you trouble – then watch the video solutions to learn how to approach each question.
Start this process as early as you can.
Make sure you understand each problem in full when you finally work it out or after you’ve seen the solution.
The point of doing practice application questions isn’t just to get the answer, it’s to know how to get the answer as well.
Try to understand it so that you’ll always be able to do a challenging application question if you come back to it a second time.
On a final note, don’t feel bad if you find Methods hard – it’s not just you – and I’m being serious.
There’s literally 1000s of other students who feel the same.
Try to enjoy the subject and just do your best.