Leaving Cert. HL Maths

snapoutofit

So, I'm one of THOSE people who struggle with honours maths but refuse to drop. I need the points, blah blah blah. My problem isn't with understanding - it's with recognising things and remembering the correct methods.
I just wondered - has anyone figured out the bare minimum knowledge needed to pass? I'm aiming for a C, but I figured if I know lots of useful things very well then that's a start and then I can focus on things in greater detail. I failed my mock by 5% and we have another one in four weeks.
Tips/advice/miracles? Cheers.

Isitthough?

Kinda a tough one. I mean just do exam papers till your blue in the face with them. If you understand it eventually it will repeat itself in some way but not the exact way so just use knowledge you've learned from trying and error and apply it to the next question. I mean you do say You have a understanding of it so thats's really good to have for maths. I would say exam papers all the way and your only 5% off a pass so A bit more work and you should be grand. If your not remembering how to do it then you haven't done enough questions!

snapoutofit

Isitthough? wrote: »

Kinda a tough one. I mean just do exam papers till your blue in the face with them. If you understand it eventually it will repeat itself in some way but not the exact way so just use knowledge you've learned from trying and error and apply it to the next question. I mean you do say You have a understanding of it so thats's really good to have for maths. I would say exam papers all the way and your only 5% off a pass so A bit more work and you should be grand. If your not remembering how to do it then you haven't done enough questions!

Yeah I probably haven't worked enough, hope this brings me up. Thanks!

ProjectManager

Isitthough? wrote: »

I would say exam papers all the way and your only 5% off a pass so A bit more work and you should be grand. If your not remembering how to do it then you haven't done enough questions!

I agree with this. But I would approach it in a slightly different way. Using Trig as an example, you have to know how to use the trig ratios, sine rule and cosine rule before you can tackle a project maths problem. So once you understand the theory then practice exam questions for that section.

You have around 9 weeks left. Set aside as much time as you can (depending on your other subjects) and revise say one strand per week for the next 5 weeks. THen spend the following 4 weeks doing as many exam questions as you can.

Use the free maths classes that are online with http://www.positivemaths.ie and http://www.themathstutor.ie

Finally, in the exam, don't leave any blanks. Attempt everything and you will get attempt marks. If you dont attempt a question you will get zero for it.

Good Luck.

miissjuly

snapoutofit wrote: »

So, I'm one of THOSE people who struggle with honours maths but refuse to drop. I need the points, blah blah blah. My problem isn't with understanding - it's with recognising things and remembering the correct methods.
I just wondered - has anyone figured out the bare minimum knowledge needed to pass? I'm aiming for a C, but I figured if I know lots of useful things very well then that's a start and then I can focus on things in greater detail. I failed my mock by 5% and we have another one in four weeks.
Tips/advice/miracles? Cheers.

I'm in the same boat as you, its constantly on my mind whether I should drop down or just try my best I hate this feeling.

student18

In the same boat. Got 34 in mocks. How did others find the DEB Mathis mock paper

Little_olivia

I'm currently doing honours maths and not too sure where I stand. Sometimes it great, others not so good. I found the pre a bit hard but still passed with a D1. My grades fluctuate between C's and failing. I don't need any grade in Maths for my course but mum would prefer I kept on honours in-case I do need the points.

I was wondering is it too late to start grinds now? I just want reassurance that I wont fail in June. After that I don't care. I would like a C2 in the actual exam. Is it worth my while now in April starting grinds for revision or..?

Thanks!

Microphone Head

student18 wrote: »

In the same boat. Got 34 in mocks. How did others find the DEB Mathis mock paper

I thought it was a ridiculously hard paper. I got 66 and I was aiming for an A1. My teacher thought it was a hard paper and made us do the Examcraft paper which was much easier. I don't think the DEB paper gave a good representation of the actual test and if you got 34 I think you should definitely stick with it.

AtomicKoala

Microphone Head wrote: »

I thought it was a ridiculously hard paper. I got 66 and I was aiming for an A1. My teacher thought it was a hard paper and made us do the Examcraft paper which was much easier. I don't think the DEB paper gave a good representation of the actual test and if you got 34 I think you should definitely stick with it.

Indeed, more than half of my year failed it, and there were only two As, A1 students were getting B3s generally. If you got 34% in that, what with its difficulty and harsh correcting, you can get a C in the real thing.

magicianz

A1 Maths/Phys/Acc, & current engineering undergrad. Do all of the practice papers you can get your hands on that have solutions. If you can't figure out whats happening in a part of a question, go to your book, find the section, and do some practice questions from that part after you read through the issues. Then go back to the exam papers. Repeat for all papers possible!

Maths is all about getting structure and logic into what you're doing. Even now when I'm doing exam papers in college (like, right now) I could have a solution, I can see each of the figures and where they come from, but if I don't understand WHY they're being used then I check notes/ask someone. Structure, logic, method.