Preparing for HSC mathematics, whether it is Advanced, Extension 1 or Extension 2, is often overwhelming for a lot of students. Students don’t struggle in understanding the content conceptually, and often have a good grasp of the topics and what they entail. As a result, the main reason for underperformance ends up being the student’s experience in the exam hall. They come across styles of questions they have never seen before, and are immediately discouraged from attempting to solve the problem. They don’t know where to start, or may reach a road block, to which they eventually ignore and never revisit again.
As much as it may seem obvious, the only way to overcome this lack of performance is to PRACTICE. To practice under timed conditions. Not just textbook questions from Cambridge or Terry Lee, but REAL past papers. This isn’t just limited to your own schools past papers, you have to explore every possible avenue in order to expose yourself to every possible question. Go to ‘thsconline’, find the top ranking school’s past papers, and sit them in timed conditions. This is the only way to improve once you have learnt all the content in the syllabus. But don’t be discouraged if your percentage mark isn’t what you are used to. The selective school past papers are designed to be near impossible, to challenge students and push them to high band 6 levels, (most of my high school mathematics exams had averages near 50% or below).
The next (and possibly most important) step is to always look back and reflect. Take note of every single question you get wrong in the exam. Write what you did wrong, what topic it was, and understand the solution properly. Then you write down your “time-machine” statement, where you write down one “hint” that you would tell your past self (if you could go back in time) to help them answer the question successfully.
This whole process will help you understand where and why you are making mistakes. You will enter the exam having been exposed to more questions, more capable of answering unseen questions, and you will hopefully perform better…
Matthew Kuskoff