Guide

How to get a 90+ in General Maths: Advice from a high-achieving student

By Brittney - 9 minute read

In this guide, Brittney goes through her top tips and tricks for getting a 90+ in General Maths.

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Introduction

Welcome to the study guide for General Maths! General Maths is a fun subject, however, don’t underestimate its workload as the subject is quite content heavy. As a General Maths student, it is important that you stay up to date and ensure you understand the subject matter from day one.

General Maths ensures students gain valuable knowledge and mathematical skills. Studying General Maths can lead to several different career opportunities including careers in business, commerce, education, finance, science and much more! I hope that this guide allows you to complete this subject to the best of your ability and helps prepare you for all the internal and external assessments you will complete.

How to prepare for your IAs

In General Maths, you will have three internal assessment items that combine to represent 50% of your final subject grade. You will have a written problem-solving and modeling task worth 20% along with two written examinations which are both worth 15%. It is incredibly important to obtain as many marks as possible from these assessment items, as it will help relieve stress when the time comes to sit the big 50% external exam.


Problem-solving and modelling task (20%)

This assessment task focuses on the interpretation, analysis and evaluation of ideas and information. The task is related to unit 3 and must use subject matter from either Topic 1 (bivariate data analysis), topic 2 (time series analysis) or topic 3 (growth and decay in sequences). I would prepare for this assessment in the following way:

  • Use the marking criteria

    Strictly follow the marking criteria as this is the only thing that your assignment will be marked against! I would recommend aiming for the highest mark on each criterion. You can do this by first understanding what each criterion is asking you to do and then make a check list. At the end, check off the list to ensure you have done everything on the criterion.

  • Use the correct layout

    A clear and precise layout is essential for a problem-solving and modelling task, as it will ensure your assignment is cohesive and can be easily understood by the reader. The four assessment criterions can be seen below:

    •  Formulate
    • Solve
    • Evaluate and verify
    • Communicate

    I would suggest you use/base your assignment headings off the criterion and ensure each section of your assignment relates to one criterion. A sample response of the problem-solving and modelling task can be found on the QCAA website under the General Mathematics subject within the assessment section.

  • Use technology

    Ensure you have a sufficient range of graphs, tables or graphics to present your findings, results and mathematical data. It is essential that you consider all the information, as this demonstrates your effectiveness in solving problems and evaluating how reasonable solutions are.

  • Use your teacher

    Your teacher is your number one resource. If you are unclear on something and need clarification on the assessment task or the content that was taught in class, I would recommend you arrange a meeting with your teacher to go over what you are confused about.

  • Use mathematical language

    Ensure your write ups and assignments contain a sufficient amount of mathematical language. This will often make you stand out as a maths student. It will also help you achieve high results in the communicating criterion.

Summative internal assessments (IA2 & IA3) – written examinations (15%)

These exams are both worth 15% and therefore contribute to 30% of your final subject grade. The IA2 exam assesses several items related to Unit 3 topics, whereas the IA3 exam will assess Unit 4 topics. Remember, your final assessment item is a 50% external examination based on units 3 and 4, so I would recommend you treat your internal exams that same way you would with the external exam.


Know the subject matter

To ensure you cover all the content for the internal exams, know the answers to the subject matter off by heart in detail. The subject matter for IA2/Unit 3 can be found on pages 26 to 28 of the General Maths Syllabus and the subject matter for IA3/Unit 4 can be found on pages 39 to 40. The General Maths Senior Syllabus can be found on the QCAA website.


Complete practice questions and past exam papers

More exposure to different questions will reduce the possibility of the exams having a question type you’ve never seen before. You will find that each exam will contain a number of simple familiar, complex familiar and complex unfamiliar questions. The best way you can prepare for this is by:

  • Completing the Unit 3&4 review questions or practice exams found in your General Maths textbook. Don’t just stick to one textbook! I recommend you complete questions from a range of different textbooks as this will increase your exposure to different question types which in turn will better prepare you for the external examination.

  • Completing the QCE General Maths questions on Studyclix under Questions by Topic. These are questions from the QCAA past exams split into different topics so you can easily and conveniently prepare for individual topics in the exam.

  • Practise with friends! Most of the time, solving maths questions in groups can be very helpful as you can teach others and learn from one another.

  • Complete practice questions under exam conditions. This will ensure you are really stimulating the exam environment and will help to reduce test anxiety when you sit the actual exam.

How to revise for your external exam

The summative external assessment for the General Maths subject is an exam that contributes to 50% of your overall subject result. The examination relates to Unit 3 and Unit 4 and will consist of 20% complex unfamiliar questions, 20% of complex familiar questions and 60% of simple familiar questions. After completing the internal exams, you should already have sufficient knowledge on Units 3 and 4, however now, it is a process of ensuring you remember all the content and know how to apply it correctly. I recommend studying for the external exam in the following order:

The table shows the first section of the subject matter for Topic 1, Unit 3. The full subject matter can be found on the QCAA website under the General Maths Senior Syllabus. The second column measures how confident you are in answering/explaining/applying the subject matter.

Use a red, yellow and green colour coding system to highlight topics you are very familiar with and those you struggle to explain. I would then prioritise the topics that you marked yellow/red and read over your notes, watch videos, go through the textbook and practice more questions or ask your teacher, until you completely understand the topic.

Top Tip

Take note of the different number of hours spent on each topic as this is an indication of the topics most likely to show up more than others in the exam!

Create a rule book

Create a rule book consisting of all the formulas you have learned in the subject. After doing so, I recommend marking which formulas are not included in the QCAA formula sheet found on the QCAA website and ensure you learn those off by heart.

Practise, practise, practise questions!

Once you have recognised the topics you are less confident with and have created a
rule book, I would then suggest you start practising questions. You can practise by:

  • Completing the unit 3&4 review questions found in your General Maths textbook. Don’t just stick to one textbook! I recommend you complete questions from a range of different textbooks as this will increase your exposure to different question types, which in turn will better prepare you for the external examination.

  • Completing past exam papers that include simple familiar, complex familiar and complex unfamiliar questions and spend enough time practising these! The QCE past external exam papers for General Maths can be found on the QCAA website under the assessment section.

  • Completing the QCE Questions by Topic on Studyclix! These questions are from QCAA past exams but split into each topic on the syllabus so if you are struggling with a particular topic, you can filter through questions from that topic specifically.

Teach others!

Lastly, teach others everything you know and offer your assistance with solving
questions. By describing certain maths concepts or explaining how to solve a
particular question, you are more likely to remember the content and make it stick.

Exam Day

On the day of the exam, it’s important to:

  • Be confident

  • Remember to show all your workings

  • Check, double check and triple check that your units and decimal places are correct

  • Read the question carefully and more than once

  • If you don’t understand a question on the exam paper, write everything you know down onto the scrap paper – often this will lead you to understanding how to solve the question.

Some final tips

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Be organised

It’s important that you stay organised and start revising at the start of the year. Below are some tips to help you remain organised throughout the year:

  • Keep your notes neat and easy to read with suitable headings
  • Create a rule/formula book
  • Create a maths study timetable – revise at least once a day!
  • If you don’t understand – get help ASAP
  • Attend tutoring weekly

1

Have a separate book for study/practice questions

When it comes closer to exams, this will be beneficial, as you’ll have plenty of space
to practice loads of questions.

Focus on completing heaps of complex familiar and complex unfamiliar questions

These questions are often worth the most marks on your exam papers. Therefore, it
is beneficial that you understand how to approach and solve them. Doing well at
these types of questions will make you stand out as a mathematical student.

Final Tips

Here are some final tips from Brittney on how to get a 90+ in General Maths.

Be organised

It’s important that you stay organised and start revising at the start of the year. Below are some tips to help you remain organised throughout the year:

  • Keep your notes neat and easy to read with suitable headings
  • Create a rule/formula book
  • Create a maths study timetable – revise at least once a day!
  • If you don’t understand – get help ASAP
  • Attend tutoring weekly

Have a separate book for study/practice questions

When it comes closer to exams, this will be beneficial, as you’ll have plenty of space
to practice loads of questions.

Focus on completing heaps of complex familiar and complex unfamiliar questions

These questions are often worth the most marks on your exam papers. Therefore, it
is beneficial that you understand how to approach and solve them. Doing well at
these types of questions will make you stand out as a mathematical student.

By Brittney

Brittney graduated with a 91+ ATAR performing well in Chemistry, Biology and General Maths. She is now studying a Bachelor of Nursing at James Cook University.

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