Hello! Welcome to the MUSU VCE Summer School Tutors Page for Maths Methods 1 & 2!

Download the booklet and tutor notes here (no need to right-click)

You'll need WinZip the unzip the file. It contains the booklet and tutor notes documents.

Remember, you don't have to print out the notes. The Summer School Office will do that for us.

If you need additional question to bring to class, get them here.

Tutors Meeting

Thanks to everyone who turned up to the tutors meeting. If you missed it, here’s what we talked about:

Generally there are 5 things you may want to do in a tutorial.

1. Give a brief intro to the topic(s) to be covered. Explain why they might be important and what to expect in year 12 under the same topic. This is the theory part and for some areas I’ve written some detailed stuff so use that if you want.

2. Go through the examples in the booklet. For maths it is easier to explain things using worked examples. Tell students it is important to show working out as they can still get some marks in the exam even though their ultimate answer may be wrong.

3. Ask students to do 1-2 ‘think’ questions on their own, and then ask for volunteers to give you the answer. You may even want them to do the full working out on the board (encourage such behaviour by lollies). Ask other students what they think of the answer. If the answer is wrong, politely explain why and show them the correct way.

4. If you have time left, go through the application problems (if any) with students. Do them step-by-step. It is also better to being some additional questions in case you have time to kill.

5. If you run out of time and haven’t finished all the questions in the booklet, ask students to try them as homework. I don’t think we should make homework compulsory but I’m sure those that are very keen on doing well in maths will do it. They will then ask you for the solutions in the next class. So give out the answers if they have shown to have attempted the questions.

Graphics Calculators

From 2006, year 12 students will only be allowed to bring graphics calcs in the second exam (consists of analysis questions). Hence it is better to let students know not to rely too much on their calcs. Try the questions manually first and use calc to check answers. Of course, for questions that look impossible to solve by hand such as exponentials and logs, and some probability questions, calcs will be needed.

There are quite a few graphs in the booklet but it will be easier for students to understand them if you draw them out on the board again as you are explaining things such as dilation and translation. Emphasise on showing intercepts, intersections, turning point/point of inflection. This is also a good practice to show students how to find these on their calcs.

Not all students will have one with them. If there’s a calc exercise, ask students to share. You’ll only need to show them which buttons to press so you don’t need to bring one to class. Just go around the class if students are having trouble so you can show them directly which buttons to press.

Other things that you may want to do under each topic are included in the tutor notes. All the stuff I’ve written above, in the booklet and in the notes are to be used as a GUIDE only. Everyone has different style of teaching so do whatever works best for you. Students feel comfortable if they also feel that you are comfortable. If you need any help, I’ll do my best to help you out. ^_^

Don't forget you can email me if you have any problems/suggestions regarding Maths Methods --> mpyh831@hotmail.com