Am I doing too much?

I'm studying for my Maths A-level by doing past exams. However, while I generally answer the questions well enough, I seem unable to do them all within the time limit, generally missing one-two on average. I'm not used to showing my work and as I'm home-educated I do not have anyone to tell me what work the exam markers want me to show. But for the mock exams I've been trying really hard to show every step. I'm also trying to write neater (my handwriting isn't normally good). However, this means that I might be wasting some time. Can anyone give an opinion on what sort of working I can discard? I'll give an example below. It's a small example, but the larger questions all have graphs I cannot write down here.

This is from the Edexcel GCE Core Mathematics C2 Advanced Subsidiary, Friday 13 January 2012 - Morning (this is essentially all the big words on the front page).

2. A circle C has centre (-1, 7) and passes through the point (0, 0). Find an equation for C.

Equation of circle = (x - a)² + (y - b)² = r², where x = x-coordinate of centre, y = y-coordinate of centre and r = radius.

(x - (-1))² + (y - 7)² = r²

(x + 1)² + (y - 7)² = r²

(0 + 1)² + (0 - 7)² = r²

1² + (-7)² = r²

1 + 49 = r²

r² = 50

answer:
(x + 1)² + (y - 7)² = 50

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 1

techfan42

That is definitely too much for a C2 question. I've been doing C2 and getting straight As since we started. My teacher always tells us to show the working in case you got the answer wrong, so then you can get method marks. But other than that, all you really need to do is show maybe the last three or two steps including the final answer, if you can work it out mentally. But if the question's hard, you should really only be showing working for your own benefit, to understand the question and get it right

Reply 2

Notnek

Original post by fablereader

You wouldn't need the line in bold but the rest is fine.

EDIT : You don't need the second line in bold either.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 3

Notnek

Original post by techfan42

Working is not just important if you get the answer wrong.

Most A Level questions require working to get all the marks.

Reply 4

techfan42

Original post by notnek

Working is not just important if you get the answer wrong.

Most A Level questions require working to get all the marks.

That may be the case for questions asking you to prove or show a certain result, but most questions are actually fine with the answer and then two or three additional steps. I'm just speaking from an experience of taking 10 or more C2 tests since AS started, and not hearing anything about not showing enough working

Reply 5

Notnek

Original post by techfan42

That's the working I'm talking about.

Reply 6

Zacken

Original post by techfan42

I'm just speaking from an experience of taking 10 or more C2 tests since AS started, and not hearing anything about not showing enough working

And he's talking from the experience of teaching A-Level for 10 or more years. :tongue:

Reply 7

techfan42

Original post by notnek

That's the working I'm talking about.

He was talking about the same amount of working I was (two or three steps). I thought he meant that you had to show all the working to get the marks.

Reply 8

Ayman!

Original post by fablereader

I'm also trying to write neater (my handwriting isn't normally good)

Handwriting doesn't matter as long as it's legible; you don't need to be neat to get marks, just as long as the marker can read what you've written!

Reply 9

Notnek

Original post by techfan42

He was talking about the same amount of working I was (two or three steps). I thought he meant that you had to show all the working to get the marks.

Often two or three steps can be enough to get the marks. But it's often better to do too much working than not enough since it may not be clear in an exam what is required to get the marks.

The OP's working wasn't really a problem but they could have missed one or two lines.

Reply 10

Notnek

Original post by fablereader

...

For you it would probably be a good idea to read mark schemes to understand the type of working that is needed.

This can vary for different questions.

But there's a good chance that your timing problems will be helped with practice rather than writing less working.

Reply 11

Kvothe the Arcane

I would have written less but I doubt that's the reason why you're slow. You need more practice.

Reply 12

fablereader

Just glanced through all your comments. Thanks! I'll try to keep it in mind next time I do a past exam.

Reply 13

Notnek

Original post by Zacken

And he's talking from the experience of teaching A-Level for 10 or more years. :tongue:

Well only a few years.

But I've been helping on TSR for 10 years and we're all teachers really :smile:

Reply 14

Zacken

Original post by notnek

Well only a few years.

But I've been helping on TSR for 10 years and we're all teachers really :smile:

Ah, okay. I wasn't really sure, the comment was more tongue-in-cheek more than anything else. :colondollar:

Ooh, yeah. 10 year anniversary was a few months ago. I've only been around for like, less than two years. :rofl:

Reply 15

Gregorius

Original post by notnek

For you it would probably be a good idea to read mark schemes to understand the type of working that is needed.

This can vary for different questions.

This is very wise advice. I'm preparing my son for IGCSE maths at the moment and I have found that you simply cannot infer the amount of working required from a straight reading of the questions - you have to look at mark schemes to understand what type of working is required in what circumstances.

This sounds like hard work, but in practice you very soon begin to work out the patterns of expecation for the different types of question.

Reply 16

atsruser

Original post by Gregorius

This sounds like hard work, but in practice you very soon begin to work out the patterns of expecation for the different types of question.

I feel that it's easier just to have the rule: show all of your working, all of the time.

That way there's no need to worry about the exigencies of any particular marking scheme, and it's all sitting there if you need to check it.