Maths A-level: Want to start an online study group? (e.g. through Skype)

Hey everyone, first post.

I'm going to be re-sitting all 6 modules of my Maths A-level this Summer (May & June). Since I'm re-sitting I don't have people to work with on this.

Does anyone want to start an online study group to make the revision a bit more interesting? I was thinking of meeting e.g. weekly on Skype and talking through whatever topic we'd decided to work on that week.

The modules I'm revising are C1, C2, C3, C4, D1 & D2. Happy to work on any of these collaboratively and also happy to work with a group or just one person, if anyone is looking for the same thing.

The main reason I'd like to do this is for motivation: if we set weekly goals and then meet up and talk about it, I'll be much more likely to get everything I wanted to do done!

Anyone interested? :smile:

Reply 1

princess271

1

Original post by dannyking

Hey everyone, first post.

I'm going to be re-sitting all 6 modules of my Maths A-level this Summer (May & June). Since I'm re-sitting I don't have people to work with on this.

Does anyone want to start an online study group to make the revision a bit more interesting? I was thinking of meeting e.g. weekly on Skype and talking through whatever topic we'd decided to work on that week.

The modules I'm revising are C1, C2, C3, C4, D1 & D2. Happy to work on any of these collaboratively and also happy to work with a group or just one person, if anyone is looking for the same thing.

The main reason I'd like to do this is for motivation: if we set weekly goals and then meet up and talk about it, I'll be much more likely to get everything I wanted to do done!

Anyone interested? :smile:

Thats a good idea

Reply 2

JunePlum

10

Original post by princess271

Thats a good idea

Yeah, I thought so too... :smile:

I wonder how this will work out?

Reply 3

dannyking

OP

I forgot to mention I'm studying for the Edexcel exam, although the OCR & AQA syllabuses are very similar.

It's great you're both interested... let's see if any more people also think it's a good idea and we can work out how to make it work!

I think using audio or video chat is a good idea because it'd be easier to discuss problems and their solutions. Maybe if we all agree on a topic that we all want to revise for each week (or two weeks or whatever), then we all study that topic individually. At the end of the week we talk about it, discussing the important facts/forumale/tricks and give each other hints for how we solve the problems. Then maybe we could discuss some exam questions on that topic?

Very open to new ideas!

Reply 4

princess271

1

Original post by JunePlum

Yeah, I thought so too... :smile:

I wonder how this will work out?

i need all the help i can get
and my exam board is ocr
so how is this going to work?

Reply 5

JunePlum

10

Original post by princess271

i need all the help i can get
and my exam board is ocr
so how is this going to work?

I think that's for us (who are interested) to collaborate.... I guess.

Reply 6

RawrKid

I would be very interested... might actually motivate me to revise as I barely do this >.< Edexcel Exam board here :smile:

Reply 7

dstevens

As with all of the other people who have replied, I think this is a really good idea. I'm doing OCR.

Reply 8

lostbenzo

1

Even though im not doing math a level (yet) this is a very good idea

Reply 9

princess271

1

Does anyone know how to do logs?

Reply 10

A15hat

Sure why not, urm my exam board is OCR MEI so it may be quite different I think (N)

Reply 11

purplefrog

18

anyone interested in skyping C4 with me - send me a pm...
my board's topics in C4 are:

1. Differentiating trigonometric functions :smile:

2. Integration (by parts and by substitution) :die:
3. Parametric equations :smile:

4. Vectors :frown:

5. The binomial expansion (using negative powers and fractional powers) :biggrin:

6. Rational functions (partial fractions) :s
7. Differential equations (need to cover in school)
8. Curves defined implicitly (need to cover in school)
9. Scalar products of vectors (need to cover in school)

hopefully there is some overlap with other boards too :smile:

And likewise with anybody and M1?

Reply 12

dannyking

OP

Hey everyone,

Awesome we have quite a few people interested! I guess the next step is to list all the topics that we'd like to learn. I'll write up a list for C1, C2, C3, C4, D1 & D2 so that people from other boards can see which topics they would also like to do. I'll do it when I have a bit more time, I'm late for a lecture!

So how would you guys prefer we do it? To me the value of a study group is the weekly deadlines: if we have arranged to meet then we'll feel more motivated to work before that meeting so we know what we're talking about. So for that reason I personally would prefer something like a voice chat like on Skype each week. Video's probably not easy if there are more than 2 people. If people aren't comfortable with that I guess we could probably do it via text chat too. Might be harder to work through the examples... but I'm very open to ideas!

Reply 13

dannyking

OP

Princess: I can do logs, I'd be happy to walk you through it. I need the revision myself!

Reply 14

dannyking

OP

OK I had some spare minutes so here´s the Edexcel content:

(taken from http://www.edexcel.com/migrationdocuments/GCE%20New%20GCE/UA024850%20GCE%20in%20Mathematics%20issue%202%20180510.pdf)

See that pdf for sub-topics (starting on page 20)

Core 1

•

Algebra and functions

•

Coordinate geometry in the (x, y) plane

•

Sequences and series

•

Differentiation (basic)

•

Integration (basic)

Core 2

•

Algebra and functions (continued)

•

coordinate geometry in the (x, y) plane (continued)

•

sequences and series; trigonometry

•

exponentials and logarithms

•

differentiation (continued)

•

integration (continued)

Core 3

•

Algebra and functions (continued)

•

trigonometry (continued)

•

exponentials and logarithms (continued)

•

differentiation (continued)

•

numerical methods

Core 4

•

Algebra and functions (continued)

•

coordinate geometry in the (x, y) plane (continued)

•

sequences and series (continued)

•

differentiation (continued)

•

integration (continued)

•

vectors

Decision 1

•

Algorithms

•

algorithms on graphs

•

the route inspection problem;

•

critical path analysis

•

linear programming

•

matchings

Decision 2

•

Transportation problems

•

allocation (assignment) problems

•

the travelling salesman

•

game theory

•

further linear programming

•

dynamic programming

•

flows in networks

So each of those has about 10 sub-topics so check out that PDF for more detail :smile:

Does that look similar to everyone´s syllabus? (Probably the Core1-4 will be similar and D1 & D2 not on your syllabus).

Reply 15

Jampolo

13

Im working on FP1, D1(resit), C2, M1, D2 on the OCR exam board! Im always up for revision, i'd love to organize something like this.
Skype - Jam-polo , im even online now :tongue:

Reply 16

Roolek

FP1, D1, D2, C1, C2, OCR exam board, my skype is dcross1994, add me :smile:

Reply 17

A15hat

Skype is aishat.o add me :smile:

Reply 18

dannyking

OP

Hey everyone,

Loads of interest - that's great! If anyone else is interested just say hello.

OK so let's try and get things moving then. So I've had a think about the best way to do this online. Weekly meetings seems like a good interval, what do you guys think? I suggest maybe meeting for one hour... maybe on Sundays? Post the day(s) you would prefer if you agree!

So, how to told the meetings. Since at least half of us have Skype that might be a good option. Voice or text chat should be OK. For those of you without Skype it's really easy to get at Skype.com - you just download it and make an account then add people (I'm d.a.l.king). If you want to chat with voice you'll need a mic. If anyone would prefer not to use Skype, just say and we'll see if we can find another way.

So that will be fine for talking about the maths theory and giving tips, etc. But if we want to work through specific examples we need something to draw/write on. I found http://flockdraw.com which let's you create a group whiteboard which we can all see & draw on together. We could write out problems and do them together on there, although that means drawing with your mouse so not ideal! I have a little pen I can use which makes it easier for me, but not you guys! Another option would be using a forum (like this one) and using the LaTeX maths notation... but that takes a lot longer to express yourself with so could be annoying in a 1-hour meeting.

EDIT I just discovered http://www.twiddla.com which (like flockdraw) is an online collaborate whiteboard but it supports LaTeX maths formulae so that looks like a really good option!

Lastly, I think we should all agree on a topic (maybe two) each week, then work seperatly on understanding/revising it. Then at the end of the week talk about it together, asking each other for help with tough problems/misunderstandings, giving tips, etc.

So what do you guys think?

* Are you all OK to use Skype?
* Shall we meet once a week? If so, when? How about Sundays?
* What topic shall we start with? Something from Core 1?