How to get good at a level maths….
I’m in year 12 doing edexcel and i got a 7 in gcse maths x-x
Is it problems from understanding gcse maths topics or are you on top of those but having trouble with the new stuff at a level?
Mostly the new stuff at a-level, i understand gcse maths pretty well in my opinion, its just when it gets more technical i get confused
Can you give an example of what youre having trouble understanding?
A few general points
•
There are some gcse - a level bridging resources (just google if necessary) as a reasonable number of people need to go over the core stuff (algebra, quadratics, sketching functions, ....)
•
TLmaths, drfrost, ... have a fairly complete course of videos. If youre finding it a bit difficult in class maybe go over one of these alongside your teachers stuff and keep going over things if you get things wrong/dont understand
•
Are your tests significantly harder than your textbook questions / why do you feel youre doing badly in them? Drfrost, for instance, has graded questions for the different topics, so you can try "exam questions" which are typically harder than textbook questions which are usually about building up your skills
•
Typically, maths is about making mistakes and building up your skills. Do you revisit stuff if you get it wrong - the old adage of "dont do it until you get it right, do it until you cant get it wrong" applies. It may sound boring, but chatting over the topics with a mate over a coffee/... can do wonders / post questions on here if you want a hint / want to discuss something.
•
Ask your teacher. They know you better than anyone here and will have probably provided similar help in the past.
A few general points
•
There are some gcse - a level bridging resources (just google if necessary) as a reasonable number of people need to go over the core stuff (algebra, quadratics, sketching functions, ....)
•
TLmaths, drfrost, ... have a fairly complete course of videos. If youre finding it a bit difficult in class maybe go over one of these alongside your teachers stuff and keep going over things if you get things wrong/dont understand
•
Are your tests significantly harder than your textbook questions / why do you feel youre doing badly in them? Drfrost, for instance, has graded questions for the different topics, so you can try "exam questions" which are typically harder than textbook questions which are usually about building up your skills
•
Typically, maths is about making mistakes and building up your skills. Do you revisit stuff if you get it wrong - the old adage of "dont do it until you get it right, do it until you cant get it wrong" applies. It may sound boring, but chatting over the topics with a mate over a coffee/... can do wonders / post questions on here if you want a hint / want to discuss something.
•
Ask your teacher. They know you better than anyone here and will have probably provided similar help in the past.
For example for differentiation, i know how to do it, but then i see a question where i have to apply it and i just get stuck. Like when you have to find the equation of a line and such things
When you say apply differentiation, it helps to post a question and describe what you think about it / what youre stuck about. In a sense, calculus is a completely new thing at a level (it links to some stuff at gcse, but its not obvious) and its not surprising people take some time to get used to it. With maths, you usually have to accept that "knowing how to do it" is earned by answering questions (correctly). That takes a fair bit of effort.
For lines/quadratics/... that really should be gcse (bridging) material that you need to be happy with so if you do need to review it/... do it now.
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