<b>Math Study Tips</b></b> for your HSC (Eww) | SIBT Students |
| <b>Math Study Tips</b></b> for your HSC (Eww) | SIBT Students Posted: 05 Aug 2014 07:39 AM PDT Mathematics can be a difficult topic to some students. Many people have come up with different theories to justify why they are poor at math. "Is it because my parents are poor in mathematics, hence I have their genes for being poor in mathematics too?" "Is it because I didn't do well in maths when I'm 8 years old, hence when I'm 16 years old now, I cannot improve my grades anymore?" We are not sure how true these theories are, but what we can tell you is that these theories don't matter. We have helped students, regardless of their backgrounds, to improve their mathematics concept and foundation. Here are 7 tips that can help you to improve your grades today: 1. Never skip a math topic In every grade, there are a few math topics that a student has to finish learning. However, the bad habit in some students is to forgo some difficult topics and hope that they are not important in the examination. Yes, some topics may not carry high marks in the examination, but they will affect your understand at the next grade. Don't skip a topic because it is difficult. Find time to understand and master it. 2. Don't just read. Do it. For every topic, there are questions to do to build the foundation for that topic. Most students like to read the topic, and thought that they understand it. There is a big difference between knowing it, and applying it. Most students don't know how to apply the concepts learn to solve problem sums. Math is different from other subjects like history, where you can score A just by memorizing. You have to do the sums in order to understand and score A from it. 3. Help your younger friends If you are doing well in certain math topics, go and help any friends who needs help. They may be your younger friends who just need some advice from you because he understands you better than his teacher. When you teach them, you also help yourself by solidifying the math principles you have learnt. This will help to improve your math, and help your friend's too! 4. Keep your workings neat When doing math, it is very common to write fast and scribble our writings on the paper. It is important to keep your workings neat. This is not only for the teachers who are marking your scripts, but it is for you to look back at your own work for revision. By keeping the writings neat, you can easily read through the train of thought that go through your mind when you're solving the questions. This will help you to implement the same thought process when you encounter the same issues again. 5. Always clarify, don't assume Math can be confusing some times and we may thought some math concepts are the same. Hence, it is always important to clarify with your teachers or tutors about any questions you may have, than to make your own assumptions. 6. Study related topics together This is a big tip when it comes to revision. Studying related topics together can build momentum and increase your confidence level to head into the examination hall. In math, there are topics that are closely related to each other. Example – Differentiation & Integration. They are under the concept of Calculus. Inside Calculus, you have more topics, like Calculation of Area and Volume. When you study these topics together, you see that many formula are inter-linked and this helped you to study both chapters within the same time together. When you master one topic, you have also mastered the other topic at the same time. 7. Get a math buddy The best way to learn anything, is to learn with a friend. If you have a good friend, make him your learning buddy. It is okay if both of you are not scoring well in math. But both of you must be willing to work hard to improve your grades. The worst person to study with, is the person with lousy learning attitude that drains your motivation and energy. With a math buddy, both of you can motivate each other, teach other, and most importantly, score A together. For more tips on improving your math, you can watch the video below. It shows you some tricks how to study your math!  |
| <b><b>Tips</b></b> to ace Exam FM's materials | - Blog - Coaching <b>...</b> Posted: 06 Aug 2014 07:03 AM PDT Written by Ramy Gaballa: Before discussing the details, most of us had the following question before studying for FM: What kind of math do we need to master before starting to study for this exam? Simply put, this exam does not require rigorous math. The math used in FM includes basic algebra and calculus. Topics that require rigorous math do not show up very frequently on the exam. These topics include: 1) Variable force of interest, which requires basic knowledge of differentiation and integration 2) Continuous varying stream of payments where you have to integrate by parts, but everyone usually uses a short-cut formula 3) Immunization, duration, and convexity – these topics require differentiation 4) And finally, what I call "contingent payoffs in the derivatives section". These require applying very basic probability-based calculations and such questions do not come up on the exam very frequently (expect a single question per hundreds of questions) Previous knowledge of sequence and series topics can help you in understanding the topics where you should be able to use short-cuts and manipulation to deal with a sequence of payments to solve the problem in less than 5 minutes. In the beginning, I used to plot a timeline in order to easily figure out the details, however, after a few weeks I abolished the idea of using timelines because it wastes a lot of time. Try to make everything as intuitive as possible. Remember that financial mathematics are used to numerically and mathematically represent details happening in real life. Sometimes certain information in some of the exam problems do not make economic sense and the reason why is that the examiner's goal is to test your quantitative skills regardless of the intuition behind the problems. Based on my experience, the SOA does not focus on specific topics. In my first attempt last February, I earned a 5 (I failed it). The main reason why this happened was that many questions focused on amortization of sinking funds, which is a relatively marginalized topic in most study manuals. During my 2nd attempt a few days ago, the exam was more balanced and the derivatives questions were far more advanced than those of my first attempt. The SOA sample derivatives questions posted on the SOA website are relatively advanced so you should be able to solve them under the exam conditions before taking the exam, as some people had exams where the derivatives part was extremely difficult. When solving Adapt exams, your goal should be reaching at least an earned level of 7 and you should keep solving level 7 exams after reaching this point. In my opinion, solving level 8 or above exams includes questions that are too advanced and unrealistic. Focus instead on individual topics that you have not mastered yet. After acing different topics, make sure to know the meaning of the following terms: 1) Theoretical price 2) Semi-theoretical price 3) Practical price 4) Dirty price 5) Full price 6) Clean price 7) Quoted price 8) Market rate 9) Repo rate 10) Lease rate Don't risk losing marks and failing the exam because of not spending 5 or 10 more minutes to know the meaning of such terms. Abolish the idea of using timelines and fancy mathematical derivations (if you can) after acing the topics because this can save you 30 to 60 minutes. Using fancy mathematical models and derivations is not wise when dealing with such problems. Your goal for FM is coming up with the exact solution as quickly as possible. This requires mastering techniques used in financial calculators. Using the store and recall buttons can save you a lot of time. Don't panic during the exam because this can negatively impact your performance. You should highlight the questions that are confusing and you should select any of the choices before skipping. Finally, you have to scrutinize your exam sitting's syllabus posted on the SOA website to check that you aced the topics mentioned. Good luck! Disclaimer: The content of this blog post is the sole opinion of the author and is not associated with Coaching Actuaries, its team members or its brand. Coaching Actuaries provides an opportunity for actuaries to share their ideas, but does not claim any responsibility for the content provided. |
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