I had my first JC1 H2 Math tutee yesterday. True enough, I expect some JC1 students to start looking around for a tutor sometime in March, when most would have received their first test results at JC level.
The topics we covered were Binomial Series and APGP. Not surprisingly, the student had scored A1 for her Additional Math last year, but still struggling with beginning H2 Math topics. Didn’t I say this before, that H2 Math is significantly more difficult than A. Math? JC1 students must take their H2 Math very seriously, else I can guarantee that their Math results would mostly be S’s and U’s throughout the whole year.
For example, Binomial Series is much more difficult than the O-level Binomial Theorem. They may have the same fundamental formula, but the former has many more ‘tricks’ to look out for; ironically, it is this familiarity with the binomial expansion that deceives students into taking this topic lightly, as in the case with Inequalities. As for APGP, although it is not really very difficult, it is very new to most students who have never studied Series and Progressions before. In fact, the Summation sign itself is very alien to most new JC students.
To be good at Binomial Series and APGP, you first have to be very competent in Algebra and Indices. Additionally, you have to have this habit of writing out the first few terms and the nth term of an unfamiliar sequence or series when confronted with the difficult questions. But if you are good at being careless, you are finished.
Lastly, I have one advice for H2 Math students: Beware of the topics Vectors and Complex Numbers. : )
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For our latest timetable, click here =>
A. Math Reflections – Inequalities
I find that a lot of A. Math students, even JC students,
are weak in solving inequalities. For A. Math, some of the common
mistakes are:
(1) thinking that (x-4)(x+1) > 0 means that (x-4) > 0 or (x+1) > 0;
(2) thinking that (x^2 -9) > 0 means that x > +- 3;
(3) forgetting to change the inequality sign when multiplying or
dividing by a negative number, especially ‘hidden’ negative numbers such as
log(0.7).
Many JC students are also weak in solving inequalities, probably
due to not overcoming misconceptions abt inequalities when they were in
secondary school and new challenges posed by Inequalities in H2 Math, such as
in solving (x+2) / (x-3) < 0.
For our latest timetable, click here =>
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