Tips & Challenges

Taking H2 math (9758) without Amath?

One question often pondered is whether students can take H2 math (9758) without taking Amath in O level.

Not all junior colleges have the same prerequisite for H2 math. Some JCs require a minimum grade in O level Amath, some require a pass and some don’t even require Amath.

Some JCs  allow students without amaths background to take h2 maths but they must do a bridging course.

H2 math is much more challenging than Amath, and there are a lot of assumed knowledge in Amath, especially on Calculus, trigo, surds, indices and logarithm.

If students don’t have Amath background, it will be very challenging to understand and do well in H2 math. My recommendation is for students without Amath to take H1 math.

Inequalities: Use And/OR correctly

Many students use the words “And/Or” indiscriminately in solving inequalities. However, there is a very important difference. ‘And‘ means you take the intersection of the solutions sets. ‘Or‘ means you take the union of the solutions sets.

Example

inequality

Understanding Composite Functions

For the composite function fg,

Understanding composite functionsTo find the range of the composite function, there are 3 approaches

Method 1ex

Method 2 (Only for strictly increasing or decreasing function)

Since both function g and f are strictly increasing, we can deduce the range in the following manner:

composite

Method 3

Determine the range based on the rule and domain of the composite function

Using the same f and g definition above,

Tex2Img_1399597518

Tex2Img_1399597421

Tex2Img_1399597833

Integration made simple

Knowing how to apply Linear Composite Rule and Reverse Composite Rule in integration will make integration very simple. This will save the effort of memorizing lots of integration formulas.

linear-composite

reverse composite

Transformation of graphs in H2 math

http://www.h2maths.webs.com/ is a good website.

H2 math student can use it to help them understand transformation of graph

h2 math

The website also help students in visualising topics such as

1. Sampling

2. Solids of revolution

3. Vectors

Why students should Meditate?

Meditation can benefit the students in the following ways:

  1. Better focus and concentration. Mediation can lead to better concentration. Students can absorb what the teacher is teaching in class, without being distracted. And when doing their own study or assignment, they can reach the ” flow state”, where they can accomplish much more. 3 hours of doing Math just pass by quickly. They can study everywhere, in the MRT or even noisy places, without being distracted.
  2. Less Anxiety. Meditation can help to reduce anxiety. Students can perform better in tests and exams when they have less anxiety.
  3. More creativity. Meditation has been found to improve creativity. Challenging questions in exam require creativity to solve. Students aiming for distinctions need to be prepared to meet questions containing new ideas. They need to be creative in coming up with their own solution to solve the problem.
  4. More patience: Students sometimes get frustrated when they cannot solve a Math problem. Meditation helps in cultivating patience. Challenging math problem require patience and persistence to solve.

Where to learn meditation?

If students don’t mind attending meditation in a Buddhism enviroment, they can attend this good course near Aljunied MRT.

http://www.fpmtabc.org/education_beginners.php

The course is free

How to do well in maths

1. Achieve a deep understanding of the concepts. Understand the ‘how’ or ‘why’ the concept is such, instead of memorizing the steps.

2. Practise a few routine or basic questions to build foundation, speed and accuracy.

3. Attempt challenging or a variety of problems. Instead of doing all the questions in the practice paper, you can attempt only those that are challenging or different.

4. Compare your solution with the solution provided. Is it correct and as elegant as the provided solution? Can you think of alternative solutions?

5. Produce your own summary notes which can be used for quick revision. It is like producing your own secret manual after all the training and challenges.

6. Teach your peers. The more you teach others, the better you become.