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Simple Tips for Better Maths Results!

E-Maths

E-Maths: Completing Square Step-by-Step Video (Part 1)


I was talking to my Secondary 3 students in my O-Level E Maths weekly tuition class on Quadratic when they expressed disgust for the technique of Completing Square.

A similar thing happened when Completing Square was an alternative method offered to Equation of Circle concept. There was a collective yucks from the class.

I hope my video will ease the yuckness many students find with completing square technique and give you some hope to conquer it!

Test out your understanding by leaving your answer for the bonus question in the comments below!

Direct link to video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bf8PfyP2h74

E-Maths Trigonometry Workshop Post Mortem


I completed my E-Maths Trigonometry workshop with a group of sportsmen and sportswomen. We do running, archery, basketball, badminton, bowling...

It was exciting and nervous to meet new faces... They hear my stories, I hear theirs.

For the workshop, I would like to discuss about bearings and the usage of sin formula through this question. Do you have any difficulties in E-Maths Trigonometry? I would love to hear from you! Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

Trigonometry E-Maths Question

For bearings, pay attention to these 3 points:

  • 3 figures
  • Reference point
  • Measured from North in a clockwise direction

For sin formula, you must know how to identify an angle and its corresponding length which are opposite each other.

View the video via this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhH1zqwn9uM

25% of 2010 'O' Level E-Maths Paper 2 is on Trigonometry


I was looking at this year 'O' Level E-Maths Papers.  They were overall 'friendly' with hardly any surprise. I shall not term the papers as easy or hard.

I was paying attention to the concepts on Trigonometry and it's interesting to note that the typical short question didn't appear in Paper 1 instead there were 2.5 questions linked very closely to Trigonometry.

Why Trigonometry you might ask?

Well, many students might not be aware Trigonometry is a fundamental set of formulas and concepts which are closely linked to arc lengths, area of sector, mensuration and any questions involving angles in triangle, area of triangles...

I can't show you the questions due to copyright but you can get a copy of Ten Years Series book (released in January 2011).

Questions on Trigonometry in 2010 'O' Level E-Maths Paper 2

Question 1 (10 marks) tests candidates on

  • TOA CAH SOH (extensively since the diagram consists of 3 right angle triangles). I suspect some might use SIN rule (nothing wrong but more manipulations) instead of TOA CAH SOH to answer the questions
  • Understanding of bearings

Question 7 (11 marks) tests candidates on

  • Usage of COS rule to find angle
  • Ability to 'see' and find angle of depression from paper
  • Manipulation of area of triangle using formula with 'sin'

Question 8bii (4 marks) tests candidates on

  • Ability to find the height of a triangular surface using TOA CAH SOH

The challenges many students face include:

  • Knowing all the formulas but not being able to select the correct approach fast and accurate enough in test and exams.
  • Not being able to 'see' 3D from paper.
  • Lacking the flexibility to manipulate formulas (due to poor Algebraic foundation in Secondary 1 and 2)
  • Not learning from repeated mistakes
  • Unaware of the misconceptions
  • Assumption that you know the important usage of every formula but in fact you don't

If your child is not scoring 'A' for E-Maths, he must know the reason and be prepared to do something about it. In 'O' Levels, A1 is unlikely to be 75% and above. It is determined by the bell curve of the entire cohort.

Trigonometry is a very important section in E-Maths and A-Maths. I would like to share with your child the strategies proven to have helped my students to achieve better results in their exams.

Join me in the Dec Trigonometry Workshop today! Click  here to read more.

Coordinate Geometry Mindmap


For today, I decided to have some fun with the online mindmap software - MindMeister to create the summary for coordinate geometry topic for Secondary 3 and 4 students.

It's a simple mindmap which includes almost all if not everything on Coordinate Geometry.

Do let me know if there's anything I've left out.

Feel free to save the image on your desktop too.

Click on image for larger view.

Coordinate_Geometry

E-Math: Vectors - Explain why 3 points are on the same line


3 points on the same line has a term called 'Collinear'. Are you at a loss of how to go about explaining why ABC is a straight line, why ABC is on the same line, why ABC is collinear?

They all meant the same thing. Here's the template you can use everything you need to explain why ABC is a straight line in a vectors question:

Vectors-StraightLine_Page_05

To have a better understanding, it is best that you know that what's the significance of scalar multiplication of vectors, I know it's like 'eeeeeeek' but what it really means is as followed: (Not as bad as you thought)

Vectors-StraightLine_Page_02

Here's the video for step by step:

Note there's a bonus question at the end of the video. Try it and leave me your answer on the comments section.