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.
Ai Ling Ong
Hi, I'm Ai Ling Ong. I enjoy coaching students who have challenges with understanding and scoring in 'O' Level A-Maths and E-Maths. I develop Math strategies, sometimes ridiculous ideas to help students in understanding abstract concepts the fast and memorable way. I write this blog to share with you the stuff I teach in my class, the common mistakes my students made, the 'way' to think, analyze... If you have found this blog post useful, please share it with your friends. I will really appreciate it! :)
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