Everywhere you look, you can see maths at work. Buildings and roads result from maths-heavy engineering work. The food you eat amounts to the proportions of ingredients. The clothes you wear were first shapeless pieces of cloth. Those fabrics were then measured, cut and measured again before being sewn into garments.
Maths is considered a life skill, just like reading and writing. You need to have a sense of numbers and know how to work with them to function in society. How will you pay for the food and clothes you buy if you have no idea how numbers work? How will you know you're not getting cheated out of money at every turn?
Despite maths being essential to everyday life, sitting the HSC Maths exams is optional. That's good because less-maths-apt students aren't pressured to sit exams in a subject they perhaps have no interest in. The bad outweighs the good in this scenario, though. So we will start our discussion with all the compelling reasons to choose HSC Maths. Then, we'll talk about other aspects of this life-defining exam.
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Why You Should Choose HSC Maths
We made some pretty strong arguments for enrolling in HSC Maths already. Everyone needs maths for their everyday life. That might be the most vital reason for you to pursue your maths education. Now, let us broaden that narrow perspective.
Today's world is increasingly technical. On one hand, that makes it easy for people with poor math skills to function. Calculators abound so it's easy to figure out percentages and proportions. On the other hand, though, not knowing how to work with numbers shuts them out of practically every job. After all, even janitors mixing their cleaning solutions have to calculate the ratio of water to chemicals.
More technology doesn't just mean more convenience. It means that jobs are becoming increasingly specialised. More and more, factories are staffed with people servicing the robots that do the work of labourers. Today's students need to prepare for a professional life that's less manual trade and more intellectual. That's rather the point of HSC Maths.
As soon as you enrol in HSC Maths, you'll realise it is not your typical maths course. You won't cycle through types of maths as you did throughout your compulsory maths studies. Instead, you'll learn how to apply those concepts to different career fields. Let's find out what they are.
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The HSC Maths Standard Curriculum Design
Today's Australian economy revolves around three industries. They are Finance, Networking and Data - collection, analysis and statistics. All three of these fields are maths-intensive. The HSC Mathematics Standard curriculum prepares you for them all.
Industrial efficiency has become a buzzword. Today, every company wants the leanest production cycle possible. Thus, they engage in Project Management: planning every step of their operation in minute detail. The Standard Maths curriculum prepares you for such a profession and others that use network concepts and critical path analysis.
Finance drives much of the Australian economy. Our 'big four' banks consistently rank high on the list of World's Safest Banks. You have to know about investments, loans and credit principles to work in the finance industry. Wouldn't you know it? The HSC Maths Standard curriculum teaches you all about them.
Accruing data is all well and good but somebody has to do something with it. Otherwise, there's no point in gathering any data. Governments and other concerned bodies analyse data to generate statistics. Those, in turn, are used to make a variety of predictions, from economic to actuarial. Governments and industries plan their budgets, initiate new projects and manage current resources based on those predictions.
The HSC Maths Standard curriculum introduces these and other Statistics concepts. You'll learn about data analysis, relative frequency and the normal distribution. This sampling of a complex topic serves to pique your interest in further statistics studies at university.
The Difference Between HSC Maths Standard and Advanced
Boosting your Australian Tertiary Admissions rating (ATAR) is another reason to enrol in HSC Maths. Now comes the conundrum: which course to enrol in? Many students mistakenly believe that Advanced must deliver a higher ATAR than Standard.
That stands to reason. In any other usage of those two words, they function as superlatives. That's not the case with HSC Maths.
Each course prepares you for a different career track. Advanced lays the maths foundation for university studies in science, engineering and medicine. As described above, Standard prepares you for university as well. However, this track also allows you to enter the workforce equipped with serviceable knowledge as soon as you finish high school.
One course must be more difficult than the other, though, right? Not necessarily. They are equally challenging from an impartial perspective. Students who 'get' geometry and trigonometry will have an easier time in Advanced Maths. By contrast, those who revel in a variety of maths-related topics will likely prefer what Standard has to offer.
Advanced does not automatically confer a higher ATAR. Indeed, you risk losing points on your exam if you're not in tune with the concepts this course teaches. Also, it is more academically rigorous. What else could be different between the Standard and Advanced tracks?
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HSC Maths Past Papers and Other Resources
Whether you decide on the HSC Mathematics Standard or Advanced course, you'll need resources to enhance your studies. Textbooks, homework and other course materials are good for starters. There's much more available to you.
Past papers are the first and most obvious resource. You can download an entire exam pack straight from the New South Wales Education Standards Authority (NESA) website. In fact, you have access to 20 years worth of past papers, marking guidelines and marking feedback. What should you do with them all?
Some students complete those exams. And then, they assess their performance against the marking scheme. That helps them determine their strengths and which topics they need to focus their studies on. Such mock exams train you for the ordeal itself. The exam questions hint at what to expect come time for you to sit the exam.
Such resources only address a part of your HSC Mathematics studies. You also have study tools like flashcards, mind maps, revision groups and productivity applications at your disposal. The only question is: will you create your own or used web-based tools? There are arguments for and against both sides. We've laid them all out in a separate article.
Let's make one final suggestion as you plan your study strategy. Organisation - making a study schedule and sticking to it is arguably as vital as having additional resources. There's no point in downloading or creating any additional materials if you don't carve out the time to work with them.
A Tutor for HSC Maths
You wouldn't be wrong to think of a private tutor as an additional resource to help you master HSC Mathematics. If so, you may conclude that there's no need to pay for someone to guide your studies. There are plenty of resources freely available, after all. Logically, that makes sense. Practically, that's a tactical error.
Studying on your own is commendable but there are more positives in receiving maths tutoring than not. Why? For one, it's much easier to get distracted when you're off in your corner, alone. In fact, you put yourself at risk of putting your studies off until it's too late to be fully prepared for exams. And just how do you plan to study, anyway?
When you engage an HSC maths tutor, organisation is their first order of business. They'll interview you at length about your thoughts on maths, which topics you're good at and which ones cause struggles. They want to know about your state of mind. Are you excited or nervous about your maths studies? How you feel about maths determines the tone of your lessons.
Tutors don't just hammer on concepts until you understand them. They don't mimic classroom teaching techniques. Tutors don't rely on your textbooks for instruction. And they certainly are not tied to the school's curriculum. They have the time and latitude to explain concepts in as many ways as are needed for you to understand them. Once you've mastered a concept, it's time to use that skill.
You can count on your HSC Maths tutor to come to lessons prepared. They'll likely have worksheets, puzzles and other games related to that concept for you to work on. Tutors know that playing with recently-learned information is the best way to remember it. It also lowers the tension you feel while studying for your life-altering exam.
You can think of your HSC Mathematics tutor as a coach. Just like any such mentor, they're concerned about all of you, not just the part of your brain engaged in maths studies. They bring a full range of teaching and personal skills to your lessons and teach you how to use them. HSC Maths tutors aren't just about maths. Discover all of the advantages of revising with such a personal tutor.
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