Navigating the New Syllabus - Part 2
This email is the second update in a new "Teacher Series" for the Standard 2 HSC course.
We are constantly updating our platform to reflect the most recent information available to help you navigate the new syllabus changes with confidence (90 minutes of cherry-picked questions have been added this term).
NESA's recently released "Additional sample examination questions" for Mathematics Standard 1 and 2, has helped illuminate a number of content debates. This new information is now reflected in our database, with a few topic specific points which I thought were worth mentioning below.
A1 Formulae and Equations
- Substitution and Other Equations - The recent NESA sample examination questions included the requirement to rearrange the subject of a non-linear equation. This contradicts our understanding of the syllabus and we see it as an oversight. Our database continues to only include questions requiring the rearrangement of linear equations in this context. If our research into the matter changes our stance, our database will be updated immediately.
A4 Types of Relationships
- Simultaneous Equations - significant syllabus changes have clearly occurred in this topic area. Our database has significantly beefed up questions where students need to solve these type of equations graphically, in both simple and applied contexts.
- An example of the scaffolding required around solving any such equations purely "algebraically" was also included in the NESA supplement and has been reflected in the database.
M2 Working With Time
- Small point but worth mentioning - we have added new questions and altered past HSC questions to expose students to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) terminology, as well as retaining some GMT references in other examples for breadth.
- Cross-topic applications of circular measure with longitude and latitude information could arguably bring "great circle" distances between locations into examinable content (provided the earth's radius is given). Teacher feedback verdict: too confusing in light of the topic's omission in the new syllabus. We have left it out.
M7 Rates and Ratios
- NESA's supplementary questions provided some guidance on question styles related to ratio and scale. This information has informed supplementary questions added to the database.
- Somewhat unexpectedly, capture/recapture questions were included in NESA's most recent sample examination questions. Since this question type has been traditionally very poorly answered and represents, in our view, a conceptual understanding of the "ratio concept" in a pure form, we have adjusted the database to now include it.
S2 Relative Frequency and Probability
- Multi-Stage Events - it is arguable that financial expectation can be included within "expectation" of this topic area. We originally included one question on this in our database but this caused confusion as teacher feedback kept asking if "financial expectation" within all its previous Gen2 importance, was in the new syllabus. Teacher verdict: too confusing to keep in. We have removed it.
N2/N3 Networks
- The recent NESA supplementary exam questions have been extremely important in shining a spotlight on this new content area. Teacher feedback to us is unequivocal - this area is causing more headaches than any other new Standard 2 content.
- We have carefully analysed this new information and it is reflected in our updated database.
*We analyse NETWORKS in greater detail in Teacher Series (Part 3) coming soon.
**Register for a free trial here. Find out why a majority of NSW High Schools are now subscribers.
***ALL STANDARD 2 TOPIC ANALYSES ARE NOW AVAILABLE FOR ALL SILVER SUBSCRIBERS
(see below for an example of SmarterMaths' Topic Analyses in the new syllabus that can be incorporated into worksheets at a click)