1. Exam Tips Specialist Mathematics 2018

2. Written Examination 1
Specialist Mathematics Examination 1 is designed to assess
students’ knowledge of mathematical concepts, their skills in
carrying out mathematical algorithms and their ability to
apply concepts and skills in standard ways, without the use
of technology.

3. Written Examination 1
The following materials are permitted in this examination.
Normal stationary: this includes pens, pencils, highlighters,
erasers, sharpeners and rulers. ( not liquid paper )
A calculator is not allowed in this examination.
Notes are not permitted in this examination.

4. Written Examination 1
The examination will consist of short answer questions to be
answered without the use of technology.
The examination will be out of a total of 40 marks.
The examination will consist of about 9-10 questions.
Students have 1 hour writing time and 15 minutes reading time.
This examination contributes 22% to the overall total score in
Specialist Mathematics.
A formula sheet will be provided with the examination.
The formula sheet will be the same for examinations 1 and 2.

5. Strategies in Examination 1
Examination Advice
Strategies in Examination 1
Use the reading time to plan an approach for the paper.
Read each question carefully and look for key words and constraints.
Momentum can be built early in the exam by completing the questions for which you feel the most confident.

7. Examination Tips from the Examiners
Examination Advice
Examination Tips from the Examiners

8. Examination Tips from the Examiners Nov 2017
Examination Advice
Examination Tips from the Examiners Nov 2017

9. Examination Tips from the Examiners
Examination Advice
Examination Tips from the Examiners

10. Examination Tips from the Examiners (Nov 2016)

11. Examination Tips from the Examiners
Examination Advice
Examination Tips from the Examiners
Students who went on to write further information often lost unnecessary marks.
Some students actually had the correct answer, but crossed it out.
Do not cross out working unless you have actually rewritten down another answer that you think is correct.

12. Examination Tips from the Examiners
Examination Advice
Examination Tips from the Examiners
Be careful not to make silly mistakes, for example do not forget the +c in integration and remember to include the dx.

13. Examination Tips from the Examiners
Examination Advice
Examination Tips from the Examiners
When drawing graphs, use a ruler, label graphs, include coordinates of axial intercepts and equations of asymptotes, make sure the graphs are smooth and asymptotes are approached correctly, endpoints if required are marked and draw the graph on the appropriate domain, using a correct scale.

14. Examination Tips from the Examiners
Examination Advice
Examination Tips from the Examiners
Make sure you know your definitions, and formulae that are not included on the formulae sheet.
Set out your answers logically and systematically, clearly indicating your final answer.
Read the examiners reports, these are freely available from the VCAA website.

15. Written Examination 2 The examination will consist of two parts,
a total of 80 marks
Part A – 20 Multiple-choice questions worth one mark each.
Part B – Extended answer questions, involving multi-stage
solutions of increasing complexity worth 60 marks.
Students have 2 hours writing time and 15 minutes reading
time. This examination contributes 44% to the overall total
score in Specialist Mathematics, the remaining 34% consists
of internally assessed course work SACTS.

16. Written Examination 2
The following material are permitted in this examination.
Normal stationary: this includes pens, pencils,
highlighters, erasers, sharpeners and rulers.
( not liquid paper )
One bound reference that may be annotated.
The reference may be a textbook.
An approved CAS calculator is allowed in this examination.

17. Strategies in Examination 2 Section A
Examination Advice
Strategies in Examination 2 Section A
Make sure that you answer every question in the multiple choice section, there is no penalty for incorrect answers.
Some questions require you to work through every multiple-choice option – when this happens don’t panic!
Eliminate responses that you think are incorrect and focus on the remaining ones.
Questions generally require only one or two steps, however, you should still expect to do some calculations.

18. Strategies in Examination 2 Section B
Examination Advice
Strategies in Examination 2 Section B
If you find you are spending too much time on a question, leave it and move on to the next question.
When a question says to “show” that a certain result is true, you can use this information to progress through to the next stage of the question.

19. Examination Advice General Advice
Answer questions when required to the number of decimal places specified.
Answers to questions assume an exact answer, decimal approximations are not acceptable.
When an exact answer is required, appropriate working must be shown.
Marks will not be awarded to questions worth more than one mark if appropriate working is not shown.

20. Examination Advice General Advice
Label graphs carefully – coordinates for intercepts and stationary points; equations for asymptotes.
Pay attention to detail when sketching graphs.

21. Examination Tips from the Examiners
Examination Advice
Examination Tips from the Examiners

22. Examination Tips from the Examiners
Examination Advice
Examination Tips from the Examiners

27. Functions: domain, range, asymptotes.
Inverse, reciprocal, absolute value functions.

30. Solving trig equations: in most cases you will need to use some trig identities to rearrange the equation. Change to the same argument and factorise. May need to use a substitution in some cases (a quadratic). Check the domain over which an equation needs to be solved. This will tell you if you need to solve in radians or degrees. Pay attention whether the exact answer is asked for. If not go straight to the calculator. Think about the period and how many solutions you need to have over the given domain.

32. Sketch the graph by hand over the given domain.

33. Using trig identities:
Exam 1 NHT 2018

34. Complex Numbers: polar and Cartesian form, conjugate root theorem, principal argument, factorise as opposed to solve (factors versus roots, solutions, zeros). Real field, complex field. De Moivre’s theorem. Nth roots of a complex number. Regions in a complex plane (circles, rays, half planes, perpendicular bisectors), max/min modulus/argument in a given region. When asked to shade/draw the region, clearly indicate the required region with a letter and an arrow connecting the letter to the region.
Exam 1 NHT 2018
Clearly mark the centre with (1,1) and radius

35. Exam 2 NHT 2018
Use CAS cSolve and convert to polar.

39. Vectors : when you need to prove something using vectors, read carefully the question. They may specify the method: eg. Use vectors to find the angle. Then you need to use the angle between vectors formulae, not other methods like geometry. In vector proofs show all steps clearly and state the final conclusion in words. Make sure that you are familiar with all formulae and definitions particularly scalar and vector resolutes in the direction of a given vector or in the direction perpendicular to a given vector.

45. Parametric equations.

46. Projectile motion.

49. Complete the square in the denominator
to decide on integration technique
Arctan integral for u.

50. Draw a diagram, make sure you rotate about the required axis.
Set up the definite integral for the volume of revolution.

51. Length of arc.
Check the formulas sheet, function or parametric. Exam 1 – simplify the expression as far as needed to be able to integrate.

53. Length of arc.

56. Euler method solving DEs numerically.

57. Slope fields on TI Nspire CAS.

58. Exam question MC
Answer: D

64. Statistics: read all information very carefully, write down what is given, look up the formulas.

68. Commonly used Z-scores for Confidence Intervals
Memorise those values for Exam 1

71. Confidence intervals.

73. Hypothesis Testing.
A fast food chain advertises that their large bag of chips have a weight of 150 grams. Some students suspected they were not getting enough chips in a bag. To test the claim a random sample of 25 bags weighed grams with a standard deviation of 6.3 grams. Perform a hypothesis test clearly stating your conclusions.

75. General: if your reasoning involves a graph, this graph needs to be drawn as part of your solution. For any part of the question where 1 mark is assigned, it is the answer mark, so either right or wrong. You can get this mark without showing any working. However, for any question worth more than one mark, all working needs to be shown. You will receive 0 marks if you just give the answer, even if this answer is correct. Follow the prescribed method. Pay attention to “hence’ and ‘show that’.
If you attempt the question again, clearly cross out what is not meant to be your answer. Then write your solution again. If no more space left you can do it somewhere else on the paper; then clearly indicate where the second attempt at the question is. Do not give two options!
Be aware of time when sitting the exam. Allow about 40 minutes for MC then move on. Make an educated guess in MC: eliminate the obvious incorrect answers, and then make a guess.
Use CAS very efficiently where applicable. Make good judgment how to use CAS or sometimes do it by hand, if applicable, even in Exam 2.
Do not skip later parts of a question even if you are stuck earlier; read carefully as the parts are not always connected.

76. The best of luck to everyone!
Very important: Be confident in your ability! You studied consistently all year and prepared well for your exams. Do not panic!
The best of luck to everyone!
Watch videos on TI website Specialist Mathematics Exam Readiness