Using question bank as practice

[flinquinnster]

So, I know that doing the question bank/past paper questions is really good practice for maths - which I should probably be attempting to do more of. But my issue is that I'm concerned that if I just skim over a lot of questions now and then read the mark schemes, then I'm not really 'saving' any proper examination-style questions for later exam preparation. I know that I should probably be practising anyway (and doing it properly without being too hasty in looking up the mark scheme), but should I, at this half-way point in the course, be aiming to look at questions from different non-IB sources as well?

My other issue with doing past paper questions is that our teacher sets our mock examination questions from there... and I feel kind of bad about having done some of the questions before... Not that it actually helps me that much in getting the correct answer, but sometimes i do wonder about whether teachers are just blissfully ignorant or discreetly knowledgeable about our access to such IB sources.

I was going to try and set myself the goal of doing an hour of maths practice questions per day in the holidays (because I spent my previous holidays doing exercises out of the Haese and Harris textbook and I finally decided that was a counter-productive use of my time), and I think I'm still going to attempt to do that. And all this, despite the fact that I'm actually considering dropping to Maths SL, pending our test results.

Anyway, any advice would be appreciated!

[sachinkotecha]

Thequestionbanks will help. Revise a section then try all the questions in the questionbank. That way you will learn your mistakes and find out what you don't know.

[ananya.agrawal95]

Why would you merely go over the markscheme? You should actively try and solve each sum you come across!!

[ILikeTurtles]

The question bank really helps, and not just for math. For all subjects, especially the sciences. But when it comes for math, I prefer doing a lot of problems from our textbooks (we have 3 LOL), and then looking over the question bank. If I know how to do it, then I just move on to the next question, if I don't then I try it and then look at the markscheme.

You shouldn't feel bad about doing the questions from the bank though. Our teacher gets questions from so many places that even if we go through the question bank it doesn't really help. But don't drop math SL. Not only will it look bad on your application, but I think it'll bring you down. Just try harder, and think positive

[aangel]

Maybe study using say .... pre-2008 Questionbank questions, and save then you have at least 12 sets of exams for final revision.

[Nrsander]

At the risk of sounding ignorant... Where can I find this question bank? I'm always looking for more practice with HL math before tests.

[Sandwich]

At the risk of sounding ignorant... Where can I find this question bank? I'm always looking for more practice with HL math before tests.

You can buy Question Banks for an extortionate amount of money from the IB website or your school might have one which your teacher could let you have access to. Question Banks are essentially just a really accessible and useful way to access past papers broken down into topics for you with the markscheme easily accessible alongside. They are quite handy They don't have any extra questions which can't be found on past papers, however. They also, unless you buy a brand new one from the IBO shop on their website, may not have the papers for the latest few years.

If your teacher doesn't have them and you can't bring yourself to buy them (i.e. you're not loaded) may be your friend, but we don't distribute them or links to them on IBS as Question Banks are copyrighted material.

[Nrsander]

Dead God; over $220 USD for a book that should probably be public domain (if the International Baccalaureate Communists wanted to truly help us out). That's insanity. Luckily some generous souls are "offering" it through other means, so I'll consider taking advantage of that.

Thank you, Sandwich.

[ananya.agrawal95]

^Its a CD/DVD, not a Book.

[Guest vicizmax]

I was in your shoes just a few months ago, I was very concerned and considered dropping to Math SL!

For some reason Math HL has a way in getting to your head But really, you will probably be fine. Just keep going, and past papers are a great way to practice! After all, most questions repeat themselves - different numbers, but same method. It is unlikely you will remember the same paper which your teacher may give you in a test.

One of our best math teachers almost only gives past papers for homework, quizzes, exams etc., and she gets some of the highest grades from students for the real IB exams. It's all about practice.

A 5 in Math HL is pretty much equivalent to a 7 in Math SL. Universities will appreciate the Math HL more. Besides, the challenge is the fun part, right?