Andrew's Guide to IB Mathematics Universe

Hello everyone!   Today’s post will deviate from the usual blogposts on the website, as it’ll be targeted at teachers and fellow tutors. I’m sure students can still benefit from this, but this post is written with teachers in mind.   We’ll discuss two main systems – numerical (raw) marks vs marking at the question level as a whole. This may sound confusing but it’ll make sense when you finish reading the post.   A brief rundown of the two systems   Numerical marks converted to final grade This is the most common method. A-level, IB, Scottish qualifications, it’s not hard to list systems that opt for this option.   Each exam has a fixed number of raw marks. Students take the exam, teachers mark each question and tally up the final raw mark.   The overall performance is not determined until the awarding process takes place.   Marking at the question level The biggest example of this is New Zealand’s NCEA system, fi...

 If there’s a biggest killer in your maths grades that I’ve noticed throughout the years, that’s poor algebra skills. I even made a meme on my brane’s failure in arithmetic. Before IB, algebra only comes in waves. A couple short questions on the GCSE exam. Factorise this for 2 marks. Solve this equation for 3 marks.   Soon you’ll see algebra dominates ALL topics in IB. Algebra is just a natural part of a longer question, even in the most unexpected place. Trigonometry and algebra, check. Statistics and algebra, absolutely. Calculus and algebra, inseparable.   If you’re in the summer right before IB, no matter which course you’ll take: please brush up on your algebra. You don’t have to work at the Olympiad level, no, but you should be ready to factorise trinomials as natural as breathing. Or else you’re flushing 3-4 marks every time down the drain and you can say goodbye to a 5, let alone a 7.   Here’s the good news: you don’t have to be a child prodig...

 9:00 a.m. Outside the exam room.   Your heart wants to explode, beating 200 times a minute.   You did the most revision you could do. You set 69 alarms to make sure you wouldn’t rush to school. You’ve prayed 420 times in the last hour, hoping to get some support from the universe.   Ah yes, the teacher’s finally here. Opening the classroom doors so you can all settle down. The scary sound of the paper knife ripping the paper folder opening. Your fate depends on the very papers in there. Five minutes later, you have them in front of you, quickly flipping through to look for missing pages, but slowly enough so you could attempt to peak at the actual questions. Looks like the budget this year is a little tight. The papers are a little thinner than usual. There are smudges on every other page. “You could’ve done better, smh”   Being bored, you start reading the cover page for the 101th time. 2 hours, 110 marks.   Let’s get to the poin...

Hewwo hoomans.   DP2 folks who just finished their exams, hope y’all are happy with your performance. Enjoy the summer before uni. Don’t try to get ahead; you’ll be suffocating in week 5 in your first semester anyway. Really, just enjoy the summer.   This is brought to you by a suffering third year student.   DP1s: exams are right around the corner. The last thing between you and summer. Motivation hits rock bottom. Frustrated at that nasty integral you’ve been struggling for a solid half hour. Really tempted to give up.   Been there, done that. There are moments that I don’t want to study at all . My rational self shouting at me, “DOOO IT YOUR FUTURE SELF WILL THANK YOU,” but my emotional self wins every time “Eh it’s not the end of the world, I’m happy with a B, thank you very much.” Knowing what to prioritise is a skill itself.   Me and bio, in a nutshell. We don’t flow together. Like Teflon and water, immiscible.   Let’s cut to the...