Alex ~ VIC Maths Notes

sketching y=1/(3x+1)-1 using 3x+1=-1, 3x+1=1 and 3x+1=0

sketching y=-2/(3x+1)+3 using 3x+1=-1, 3x+1=1, and 3x+1=0

In #MathsToday, I worked with a student on sketching hyperbolae. We started with identifying the asymptotes and choosing convenient values for the denominator to get nice values. Ended up with a nice intro to using a table of values to deal with it all at once that I normally don't do.

Pi: Is it time for another round already? Tau: Not today.

Students not quite wrapping their heads around radian measure? Let's take a look at a remedy for that.

open.substack.com/pub/vmnalex/...

💯

Time to start taking the antilog of both sides

I see this all the time with maths. People who were naturally good at school maths often fall over completely at university because they don’t know how to make sense of things that are difficult to them.

flopping fish on dry land

Weekend reading: Does your integration introduction land like a wet fish on dry land? Have a read to see how I’ve added significant weight and gravitas to it in my draft overview for Methods. open.substack.com/pub/vmnalex/...

Thanks, David! I'm sure the fish appreciates the freshness.

flopping fish on dry land

Weekend reading: Does your integration introduction land like a wet fish on dry land? Have a read to see how I’ve added significant weight and gravitas to it in my draft overview for Methods. open.substack.com/pub/vmnalex/...

Episode #1 When Will They Learn? Greg Ashman and Caiti Wade launch the 'When Will They Learn?' podcast.

NEW PODCAST
When Will They Learn?
In which Caiti Wade and I explore what’s going on in education. In the first episode, we look at Building Thinking Classrooms and teacher professionalism.
Available on your favourite podcast source.
whenwilltheylearn.substack.com/p/episode-1-...

Grade distributions for senior mathematics (QLD and VIC) Is it normal to grade on that curve?

New post investigating some suspicious-looking grade distributions from QLD

open.substack.com/pub/vmnalex/...

The Architecture of Learning: Complex Skills Are Made of Simple Parts On near decomposability and the design of learning systems

@carlhendrick.substack.com nailing it on curriculum design

open.substack.com/pub/carlhend...

Checking out the 2025 VCE Mathematics examination reports Figured I may as well turn my browsing of the exam reports into a post.

Looks like the VCE exam reports are out. Decided I'd turn my perusal and commentary of them into a blog for posterity. Check it out below.

open.substack.com/pub/vmnalex/...

Check what @tayyubmajeed.bsky.social has

Reframing Mathematical Methods (and other introductory calculus courses) Refocusing Methods on its core concepts

First breakdown post of my VCE Mathematics overviews is here! This one looks at some big picture reframing of Methods so that the major themes are as omnipresent as possible.

open.substack.com/pub/vmnalex/...

Draft overviews for VCE Mathematics (General, Methods, and Specialist 2023 study design) You thought I was going to stop at comparing curricula?

In case you missed the overviews
vmnalex.substack.com/p/draft-over...

Reframing Mathematical Methods (and other introductory calculus courses) Refocusing Methods on its core concepts

First breakdown post of my VCE Mathematics overviews is here! This one looks at some big picture reframing of Methods so that the major themes are as omnipresent as possible.

open.substack.com/pub/vmnalex/...

I very much liked this line:
“If a concept is important, the goal should be to find multiple ways to teach it.”

Afternoon repost
#edusky #mathstoday

The UK writes fg(x) to mean f(g(x)) which I find as an Aussie very confusing as it looks like the product function (fg)(x)

Please share widely, I’d love as much feedback on these as possible so that we can have a freely available base that everyone can use to make their VCE Mathematics courses as great as they can be.

I'm also going to be blogging about them in more detail, such as the intentional decisions and inclusions made that are not typical of these courses to try and turn them into something better.

First one should be out on Friday about the Methods course.

I'm releasing these in a draft form (not classroom tested) so that teachers can take it and trial it to see what works and what needs improvement and because the next study design is not too far away that it will need revisions for that anyway.

To give a sense of the level of detail
- General Mathematics 25 pages
- Mathematical Methods 39 pages
- Specialist Mathematics 47 pages
and that's not waffle. That's point-by-point detail of what can be covered.

They are designed to frame the content around the major themes of the subjects to make them feel cohesive rather than siloed.

They include several opportunities (in red) to extend beyond the study design with content that could appear in a future revision.

These overviews are designed to get into the weeds of the content in VCE mathematics to ensure high coverage and thoughtful sequencing so that ideas build on each other continually (including for concurrent Methods and Specialist without pre-teaching).

Draft overviews for VCE Mathematics (General, Methods, and Specialist 2023 study design) You thought I was going to stop at comparing curricula?

🚨MASSIVE RELEASE🚨

FREE highly detailed overviews for VCE General Mathematics, Mathematical Methods, and Specialist Mathematics ready to use and adapt

#mtbos #mtboz #iteachmath #VCE #maths #VCEmaths

vmnalex.substack.com/p/draft-over...

TOMORROW

👀👀👀

Nine 'rules' of ratio tables laid out in a 3 by 3 grid format.

Some 'aspects/rules' of ratio tables ... collected together as an aid to proportional reasoning.
'El. V–16' = Euclid's Elements Book 5 Proposition 16

#UKMathsChat
#iTeachMath

It'll be a bit for I can grab one. In the meanwhile, multiply a column matrix (left) by a row matrix (right, any sizes