Subjects

Who is it for?

General Mathematics Units 3 and 4 is the final year VCE sequence for you if you are interested in developing your ability to apply mathematical techniques to day-to-day situations.

While some tertiary courses require no more than General Mathematics, if you are a student who is intending to specialise in Mathematics, or to pursue studies in maths-heavy disciplines such as engineering, medicine or the sciences, you may need to take the more rigorous Mathematics units at final year VCE level (for example, Mathematical Methods 3 and 4 or Specialist Mathematics 3 and 4).

What do you do?

Each week you are expected to study lessons or watch videos on new content, participate in online lessons, complete practice exercises, checking your answers as you go, and then complete work for submission. There are four School-assessed Coursework tasks (SACs) to be completed during the year. There are two 90 minute external exams at the end of the year.

What skills do you need?

You should have successfully completed General Mathematics Units 1 and 2 or Mathematical Methods 1 and 2. Familiarity with mathematical software, such as a CAS calculator or Excel, is also recommended. You should have developed computational skills in fractions, decimals and percentages. This should include rounding and Scientific Notation. The ability to draw suitable graphs and interpret them is also required.

What skills do you develop?

This subject will give you a basic understanding of the use of mathematical terminology and techniques in some common real-world settings such as borrowing and investing money. You will also be guided to take a more critical approach to data analysis. You will be supported to develop methodical approaches to problem-solving and to become competent in the use of a CAS calculator.

Requirements

Internet:
Internet is needed to access this course. All work will be completed and submitted online weekly.

A VCAA approved CAS calculator:

For this study, you need access to VCAA-approved CAS technology. VSV course notes refer to the TI-Nspire CAS and Casio ClassPad calculators. The textbook also contains instructions for both TI-Nspire CX CAS and Casio ClassPad II calculators, with downloadable manuals for both Ti-Nspire and Casio Classpad. Although we recommend students have either of these CAS calculators, any of the listed VCAA-approved CAS technologies could be used.

Please note VSV currently can only support CAS calculator exams not CAS software exams.

Further information on VCAA-approved technologies is available on their website.

You will need the following materials:

• ruler
• exercise book for your workings
• exercise book for bound reference that can be used in the two end of year exams.

Things to think about

To successfully complete General Mathematics Units 3 and 4, you need to have basic competence in Year 7–10 Mathematics topics. If you are unsure if your maths skills are at a standard sufficient to allow you to successfully complete the General Mathematics sequence (Units 3 and 4) you should contact your current Mathematics teacher to discuss your situation.

Things you can do now

If you have access to the Cambridge text, you can begin looking through the text and preparing yourself for the year of study ahead.

In particular, you can revise the material on Data analysis (Chapters 1, 2 and 3).
You can also establish some basic maths skills and practise using your CAS calculator by following the links below.

Go to the VCAA website for more information about this subject.