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Links to help you get through your studies and your exams. Recommend a site |
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| GCSE | Background reading | |||
 Interactive GCSE, MathsNet's own course
on GCSE. It is designed specifically for those students trying to improve their
potential grade from a D to a C, or even to a B!  BBC Bitesize, revision and tests on mathematics,
organised at foundation, intermediate and higher levels and covering algebra,
number, shape and space and Data handling.  Maths Help, free help and advice with problems in Mathematics
and Statistics at GCSE, A-level, BTEC, GNVQ and Foundation year degree level.
It features a Knowledge Bank where you will find a large collection of answers
to varied questions ranging across GCSE and A Level, for example "How to tell
if (x+2) is a factor without long division" or "The ambiguous case for the Sine
Rule".  GCSE Revision says "mathematics is an
important subject which requires a lot of knowledge and skills. Not every thing
is covered so you should also revise from your exercises books." But the site
does promise to give you the most comprehensive set of notes you can
get. Homework
High from Channel 4, send in homework questions or revision questions and
get personal answers.  Sam Learning They say "Here’s all
the help you’ll need for success with your GCSE Maths". They provide
interactive revision and exam paper questions.  WebMath, Stuck on a problem? Find your answer here. This site is
composed of many math "fill-in-forms" into which you can type the math problem
you're working on and then receive step-by-step solutions,
instantly!TCAEP.co.uk. Definitions of terms MathsNet's own
curriculum pages. They might use Java,
JavaScript or plugins so be careful out there!The press are also developing online education content to beef up the electronic versions of their newspapers, though nothing much beyond simple text and pictures has appeared yet. The Guardian and Observer weigh in with EducationUnlimited . You'll find general articles here. Learn.co.uk, also from the Guardian, provides a large collection of revision mateiral. These are not free! Instant Tests and Exams Pack 3, from Pearson Publishers. The Virtual School, on-line tutors. AngliaCampus, from Anglia Multimedia and BT. The Learning Shop, delivers online viewable and downloadable revision programs with emphasis on exact exam requirements for attaining optimal grades. The site features, amongst others, more that 1000 exam practice questions and model solutions, over 500 worksheets specific to the Syllabuses of the examining boards, exam tips, examiner's comments and forums |
The
National Curriculum Exam Syllabus AEB NEAB OCEAC AQA OCR Edexcel InterMath Dictionary
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| SATs | Background reading | |||
| There does not appear to be much
available yet in the UK to help with revising your SATs. Maybe this is fair
enough as SATs are government imposed tests anyway, designed to measure schools
and teachers. If you know of something, please submit a link. From Channel 4, Numbercrewsupports the TV program for 5 to 7 year olds.  The BBC are introducing
Revisewise with advice, hints and notes about preparing for
the tests. Sam Learning They say "Here’s all
the help you’ll need for success with your KS3 Maths". They provide
interactive revision and exam paper questions. These are not free! KS 2 AngliaCampus, from Anglia Multimedia and BT. KS 3 AngliaCampus, from Anglia Multimedia and BT. Instant Tests and Exams Pack 1, from Pearson Publishers. The Virtual School, on-line tutors. |
The
National Curriculum InterMath Dictionary
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| A Level | Background reading |
 Interactive
AS/A2MathsNet's own course on the new AS/A2 specifications. It is designed to help clarify the basic concepts of the course using the latest in interative pages.  BBC
AS GuruThese resources are far more promising. A large collection is gathered under the headings Methods, Pure and Statistics, though once again with no reference to the new modular structure. There is, however, interactivity here, slowly loading… Examples include an excellent Flash applet illustrating the connection between the circle definitions and the shapes of the trigonometrical graphs. There are many other good interactive resources too, such as a neat Flash exercise on transforming graphs, but there are also strangely confusing pages. The page covering "Completing the square" contains misprints and confusing typesetting. There is a clear issue here over the correct display of mathematical notation on the Internet. My view is that the text should be crystal clear! Any deviation from that and you've lost your audience. Think of the mathematical abilities of students undertaking AS maths courses now, when a C grade at Higher level may indicate a knowledge of less than a quarter of the paper. Unfortunately even the mildest hurdle encountered on their new A-level course may cause catastrophe for such students. The AS Guru site is good, but the BBC should be doing a lot better. It is slow to load, partly due to the "sophisticated" linking system, and partly due to Flash. It covers many topics, and is arguably strongest when the topic can be made visual, but weakest when the main concern is algebra. Any change of AS Guru Version 2?  LearnLearn has resources for AS Mathematics on Pure Mathematics 1 and 2, Mechanics and Statistics. As with S-cool, the well-catalogued pages present clear diagrams and text that do explain concepts reasonably well, but this is no more than any textbook provides. What about interactivity? On my visit I found virtually none apart from one page offering a multiple choice activity on slopes of curves - and this was using Flash: surely a classic example of under use of fantastic software. Elsewhere in the Mechanics section there were Flash based illustrations of motion and in the Statistics section a simple illustration of normal curves. Overall I'd say that the copyright phrase at the bottom of each page "Guardian Education Interactive Ltd" would be more appropriate if the last two terms were reversed!  Distance learning for Further
MathematicsThis developing site from MEI, Distance learning for Further Mathematics , is specific to the MEI Further Mathematics specification. Only Pure Mathematics 4 and Mechanics 1 was available there at the time of writing, and users have to register for a password, but the site should be worth checking out to see how it develops. 
ExploreMath bridges the divide between free course papers and
mathematical multimedia - includes coordinate geometry, conics, complex
numbers, exponentials and logs. Sam Learning They say: "Here's all the help you'll need for success with your A Level Maths. Choose one of the topics below to get yourself on track for exam success." SamLearning offers exam practice in topics selected from: Algebra, Trigonometry, Calculus, Mechanics and Statistics. This consists of a limited collection of examination style papers, which can be printed out. An online clock is provided. Interactivity seems to consist solely of that clock, and the ability of the site to add your marks up for you. All the help you'll need? I don't think so.  MathsDirectMathsDirect offers tutorials, exercises and tests in A-level Maths. At present it covers topics in Pure mathematics only, and with no reference to the modular structure. Registration, which is not free, gives access to further exercises and online marking. The layout is clear and logical but interactivity appears minimal and restricted to multiple-choice activities. Explanations seem to be aimed at getting answers rather than understanding the mathematics involved.  S-coolThough it refers to A/AS Level, the topic list consists only of Coordinate geometry, Trigonometry, Basic Algebra, Advanced algebra, Sequences and Series, Functions, Differentiation, Integration, Numerical Methods, Vectors and Lines and Planes. The topics are not organised according to the current modular structure, for example "curves" and "parametric curves" are listed side-by-side in the first topic on Coordinate geometry. On my visit to the site I could find nothing interactive at all. Certainly the text was clear, the diagrams informative, but nothing that you could not find in a conventional book. And am I the only one that finds this site's name irritating?  A-level Maths Revision These notes
have been written by A-Level students for the benefit of their fellow students.
Topics come from the Pure, Statistics and Further Pure modules.
There does not appear to be much else available yet in the UK to help with revising your A Levels. If you know of something, please submit a link. These are not free! The Virtual School, on-line tutors. The Learning Shop, delivers online viewable and downloadable revision programs with emphasis on exact exam requirements for attaining optimal grades. The site features, amongst others, more that 1000 exam practice questions and model solutions, over 500 worksheets specific to the Syllabuses of the examining boards, exam tips, examiner's comments and forums |
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