Mathematics

“Do not worry too much about your difficulty in mathematics, I can assure you that mine are still greater.”

- Albert Einstein -

Mathematics provides students with access to important mathematical ideas, knowledge and skills that they will draw on in their personal and work lives. The curriculum also provides students, as life-long learners, with the basis on which further study and research in mathematics and applications in many other fields are built.

Mathematical ideas have evolved across societies and cultures over thousands of years, and are constantly developing. Digital technologies are facilitating this expansion of ideas and provide new tools for mathematical exploration and invention. While the usefulness of mathematics for modelling and problem solving is well known, mathematics also has a fundamental role in both enabling and sustaining cultural, social, economic and technological advances and empowering individuals to become critical citizens. Number, measurement and geometry, statistics and probability are common aspects of most people’s mathematical experience in everyday personal, study and work situations. Equally important are the essential roles that algebra, functions and relations, logic, mathematical structure and working mathematically play in people’s understanding of the natural and human worlds, and the interaction between them.

The Mathematics curriculum focuses on developing increasingly sophisticated and refined mathematical understanding, fluency, reasoning, modelling and problem-solving. These capabilities enable students to respond to familiar and unfamiliar situations by employing mathematics to make informed decisions and solve problems efficiently. The curriculum ensures that the links between the various components of mathematics, as well as the relationship between mathematics and other disciplines, are made clear. Mathematics is composed of multiple but interrelated and interdependent concepts and structures which students apply beyond the mathematics classroom. For example, in Science, understanding sources of error and their impact on the confidence of conclusions is vital; in Geography, interpretation of data underpins the study of human populations and their physical environments; in History, students need to be able to imagine timelines and time frames to reconcile related events; and in English, deriving quantitative, logical and spatial information is an important aspect of making meaning of texts.

Unpacking VCE Math pathways

Selecting an appropriate Math pathway can be daunting. In the senior years, a 'try your best' attitude will not suffice and as such, students should consider their math pathway based on three key factors:

1. Demonstrated capability and enjoyment: Diving into a math pathway that exceeds a students current skill level can be devastating to confidence and learning growth. Students selecting the more advanced pathways need to enjoy mathematics enough to commit hours of practice and study to perfecting their skills.

2. Pathway requirements: Consider what level of mathematics is required for your future pathway, some students may not enjoy math, but need a minimum level to access certain career paths. Others may love math, but not require it at all and then miss out on other important studies that better compliment their aspirations.

3. Teacher guidance: Students and parents need to remember that our math teachers love teaching math! They want students to select the best possible pathway to ensure they get maximal learning growth. However, if they make the difficult assessment that a pathway exceeds a students capability, please consider their advice carefully. Many students avoid such advice, only to score poorly and end up with worse results than they may have achieved had they succeeded in a math pathway that is pitched at an appropriate level for the students needs.

So what are my options?

Year 10 Core Mathematics: Offers a general pathway based on the Level 10 Victorian Curriculum. Students undertaking this pathway may be considering a Foundation, or General Mathematics pathway or the possibility of no mathematics in Year 11. Key skills and knowledge are delivered with a focus on the development of a strong mathematical skill set for general work and life application.

Year 10 Advanced Mathematics: Offers a technical math pathway with a specific focus on preparation for VCE Mathematical Methods and Specialist Mathematics. Content covered in this curriculum will extend well beyond the expected capabilities within the Level 10 Victorian Curriculum and as such, students will not be permitted entry without having actively demonstrated both commitment and achievement through their year 9 mathematics course.

VCE Foundation Mathematics Units 1 and 2 are completely prescribed and provide for the continuing mathematical development of students entering VCE. In general, these students would not intend to undertake Unit 3 and 4 studies in VCE Mathematics in the following year. However, students who do well in these units and undertake some supplementary study of selected topics could proceed to Further Mathematics Units 3 and 4.

VCE General Mathematics Units 1 and 2 provide for a range of courses of study involving non-calculus based topics for a broad range of students and may be implemented in various ways to reflect student interests in, and applications of, mathematics. They incorporate topics that provide preparation for various combinations of studies at Units 3 and 4 and cover assumed knowledge and skills for those units.

VCE Mathematical Methods Units 1 and 2 are completely prescribed and provide an introductory study of simple elementary functions, algebra, calculus, probability and statistics and their applications in a variety of practical and theoretical contexts. They are designed as preparation for Mathematical Methods Units 3 and 4 and cover assumed knowledge and skills for those units.

VCE Specialist Mathematics Units 1 and 2 comprise a combination of prescribed and selected non-calculus based topics and provide courses of study for students interested in advanced study of mathematics, with a focus on mathematical structure and reasoning. They incorporate topics that, in conjunction with Mathematical Methods Units 1 and 2, provide preparation for Specialist Mathematics Units 3 and 4 and cover assumed knowledge and skills for those units.

VCE Further Mathematics Units 3 and 4 are designed to be widely accessible and comprise a combination of non-calculus based content from a prescribed core and a selection of two from four possible modules across a range of application contexts. They provide general preparation for employment or further study, in particular where data analysis, recursion and number patterns are important. The assumed knowledge and skills for the Further Mathematics Units 3 and 4 prescribed core are covered in specified topics from General Mathematics Units 1 and 2. Students who have done only Mathematical Methods Units 1 and 2 will also have had access to assumed knowledge and skills to undertake Further Mathematics but may also need to undertake some supplementary study of statistics content.

VCE Mathematical Methods Units 3 and 4 are completely prescribed and extend the study of simple elementary functions to include combinations of these functions, algebra, calculus, probability and statistics, and their applications in a variety of practical and theoretical contexts. They also provide background for further study in, for example, science, humanities, economics and medicine.

VCE Specialist Mathematics Units 3 and 4 are designed to be taken in conjunction with Mathematical Methods Units 3 and 4, or following previous completion of Mathematical Methods Units 3 and 4. The areas of study extend content from Mathematical Methods Units 3 and 4 to include rational and other quotient functions as well as other advanced mathematics topics such as complex numbers, vectors, differential equations, mechanics and statistical inference. Study of Specialist Mathematics Units 3 and 4 assumes concurrent study or previous completion of Mathematical Methods Units 3 and 4.

Subject choices

Altona College carefully selects the available math studies each year, based on student interest, capability and pathway planning. Each of the above mentioned pathways are considered each year and will be added to our offerings as required.

At present, face to face delivery is available for the following subjects, select one to find out more.