Mathematical Studies
Course Introduction
Mathematical Studies (Standard Level) caters for students with varied backgrounds and abilities. More specifically it is designed to build confidence and encourage an appreciation of Mathematics in students who do not anticipate a need for Mathematics in their future studies. Students embarking on this course need to be equipped with fundamental skills and a rudimentary knowledge of basic processes.
The course concentrates on Mathematics which can be applied to contexts related to other curriculum subjects and topics that relate to home, work and leisure situations. The course includes project work: students must produce a project, a piece of written work based on personal research, guided and supervised by the teacher.
Course Content
The course covers pure Mathematics and some Statistics and Probability. There is no Mechanics or Decision Mathematics. Below is a brief list of the topic areas that will be covered:
- Number and Algebra
- Sets and Logic
- Geometry and Trigonometry
- Statistics and Probability
- Functions
- Financial mathematics
- Further Statistics and Probability
- Project work
Students complete a project that involves approximately twenty five hours of work in the classroom and at home.
A variety of teaching and learning methods will be used during the course. For example, there will be opportunities for whole group discussions, working through examples and exercises, note taking and problem solving. Graphic calculators are used.
Course Assessment
Internal tests will be set regularly throughout the course. There will be major internal exams at the end of the first year.
The Math Project, a project that is developed over the course, is also assessed internally and moderated by external examiners. The project, which is worth 20% of the overall assessment, will be an individual piece of work taking about 25 hours to complete. It will involve the collection and/or generation of data and the analysis and evaluation of that data.
External assessment is by examinations that are taken at the end of the two years:
- The first examination is 1 hour long, is worth 30% of the overall assessment and consists of 15 compulsory short response questions.
- The second examination is 2 hours long, is worth 50% of the overall assessment, and consists of 8 lengthy compulsory questions.
