Recommended Texbooks/Study Guides for Preliminary HSC? (1 Viewer)

Bobness

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Re: Recommended Texbooks/Study Guides?

5233andy said:
Because the AOS for the HSC has been revamped, I wonder if Excel or the like will churn out something.
Yes they are.

My contribution to thread from what i have read of the new materials: will not be recommending any english textbooks / study guides for the new English Advanced (and Extension One) syllabus.

Although generally - even for the past HSC's - using study guides will not get you very far. If (notice the conditional, and this is only for those who are seeking a very high UAI) one is aiming for Band 6, it is near impossible to achieve this just by following study guides / sparknotes.

Instead, your teachers become very important in developing your understanding of the module / elective and refining your essay construction.

It is quite ironic then - from what i have spoken about with publishers and authors alike - that these study guides sell the best :D
 

Benskies

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'Tim Riley' writes some awesome economic textbooks. i have one at home, which i cross-reference with the one supplied by school. much recommended.

btw i don't know if its weird or not, but i really LOVE economics, i would do 10 units of economics if they let me. thats just fyi i guess :S
 

the-derivative

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Re: Recommended Texbooks/Study Guides?

Bobness said:
Yes they are.

My contribution to thread from what i have read of the new materials: will not be recommending any english textbooks / study guides for the new English Advanced (and Extension One) syllabus.

Although generally - even for the past HSC's - using study guides will not get you very far. If (notice the conditional, and this is only for those who are seeking a very high UAI) one is aiming for Band 6, it is near impossible to achieve this just by following study guides / sparknotes.

Instead, your teachers become very important in developing your understanding of the module / elective and refining your essay construction.

It is quite ironic then - from what i have spoken about with publishers and authors alike - that these study guides sell the best :D
I think they will sell the best - because this is an unfamiliar topic and people will be needing assistance in clarifying ideas.
 

Doctor Jolly

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Benskies said:
'Tim Riley' writes some awesome economic textbooks. i have one at home, which i cross-reference with the one supplied by school. much recommended.

btw i don't know if its weird or not, but i really LOVE economics, i would do 10 units of economics if they let me. thats just fyi i guess :S
LOL. You're like my Economics teacher at school. She calls Riley the God of Economics, or what that Ross Gittens .. or maybe it was Paul Keating? One of them :D
 

the-derivative

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Re: Recommended Texbooks/Study Guides?

Bobness said:
Yes they are.

My contribution to thread from what i have read of the new materials: will not be recommending any english textbooks / study guides for the new English Advanced (and Extension One) syllabus.

Although generally - even for the past HSC's - using study guides will not get you very far. If (notice the conditional, and this is only for those who are seeking a very high UAI) one is aiming for Band 6, it is near impossible to achieve this just by following study guides / sparknotes.

Instead, your teachers become very important in developing your understanding of the module / elective and refining your essay construction.

It is quite ironic then - from what i have spoken about with publishers and authors alike - that these study guides sell the best :D
But wouldn't it be useful to use study guides as an additional supplement toy your understanding? i mean I know you should never base your knowlegde on a subject purely on a study guide - but a study guide would help wouldn't it?
 

Continuum

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Benskies said:
'Tim Riley' writes some awesome economic textbooks. i have one at home, which i cross-reference with the one supplied by school. much recommended.

btw i don't know if its weird or not, but i really LOVE economics, i would do 10 units of economics if they let me. thats just fyi i guess :S
I hate Riley. :)

His books contain so much information that you essentially have no idea what the focus of a topic is anymore. He seems to be able to 'expand' so much that what would otherwise take a few sentences to explain, he manages to lengthen to a few paragraphs. Sorry, I prefer a textbook that is concise rather than one which hinders people with irrelevant stuff.

It's good for cross-referencing. However, I wouldn't use it as my primary textbook.
 

Aerath

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Re: Recommended Texbooks/Study Guides?

the-derivative said:
I think they will sell the best - because this is an unfamiliar topic and people will be needing assistance in clarifying ideas.
But I find my teacher (whoever it is next term) will do a better job (hopefully) of it than any textbook or studyguide will. :)
 

kaz1

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Continuum said:
I hate Riley. :)

His books contain so much information that you essentially have no idea what the focus of a topic is anymore. He seems to be able to 'expand' so much that what would otherwise take a few sentences to explain, he manages to lengthen to a few paragraphs. Sorry, I prefer a textbook that is concise rather than one which hinders people with irrelevant stuff.

It's good for cross-referencing. However, I wouldn't use it as my primary textbook.
Same here, but my Economics teacher said that Tim Riley is for Band 5/6 and the other ones are Band 3/4.
 

Aplus

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Re: Recommended Texbooks/Study Guides?

Doctor Jolly said:
LOL! I already have that sitting in my sister's room. But I'm also getting 4U Fitz - the 3u one was good, so I'm hoping it will live up to the expectations I have for it :)


I still don't get what it is :uhoh:
It's Belonging. It's the critical analysis of the relationships between the individual identity and the society which shapes it so. What does it mean to belong? Is it our inner philosophy and values which shape that, or is it the society in which we live in. To belong, to be accepted by society, we conform to society. We adopt the values, beliefs and system of the society. We set up institutions. Health, education, law. We adhere to these systems to in some way 'belong'. But in a society where everyone is conforming, can we really ever 'belong' to anything. And what is our identity? Who are we in this world and what purpose do we serve?

Note:I'm assuming that's what it's going to be about, so I'm not certain.
 

Aerath

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Re: Recommended Texbooks/Study Guides?

It's not as if we can do too much on it now anyway. :p
 

Continuum

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kaz1 said:
Same here, but my Economics teacher said that Tim Riley is for Band 5/6 and the other ones are Band 3/4.
I would agree with your teacher on that point but Riley is a textbook when you've already understood a concept - not when you're first introduced to it. Tons of people that I know use a more concise textbook like the one from Dixon, before progressing onto the textbook by Riley to obtain the information needed for that Band 6 response.
 

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Thanks Without Wings and Aerath for the explanations on Belonging!
Continuum said:
I would agree with your teacher on that point but Riley is a textbook when you've already understood a concept - not when you're first introduced to it. Tons of people that I know use a more concise textbook like the one from Dixon, before progressing onto the textbook by Riley to obtain the information needed for that Band 6 response.
So are you saying that if you use Dixon over Riley, then you'd get around a band 3/4? :uhoh:
 

lyounamu

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Continuum said:
I hate Riley. :)

His books contain so much information that you essentially have no idea what the focus of a topic is anymore. He seems to be able to 'expand' so much that what would otherwise take a few sentences to explain, he manages to lengthen to a few paragraphs. Sorry, I prefer a textbook that is concise rather than one which hinders people with irrelevant stuff.

It's good for cross-referencing. However, I wouldn't use it as my primary textbook.
Agreed. That's the issue I have with my bio textbook - oxford. It's shittttt. It has all these irrelevant crap that it makes me hate bio. That's why I use heinemann, jacaranda - 100% better.
 

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lyounamu said:
Agreed. That's the issue I have with my bio textbook - oxford. It's shittttt. It has all these irrelevant crap that it makes me hate bio. That's why I use heinemann, jacaranda - 100% better.
Jacaranda is probably the best - for all subjects in my opinion - very detailed but is also easy to understand.

I sound like such a nerd :p
 

Continuum

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Doctor Jolly said:
Thanks Without Wings and Aerath for the explanations on Belonging!

So are you saying that if you use Dixon over Riley, then you'd get around a band 3/4? :uhoh:
With a Dixon book, I'd say that you could secure a Band 5 response. To be sure to secure that Band 6 response, Riley is probably better. That's just what I think - you'd probably be better off clarifying that with other people, since I'm dropping Eco.
 

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May I suggest buying Success One textbooks, they are particularly useful in the area of Maths, Physics and Chemistry. They don't have much text/notes but have past papers from early '80s onwards and help for constant study for exams.
 

kaz1

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Doctor Jolly said:
But I don't see how you could get a band 6 with a Riley book. How is it different from a Dixon book?
I don't have a Dixon book but I can tell you that Tim Riley books are quite sophisticated.
 

kaz1

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Doctor Jolly said:
So do you think I should go and grab a Riley book for next term?
If you want. My teacher says they're the best textbooks.
 

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