Preparing for the maths exams:
Begin preparing early
Pay attention during class: every minute you daydream in
class is many more minutes of studying later.
Do assigned homework problems: maths is a building
process and in order to understand the next step you need to comprehend the
present, and previous, ones
Simulate test conditions
After you have studied and think you know the material,
practice it under test conditions. Solve unassigned homework problems and see
if you can finish them in the allotted time for the exam
Form a study group of 3-4 dedicated learners
Not only will other learners be able to help you with
problems, but by helping others you will better learn the material. If you are
unable teach another learner a topic you believe you know, chances are you
don't know that topic very well after all. If you can't teach it, you don't
know it!
The exam/test:
Read through the exam paper
Reading through the whole exam paper if you can (know what
is expected of you)
Prioritise items on the test
Pace yourself.
Carefully read the instructions
Make sure you are answering the question that is being
asked!
Often learners know how to solve a problem, but they misread
or misinterpret the question itself
Check that you have correctly rewritten the problem
If you use a scratch piece of paper, make sure that you
correctly rewrite the problem.
Don't skip steps. Start from the beginning.
Clearly write each step of the solution
Be neat and don't rush writing numbers down.
Keep checking your solution as you are working.
Neatness makes it easier to recheck your work.
Double check your maths, especially your calculator entries
Double check your calculator work immediately.
The chances of hitting a wrong number are high, but the
chances of hitting the same wrong number are not.
If you get stuck on a problem move on and come back to it
later.
When you are finished, recheck all your work.
2. PRESERVE YOUR PHYSICAL HEALTH
The following study methods work for everyone ...
1. Maintain good posture
2. Preserve your physical health
3. Read out loud
4. Copy down important facts
5. Avoid distractions
6. Memorise by association
7. Test yourself
8. Attend study groups
9. Keep proper friends
1. MAINTAIN GOOD
POSTURE
There is a close
connection between body and mind. That is why bad posture inclines one to
sloppy thinking. When there is an emergency that calls for all our attention,
all of our concentration, we automatically sit up straight. At the time of an
examination, look around the room and you’ll see nobody is slouching in their
chair. This is because the mind becomes clearer and sharper when we maintain
good posture. Therefore, our first study rule is to sit up straight. The chair
that you use for studying should have a firm seat, and you should resist the
temptation to lean against the back of the chair.
Some people like to study while lying in bed.
Don’t do it.
Your bed is for sleeping, not studying. When you try to study in bed your
concentration cannot remain strong. Soon you will find your mind drifting away.
Eventually, you will fall asleep.
2. PRESERVE YOUR PHYSICAL HEALTH
It is not always possible to maintain good posture when you
are physically sick. Poor physical health directly and indirectly hampers your
studies. So, a good student must preserve good physical health.
This rule does not imply just taking the appropriate
medicine whenever you are sick. On the contrary, prevention is far superior to
cure. So you will have to always observe the rules of proper hygiene, get
sufficient physical exercise, absorb sufficient sunlight and fresh air, and
take proper food (keeping in mind that what you eat is nourishment for both
your body and your mind).
3. READ OUT LOUD
The mind relates to
the external world through the medium of the five sensory organs and the five
motor organs. At the time of studying books, we generally give more stress to
the utilization of our eyes than the other organs; however, it is a mistake to
utilize only the sense of sight.
Everyone will have noticed that when reading textbooks the
mind has a tendency to wander. Due to this tendency, it can take a long time to
finish reading even one page. Moreover, after having read that page, it is not
at all unusual to find that you cannot remember much if anything of what has
been read. So, what should you do?
If there is some important subject that you must study out
of a book, then you should always read out loud. This act of reading out loud
engages the eyes, the ears, and the mouth – three organs out of ten, where
formerly you were using only one, just the eyes. The result of reading out loud
is that it becomes much easier to concentrate the mind on the study material;
and, after going through it, you will remember much more of what you have read.
Your study time will reduce, and your absorption of information will increase.
This technique has other advantages. It is a relatively
simple way (and indeed it may be the only way) to discover what you have
learned and what you have not learned. The questions that you cannot answer correctly
identify the areas where more attention is needed. The questions that you can
answer correctly identify the areas where your study has been successful. Not
only do you receive preliminary feedback from such self-administered tests;
but, if continued until most or all of your own questions are answered
correctly, then you will develop confidence that you have mastered the subject.
Such self-confidence will certainly benefit you at the time of exams (and
indeed at all times), because you will remain calm. (Note that self-confidence
is not the same as intellectual vanity. Unlike self-confidence, intellectual
vanity tends to preclude the desired attitude of a good student, that is, a
perpetual readiness to learn something new.)
4. COPY DOWN
IMPORTANT FACTS
Due to complexity, the art of note taking cannot be covered
here. The difficulty is that one’s style of note taking will vary depending on
the type of class you are attending, the teaching methods of the teacher, your
personal study methods and personal understanding of the various subjects. But
keep in mind that you should not only take notes from teachers but also from textbooks.
The main object of note taking is to filter out the important facts – the
information that you need to know for future reference or during exams.
5. AVOID DISTRACTIONS
One of the most
common mistakes of students is to study with the radio, TV, or CD player on.
What is the result? Attention is divided. Whenever a song that you like is
playing, you stop your study to listen to the song. In the end, you find that
you are studying for three minutes, listening to music for thee minutes,
studying for three minutes, and listening for three minutes. This just isn’t an
effective way to learn anything. What happens if it is going to take you five
minutes to grasp a topic?
Remember, the mind can only entertain one object at a time.
Often it may seem we are doing two things at once, but actually the mind is
just moving quickly back and forth between those two activities. When the radio
is playing while you are studying, either you are listening to the radio or
studying, but not both. So, make up your mind. If you want to study, then turn
off that extraneous noise.
6. MEMORIZE BY
ASSOCIATION
As just mentioned, the mind can only entertain one object at
a time. The mind stores information in memory according to the associations
that take place at the time of encounter. As a result, one concept links with
another, the next concept links with something else, and so on and so forth,
forming chains of concepts that are often fathomed only by the individual whose
mind has forged the chains. Let us call this linking of concepts the Law of
Association.
Finally, it should be added that this associative tendency of the mind is another good reason why you should not study while listening to the radio. Memorization by association can only be turned to advantage when the associational link is intentional. When the link has been made unintentionally and environmentally, then it is of little or no practical value to you in respect to memorization. Rather, it may prove to be a hindrance. Subjects that were learned with the MP3 playing may be more difficult to remember in a quiet examination hall.
Finally, it should be added that this associative tendency of the mind is another good reason why you should not study while listening to the radio. Memorization by association can only be turned to advantage when the associational link is intentional. When the link has been made unintentionally and environmentally, then it is of little or no practical value to you in respect to memorization. Rather, it may prove to be a hindrance. Subjects that were learned with the MP3 playing may be more difficult to remember in a quiet examination hall.
7. TEST YOURSELF
Most students perform their studies largely out of the desire
to do well on examinations. In other words, what they want is that when the
appropriate time comes, they will be able to associate the correct answers with
the various questions that they will be asked.
To the extent that question-and-answer relates to the
process of memorization, we find again the usefulness of associational
techniques. Devise your own questions to test how well you understand or
remember the study material. In this way, you prepare your mind to use the
material you learned in a practical way, if only as answers on an examination.
8. ATTEND STUDY
GROUPS
Students must always guard against intellectual vanity. When
studying alone, you tend to learn only those things that you yourself consider
important. But everyone may be subject to blind spots. So you should meet
regularly with others who are studying the same subject.
What are the main advantages of study circles? First, if you
don’t understand a particular point, then probably others will. Perhaps they
can clarify the matter for you. Second, others might recognize some important
points in your textbook or from the classroom that you missed. Just discovering
a gap in your knowledge is valuable, because that is generally the first
important step on the way to knowledge. However, it is common for a study group
to not only identify such gaps but also fill them. Finally, when you explain to
others what they don’t know or when you discuss commonly understood subjects
with all, your own understanding often becomes deeper and clearer.
9. KEEP PROPER
FRIENDS
Study may be of two varieties – literate and non-literate.
Our discussion relates mostly to literate study, but a wise learner avails himself of both varieties. So, in respect to non-literate study,
maintaining good company is essential.
Here we find an important extension of the Law of Association.
Association not only helps to improve our memory but ultimately it can either
uplift us or degrade us. Generally we find that a person develops the same good
or bad habits and the same good or bad qualities as the persons with whom he
associates. If your friends are teetotallers, you will become a teetotaller too.
If your friends are drunkards, you will become a drunkard too. If your friends
smoke, you will smoke too. If your friends are very intelligent, and have good
study habits, then that is what you will be like too. So always try to
associate with those persons who are more intelligent than you and who have
better study habits than you have.
Let me may add one last point for those engaged with the
competitive side of academics. There is a military rule of thumb that every
good general practices either consciously or unconsciously. If you want to
defeat someone, then study your enemy. After studying your enemy, imbibe your
enemy’s strong points and make sure that you do not possess or that you have under
control your enemy’s weak points.