Learning difficulties in mathematics
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Hi,
Once, I asked students to respond to this question:
What are the factors that hold you back from excelling in mathematics?
I got the following answers:
1. Dislike for the subject.
2. Do not understand the concepts.
3. Hard to understand lectures and tutorials.
4. Lazy, slacked too much.
5. Never been good in maths.
6. Lack of practice.
7. Careless mistakes.
8. Stuck, then gone case.
It is good, as a first step, to recogise these and take concrete steps to correct these unproductive habits. Thanks!
Cheers,
Wen Shih -
My maths used to be like crap, I got crap grades. But I came to realise the secret in being good in math is all about practice. The more you do, the more you know. You need not grasp any concepts, just practice, see the pattern, and woohoo.
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I always fail my maths.
Hence I vow never to do anything math related.
Really.
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ditzy/charlie... why you post using 2 accounts?
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Originally posted by ditzy:
My maths used to be like crap, I got crap grades. But I came to realise the secret in being good in math is all about practice. The more you do, the more you know. You need not grasp any concepts, just practice, see the pattern, and woohoo.
Hi,
When one sees patterns, one naturally grasps concepts or at least sees the essence of problems :) Thanks!
Cheers,
Wen Shih -
Originally posted by wee_ws:
Hi,
When one sees patterns, one naturally grasps concepts or at least sees the essence of problems :) Thanks!
Cheers,
Wen ShihI grasp concepts by looking at patterns. And it has always worked for me.
Well, up to a certain extent. -
Originally posted by charlize:
I always fail my maths.
Hence I vow never to do anything math related.
Really.
Hi,
Maths is everywhere, so it is not possible to not use maths at all :P
Edison failed very many times before he managed to come up with a suitable material for the light bulb's filament.
Thanks!
Cheers,
Wen Shih -
Originally posted by wee_ws:
Hi,
Maths is everywhere, so it is not possible to not use maths at all :P
Edison failed very many times before he managed to come up with a suitable material for the light bulb's filament.
Thanks!
Cheers,
Wen ShihI suck at maths.
As long as I can do simple arithmetic, I am contented.
Anything higher than secondary school math, I will pull my hair.
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my first Add. Maths test in Sec 3 was 2/25.
but i still got two A1s for both E/A Maths in O lvls!
i did the entire TYS for E Maths and even-numbered qns for A Maths. -
maths is about patterns
I have mastered the Du Gu Jiu Jian of maths, so I can handle many questions with a few practice
What one needs to do is to see common traits among questions... to process, and to think, like a mini computer... and more importantly, to be able to disect the questions to it's bones...
What I realised when I taught APGP to students is that many are boggled by the long walls of text. But many can do the question when I guided them to extract just the critical parts, i.e. first term, common difference, etc... In short, ignore all the flowery stories, and zoom in on the important points.
Additionally, for maths, you have to know little tips and tricks on efficient checking and back-checking... Example for Partial fractions, you don't check by re-doing the question if you don't have the luxury of time... What you should do instead is to sub in x=1 on both sides (or 0 or some other values) and show that it is the same... Same for Binomial expansion, or even at times, sequences and series...
Finally, for higher level of physics, there's a lot of maths involved... The physics of it is to understand and extract the critical information, then come out with the right physics equations... After that, it's all maths...
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Originally posted by charlize:
I suck at maths.
As long as I can do simple arithmetic, I am contented.
Anything higher than secondary school math, I will pull my hair.
Ok.
Your trichotillomania would explain the balding.