Study Skills
  1. The neater you write:
    1. the less likely you are to make mistakes
    2. the easier it is to find mistakes
    3. the easier it is to grade. (this one is for the instructor)

  2. If you do not use lines, then buy unlined. Blue lines through your work can be mentally distracting. And if you write large, then buy wide rule.

  3. Use a mechanical pencil or an erasable pen, this will help with your neatness since:

    1. The lead does not go dull and thus you do not have to write larger to compensate.

      And can help reduce stress by:

    2. Saving time in the fact that you need not sharpen it, simply click out more lead.

    3. Doesnt leave your mind time to be ideal, which might cause you to question yourself, Did I do that last question correctly?

      NOTE: I do recommend buying a separate eraser.

    4. Dont take a lot of notes. If you are trying to copy down the first board and the instructor is trying to explain the second board, you are missing the explanation of what you have written and your notes may not help. If you dont understand it when it is presented to you, you will most likely not be able to reproduce it. The visual aids presented on the board are nothing without the verbal explanation. Many times prolific note taking cause you to be writing one thing and trying to listen to another.

      Then when you get home, you may not be able to interpret the seeming random symbols and in fact, taking notes may be hurting you. Try taking a minimal amount of notes and just listening to the instructor. You are more likely to be able to reproduce the method and solve the problem if you follow it though without writing it down than you are if you simply copy note down and try to decipher them later.

    ANALOGY

    My favorite analogy of mathematics is to that of drive a car. The first time you go somewhere, someone has to give you directions. And if they give you lousy directions, you will get lost every time. But even if they give perfect direction, it will take you a few times to find it on your own and may take many times before you are able to handle short cuts, and many more before you can handle detours.

  4. Avoid math anxiety:
    1. In general, even if homework is not assigned, work every other odd. You should be able to check yourself since most math text have the answer to all odds in the back.
      If you are not understanding a concept, the work every odd. Math is pattern recognition, therefore repetition is practice and practice makes perfect.

      And if you still are not understanding, then seek out office hours or a private tutor.

    2. Be sure to keep up with all work, math is a progressive language, one idea leads to another and if you are not understand chapter one, then you will have trouble with chapter two and simply hate chapter three.

    3. Don't merely memorize formulas, try and understand concepts behind the symbols. Mathematicians are just lazy, we abbreviate everything: plus is + as function is f, etc.

      COMMON ABBREVIATIONS:
      WordCountingSetsLogic
      IS=
      OR+
      ANDx
      NOT
      OF, TIMESx
      PER
      Example: The Probability Of an Event Is would be P(E)=

    4. Do not cram or even study the night before an exam, at most review. If you do not know it the night before you are not going to know it in time. But you will make one silly mistake on a problem you did know and the question your knowledge of the entire concept. Dont stress yourself out before you even start the test.

    5. Read all questions assume that you are going only to read them. If you find one you know work it, then once you have made a quick pass, you may have answered one-forth up to one-half of the test. Then began working the test. Many times we get stressed over an initial question, which then leads to mistakes in later and more often then not, easier questions. So, put off stressful questions.

    6. On longer test, for the questions you are not sure how to work, mark questions and the top of the page. This will save you time toward the end of the exam since you will not have to reread each questions to find the ones you would like to rework.

  5. Write homework twice. Once to get the ideas and answer down on paper and again to better organize your thoughts. Never show just the answer. The thought process behind the answer is more important. (If you are environmentally conscious, use recycled paper.)

  6. Do not depend on calculators or formulas. If you can do the calculation in your head and understand the ideas behind the formulas, you can save time not using the calculator and simply derive the formulas you need. And if you make a mistake, you are more likely to see that something is wrong or off. If you do use a calculator on a test, at least practice not using the calculator but at the same time make sure you know how to use your calculator. There are three different types of calculators: reverse polish, direct and stack notation which type is yours?

  7. Recall, if something looks wrong, then there is probability something wrong.

  8. Understand that unlike English, which is not logical or well structured, mathematics is very structured. One idea is built upon other more basic ideas and position is everything. Since most everything in mathematics is an abbreviation or a symbol, and as our number system shows if we move one thing, we may have something entirely different. Example: 25 is not 25 .

  9. The negation symbol,_ simply means do the opposite. If we were adding, subtract, if we were multiplying, divide. The position in which the symbol is place will indicate this.