HOW TO STUDY TO LEARN MATH
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Jerry Tuttle
Southern New Hampshire U.
Retired actuary
READING A MATH TEXTBOOK
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Different than other subject textbooks
Take GREAT notes, esp definitions, examples
Pay particular attention to worked-out examples because:
They will be similar to homework
and test problems
WORKED-OUT EXAMPLES
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Read with pencil, paper, calculator, spreadsheet
Your goal is to reproduce every line of text yourself
Authors sometimes omit something:
Maybe you misunderstood something
SKIPPING SOMETHING OBVIOUS
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Reproduce the calculations yourself
The Google search field does calculations
Doesn’t sin(300) equal ½?
Yes, but calculators prefer radians. sin(π/6) = ½
MAYBE YOU MISUNDERSTOOD
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In s = √(x - x̄)2 / (n-1) , is (n-1) under the √ ?
Reproduce the calculations yourself
If you didn’t get the author’s answer, maybe it’s because the formula should be s = √( (x - x̄)2 / (n-1) )
ASK YOUR TEACHER QUESTIONS
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Don’t be shy about asking your teacher questions –
That’s what we’re paid for!
It’s best to ask specific questions like “In example 3.5, I understand lines 1-4, but in line 5 I don’t understand why the denominator has n-1 instead of n.”
Also search the Internet for alternate explanations
STRATEGIES WHEN YOU’RE STUCK
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Can you solve a simpler, related problem? Ex – a square instead of a pentagon, or a 2-D circle instead of a 3-D sphere.
Would it help to draw a picture, or make a table?
Can you guess, check, and then make a better guess? Ex – what is √289 ? Guess 15; too low. Guess 19; too high. …
UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEM
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Not always as simple as it sounds. Ex – are they
asking for velocity, or change in velocity?
Answer the question that is asked. Ex – Jerry is twice as old as his son, and their ages add to 105, How old is Jerry?
Let x = son, 2x = Jerry. x + 2x = 105, 3x = 105, x = 35.
TAKE A BREATH
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Others have gotten through this -
you can too!
It’s OK to be confused
You don’t have to understand everything
Your teacher did not understand everything the first time around too!