I looked at him with a smile and said, “Yes, we can.”
Often, we hear that Maths is not a content subject and to improve we need to practice the application of formulae, techniques, etc. to solve a Maths problem.
In reality, there is much to study about Maths and from this concern, therein lies the perennial question – What is studying?
Depending on whether you understand ‘study’ as a verb or noun, there will be several explanations for the definition or meaning of ‘study’.
Activities That Help Us Understand Something Better
I believe that in the context that concerns us now, ‘study’ as a verb, would refer to something that we do to “consider it or observe it carefully in order to be able to understand it fully”.
At this point, let us think of studying as any activity that helps us understand something much better.
In this respect, we can study Maths. When we practice doing Maths, we are merely exposing ourselves to the various possibilities for a Maths problem.
Over time, through extensive practice, we would have accumulated our own schemas on ways to solve a specific problem.
My Own Relationship with Maths
When I was preparing for my GCE O Levels, I took Mathematics (Syllabus D) and Additional Mathematics.
For my Prelims or Preliminary Examination before the actual O Level paper, I scored a ‘D7’ for my Additional Maths. However, for the GCE O Level, I achieved an ‘A2’.
A similar situation occurred two years later when for my A-Level Prelims, I got an ‘F’, but for the actual exams, I achieved an ‘A’.
I managed to make the jump in grades within a month or so, based on my efforts to study Maths.
I took time to refer to numerous “Model Answers” books and reread the Mathematics textbooks to improve my understanding of the various ways each formula or procedure was used to find a solution to a problem.
In addition, I investigated (1) the reasons for every step in a solution; (2) the possible ways to proceed; and (3) ways to verify that my solution is correct.
The key purpose of these efforts was to improve my understanding of the concepts that I was learning.
I investigated (1) the reasons for every step in a solution; (2) the possible ways to proceed; and (3) ways to verify that my solution is correct.
It was through this experience that I learned we need to find a reference book that we can understand.
In my search for such books, I came across good writers who can explain Mathematical concepts clearly and simply.
Based on this experience, I encourage students to try reading other textbooks to see if they can understand the other authors better.
How do we help students learn and study Maths on their own?
When we break down the studying of Maths, there are a few activities that a student needs to do:
- Read the explanation of the concepts.
- Follow the explanation of the guided examples.
- Try out any question prompts in the examples.
- Try out a few practice questions to assess level of understanding.
The OR+ or Optimised Reading Plus Concept Testing is the technique we designed based on the above four required activities.
To further explore the extent of applications for the concepts learned, students will apply the OHP or Optimising Homework/Practice technique.
The full range of study techniques that students can use to study Maths is PS, OR+, OHP, NT, NC, DRR, WR, TIC, RW, IR, RM, IRS, IRM, GTR and 30R; techniques from our 22 Essential Study Skills.