TECHNIQUES FOR STUDYING MATHEMATICS-PART2

II. Before, During, and After Math Class

A. Before Math Class:

Read your textbook before class to become familiar with new terms, formulas, and concepts. For each chapter, prepare your own list of math vocabulary words. For a better understanding of the material, recite back the materials you have read. Mark any trouble spots that you might want the instructor’s help in clearing up.

B. During Math Class

1. Come to class on time and sit as close to the front as possible.

2. Exchange phone numbers with someone in class. When you are working on math and

encounter a problem you just do not get, you will have someone to call for help.

3. Attend every class. If you miss a class, ask your instructor for permission to attend the same course that is taught at a different time or day. Remember: you are responsible for material covered in a class that you missed.

4. Note-taking:

a. Use a good math note-taking system

b. Don’t photocopy someone else’s notes. It is important to attend class and hear

everything for yourself. You may not understand what someone else wrote, or you

may deem things important which someone else may leave out.

c. Take notes on how to solve problems. Don’t just record the problem itself. When

you look at the problem later, you may not be able to recall how it was solved.

d. Copy all information that is written on the board. It is important; otherwise, the

instructor would not have taken the time to write it.

e. Verbalize (silently) problems the instructor writes on the board. Solve the

problem or silently verbalize each solution step.

f. Ask questions, ask questions, ask questions! You are paying for the course; make

sure you get your money’s worth. Chances are that many other students in the

class have the same question and will be relieved you asked.

g. Get help early in the semester before you get too lost in the course. You know the

old saying, “A stitch in time saves nine.” Get help figuring out the small stuff

before it grows into a huge dilemma!

C. After Class

1. Find a study buddy and set up group study times.

2. Schedule a review period after every class, even if it’s for only ten minutes. Work

through examples again.

3. Make note cards or a “math dictionary” to remind you how to solve various types of

math problems.

a. Put each concept on a 3” X 5” note card and write an example on the back.

b. List all new math terms with their definitions in a separate notebook. Review

these at least once a week.

5. Read your text and do all the examples.

6. Do a bit of math review, homework, studying, and practice every day. Increase or

decrease the time you spend daily on math with respect to your mastery of the material.

Remember to practice working the types of problems you may be having difficulty with

until you master them.

III. Getting Assistance, Problem Solving, and Homework Tips

A. Get assistance.

1. Get help as soon as you need it. Don’t wait until a test is near. The new material builds

on the previous sections, so anything you don’t understand now will make future

material difficult to understand

B. Ask the right questions.

1. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Any question is better than no question at all. (At least your instructor/tutor will know you are confused.) But a good question will allow your helper to quickly identify exactly what you don’t understand.

TIP - Right after you get help with a problem, work another similar problem by yourself.

2. Control the help you get. a. Helpers should be coaches, not crutches. They should encourage you, give you hints as you need them, and sometimes show you how to do problems. But they

should not, nor should they be expected to, actually do the work you need to do.They are there to help you figure out how to learn math for yourself.

1) When you go to college, your study group, or a tutor, have a specific list of questions prepared in advance. You should run the session as much as possible.

2) Do not allow yourself to become dependent on a tutor. The tutor cannot take the exams for you. You must take care to be the one in control of tutoring sessions.

3) You must recognize that sometimes you do need some coaching to help you

through, and it is up to you to seek out that coaching

FULL NAME OF SOME COMPANIES

Full name of some companies :-

1. NIIT: Not Interested in IT

2. WIPRO: Weak Input, Poor & Rubbish Output

3. HCL: Hidden Costs & Losses

4. TCS: Totally Confusing Solutions

5. INFOSYS: Inferior Offline Systems

6. HUGHES: Highly Useless Graduates Hired for Eating and Sleeping

7. BAAN: Beggars Association and Nerds

8. IBM: Implicitly Boring Machines

9. SATYAM: Sad And Tired Yelling Away Madly

10. PARAM: Puzzled And Ridiculous Array of Microprocessors

11. C-DOT: Coffee During Office Timings

12. AT&T: All Troubles & Terrible

13. CMC: Coffee, Meals and Comfort

14. DEC: Drifting & Exhausted Computers

15. BFL: Brainwash First and Let them go

16. DELL: Deplorable Equipment & lackluster

17. PSI: Peculiar Symptoms of India

A ENTERTAINMENT JOKE NOT MATHS JOKE

A husband and wife are sitting quietly in bed reading when the wife looks over at him and asks:

WIFE: “What would you do if I died? Would you get married again?”
HUSBAND: “Definitely not!”
WIFE: “Why not – don’t you like being married?”
HUSBAND: “Of course I do.”
WIFE: “Then why wouldn’t you remarry?”
HUSBAND: “Okay, I’d get married again.”
WIFE: “You would?” (with a hurtful look on her face).
HUSBAND: (makes audible groan).*
WIFE: “Would you live in our house?”
HUSBAND: “Sure, it’s a great house.”
WIFE: “Would you sleep with her in our bed?”
HUSBAND: “Where else would we sleep?”
WIFE: “Would you let her drive my car?”
HUSBAND: “Probably, it is almost new.”
WIFE: “Would you replace my pictures with hers?”
HUSBAND: “That would seem like the proper thing to do.”
WIFE: “Would she use my golf clubs?”
HUSBAND: “No, she’s left-handed.”
WIFE: — silence —
HUSBAND: “Shit.”

Techniques for

Studying Math

Math is different from other subjects!

Math requires different study processes. In other courses, you learn and understand the

material, but you seldom have to actually APPLY IT to learn. You have to DO math problems to learn math.

Math is a linear learning process. What is used one day is used the next, and so forth. (In

history, you can learn Chapter 2, skip Chapter 3, and still do OK on Chapter 4. In math,

you must understand the material in Chapter 1 before you go on to Chapter 2.) You must keep up with the instructor: attend class, read the text, and do homework everyday. Falling a day behind puts you at a disadvantage. Falling a week behind puts you in deep trouble.

Math is much like a foreign language. It must be practiced EVERY DAY, and often the vocabulary is unfamiliar.

Math in college is different from math in high school. Instead of going to class everyday, in college you go only two or three times a week. What took a year to learn in high school is now covered in only fifteen weeks. In college, exams are spaced further apart and so cover more material than high school tests. College instructors may not even check your homework. You are responsible for making sure that you understand the material.

I. Math Anxiety

A. Math is the course that causes the greatest anxiety for students. That means

you are not alone if you have math anxiety. Yes, believe it! Fortunately,

there are several strategies for reducing math anxiety.

1. Overcome negative self-talk.

a. Self-talk involves the things you say to yourself. It has a great effect on your

ability and motivation. Listen and become consciously aware of the types of

things your say to yourself. Make the decision to replace your negative self-talk

with positive self-talk. Learn to say:

1) I know I can do this.

2) I have studied and I know what I’m doing.

3) I will not give up until I’ve answered every question.

4) I believe that I will be able to remember what I’ve studied.

5) Seeing that makes me remember what else I studied about this idea.

b. Ask questions! If anything is unclear, or even if you want to confirm that what

you think is correct, ASK! Besides, there are usually other students wanting to

know the answers to the same questions you have.

c. Consider math a foreign language – it must be practiced.

d. Don’t rely on memorization to study mathematics. Math is learned by DOING

problems, not by trying to memorize them. Each problem is different. The ability

to solve problems must be learned by doing.

e. READ your math text book. Yes, actually read it! The text will give you another

perspective on the material and may even offer tips which were not covered in

class. Additionally, it is a great way to reinforce what you are learning in class.

f. Get help the same day that you find you don’t understand something.

g. Be relaxed and comfortable while studying math.

h. Develop responsibility for your own successes and failures. You found the correct

answer because YOU knew how to do the problem, not because it was just an

easy one. You had an answer wrong because YOU need more practice with that

type of problem..

Do You Have Math Anxiety? A Self Test

Rate your answers from 1 to 5; add them and check your score below.

(1) = Disagree, (5) = Agree.

1. I cringe when I have to go to math class. 1 2 3 4 5

2. I am uneasy about going to the board in a math class. 1 2 3 4 5

3. I am afraid to ask questions in math class. 1 2 3 4 5

4. I am always worried about being called on in math class. 1 2 3 4 5

5. I understand math now, but I worry that it's going to get really difficult soon.1 2 3 4 5

6. I tend to zone out in math class. 1 2 3 4 5

7. I fear math tests more than any other kind. 1 2 3 4 5

8. I don't know how to study for math tests. 1 2 3 4 5

9. It's clear to me in math class, but when I go home it's like I was never there. 1 2 3 4 5

10. I'm afraid I won't be able to keep up with the rest of the class. 1 2 3 4 5

CHECK YOUR SCORE

40-50 Sure thing, you have math anxiety.

30-39 No doubt! You're still fearful about math.

20-29 On the fence!

10-19 Wow! Loose as a goose!

Math anxiety is an emotional reaction to mathematics based on a past unpleasant experience which harms future

learning. A good experience learning mathematics can overcome these past feelings and success and future

achievement in math can be attained. ~Ellen Freedman

JOKES IN MATHEMATICS

Sequence

Continue the sequence: z, o, t, … .

S o l u t i o n . As z = zero, o = one, t = two, the continued sequence is:

z, o, t, t, f, f, s, s, e, n, t, …

At the parents’ meeting

At the parents’ meeting a teacher of mathematics complains of his pupils to their parents:
- Your children are very dull. Today I explained them a new theorem. I explained once, they didn’t understand. I explained
once again, they didn’t understand. I explained the third time, I understood myself, but they still didn’t understand.

Proof

At a geometry lesson a teacher asks to draw an isosceles triangle. One of the pupils draws it. The teacher:
- Now prove that this triangle is really isosceles.
- Sir, I give you a word of a gentleman.

Daily time-table

One absent-minded professor composed a daily time-table and showed it to his assistant. The assistant looked it through and said:
- Very well, but your day consists of 25 hours.
- What a pity! Now I must wake up one hour earlier.

The shortest telegrams in a history

German mathematician Dirichlet was very taciturn. When his son was born, he sent to his father-in-law the following telegram: “2 +1 = 3”. Maybe it’s one of the shortest telegrams in the history. But the shortest telegram conversation ever was between Oscar Wilde and his publisher regarding his new book. O. Wilde wired the single character “?” and received from his publisher the reply: “!”.

New in chemistry

At a chemistry exam a professor asks a student:
- Tell me please, how to get sulphur.
The student answers:
- Let’s take hydrogen sulphide and warm it up. Hydrogen evaporates and sulphur remains.
- Very well. I put you an “excellent” and warm it up. A “good” and a “fair” evaporate and a “poor” remains.

Euclid’s wisdom

Euclid was asked:
- What do you want: two whole apples or four halves ?
- Four halves, of course.
- Why ? It’s the same, isn’t it ?
- No, it isn’t. Choosing two whole apples, I can not see if they are maggoty or aren’t.

Leibniz’s bust

Friends of Leibniz gave him as a present his bust, made by famous sculptor, on his birthday. Leibniz stared at the bust for a long time and then said:
- So, this is a face, which I shave every day.

Einstein and telephone

One woman asked Einstein to remember her telephone number: 361-343.
Einstein answered:
- It’s very easy. 19 squared and 7 cubed.

Einstein at school

A teacher of algebra said to Einstein’s father:
- I have never met a duller child.

An honest sergeant

A sergeant teaches young soldiers:
- Water boils at 90 degrees.
One of the soldiers retorts:
- I’m sorry, sir. But I know that water boils at 100 degrees.
- Okay, I’ll check, - the sergeant answered.
The next day the sergeant says:
- You were right. Water boils at 100 degrees, I mixed up with a right angle.

New method of fast calculus

Two Englishmen are going by train. A conversation isn’t getting on. The train passes a meadow, on which a herd of cows pastures. One of the passengers says:
- 1356.
The other man is surprised, but gives no answer. In some time the train passes another pasture. The first passenger says:
- 1693.
His neighbor brakes and asks:
- Sir, our train moves at speed 60 miles per hour. How can you count so quickly ?
- Oh, sir, it’s very simple! First I count a quantity of legs in a herd and then I divide this number by four.

Study and money

Father writes a letter to his son-student:
“Dear John!
I send you 50 dollars, as you asked. By the way remember please that the number 50 is written with one zero, but not with two.”