Guide to doing well for JC Mathematics!
By: Gabrielle Lee | Image: jeswin-thomas
Do you dislike Mathematics? Tried studying the textbook from start to finish but still can’t see significant improvements in your results? I was in the same shoes as yours before, but how did I manage to progress from constantly struggling to topping my class and scoring As at every Math examination?
Mathematics is actually not as scary, and as compared to other subjects, Mathematics is not as content-heavy! Formulas may be hard to memorise, because they seem so abstract, but you can quicken the memorising process if you keep doing practices. In essence, the key to acing Mathematics is to just keep practising!
Tip 1: Make summaries and use them
School notes may seem very daunting because they are thick, full of words, and quite messy at times. During my secondary school and JC days, I tackled this issue by writing all the important formulas, conditions and definitions into a simple notebook, and I would refer to it whenever I could not remember a formula, or for revision the day before the examination. The key here is not to make pretty notes, but to write simple and understandable notes, and to USE them!
Tip 2: Keep practising
Like what my math teacher used to say, it is actually much easier to see improvements in Math as compared to other subjects. All you need to do is to really commit time daily to practise! It’s just like playing a sport. You can’t seek improvements if you don’t put in effort to refine your skill.
Usually, after learning a new topic, I will use practice questions from the textbook or school worksheet to check if I understand the concept. Then, I will move on to extra questions that my school gave, for extra drilling. Afterwards, when it was nearer to the examinations, I will just keep doing questions from past year exam papers.
Tip 3: Review your mistakes!
Doing practice questions is completely useless, if you do not mark your work and do corrections. By marking your work, you have a gauge whether you actually understand the topic or not. However, that alone is insufficient. You need to do corrections to facilitate the process of understanding where you have gone wrong. It would be even better if you have the time to compare the differences between your answer and the model answer, and process what the lapses in your understanding are.
TIp 4: Look through your mistakes and challenging questions when you do your exam revision
It is always good to have a bank of challenging questions and questions you made mistakes it. However, if that is too troublesome, you can always flag out these questions using a highlighter or a post-it note. Afterwards, remember to look through these questions again before your exam so that you will not waste unnecessary marks by making the same mistakes as before.
Photo by Tony Tran on Unsplash
Mathematics is so boring! How do I push myself to spend more time studying it?
Mathematics may be tough for some, and since Mathematics is a compulsory subject, there are definitely some who may find no interest in it. However, my best advice will be to put in your best effort and try to enjoy the process. It’s easier said than done but you can try making Mathematics less dull for yourself by following the tips below!
Tip 1: Simplify the process
If you want to spend minimum time studying Mathematics, but get maximum results, you really need to be efficient. This means you should do away with things like making notes pretty, mult-tasking, and getting distracted. You can try setting aside 1 hour a day for you to study Mathematics without any external distractions and you will be surprised how much you can achieve during that one hour.
Tip 2: Start off with simpler questions
It’s definitely demoralising if you keep making mistakes and keep getting stuck at difficult questions. So, you can try gaining more confidence by starting off with simpler questions. As you progress, you will start to realise that Mathematics is actually rather doable and who knows, you may even start to enjoy it!
If you want to know more about how to do well in JC Maths, our friendly and professional teachers are here to guide you in acing Maths.
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