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Math can be extremely complicated for many people. After years of math and calculus in both school and university, I have gained fundamentals that made me successful at math that I want to share with you. If you think that you will never be good at math because you are not smart enough, then you are in the right place. In this post, you will learn some rules about math that will make math understandable and tips that you can use today to imporve your math.
The secret to success at math is to master your basics to build your knowledge to the more complicated topics. Understanding the problem will give you the incentive to expand your knowledge. Practice will solidify your learning and ensure that you are working your way to the mastery level.
The following are rules that you can apply today to understand math better
The 3 Golden rules to understand math
Those are the unspoken rules about math. It is what every successful mathematician use. If you study math for a long time, you will subconsciously develop those rules. Therefore, learning those rules will make you understand math quickly.
1- Math is logic
There is logic and reason to everything behind math. It takes a mental challenge for a child to learn how to count from 1-10 and put those numbers in order, and later on adding and subtracting. Children are only able to do simple math well when they make sense of it in their minds. If what you are studying does not make sense, then go back to the basics and work your way to the more difficult topics.
You learn things in this order: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division because every operation depends on you understanding the previous one. Think about it. Similarly, if you are struggling in solving something is because your foundation is not well. Think of this rule as a pyramid; you need a solid foundation to be able to understand advanced mathematics.
2- There are more than one way to find the solution
Math is not history that only have one true event. Math has multiple routes to get you to the same solution. Math is not fixed; math is versatile, which makes it more interesting to learn. The idea is not to learn all the possible solutions but to understand that math is correct and does not hold any ambiguity because there is more than one way to solve a question.
If math is logic, then it makes sense to have multiple ways to solve one problem, making it easy to test the correctness of your solution and tracing back your solution to the beginning of the problem and confirm your answer.
3- Practice makes perfect
For mathematics to start making sense to you, you must practice it. This is how children learn math by practising to make sense of it in their minds. By practising math, you develop yourself and make it easy to expand to more complex math problems.
Practice makes difficult easy. If a certain topic requires an understanding of the previous topic, you should practice until it makes sense to you—for example, practising derivative before learning integration will make integration easy to learn. “Practice makes perfect” apply to many things, but it works best with math. The more you practice, the more you learn the twists of the topic and the more it becomes second nature to you.
10 Tips to imporve your math skills
Those are 10 steps you can use today to become good at math. It is critical to realise that if you are not good at something, you just have to put in extra effort and work harder. In general, no one can be bad at math because you use it every day from the moment you wake up. Therefore, those tips will only work if you are willing to work on yourself and put in enough study hours.
1- Understand the theory
If you are learning a topic for the first time, you should learn how it came to be and the theory behind it. If you do not know the theory and the basics, math will be confusing and complicated. By understanding the theory, you eliminate the uncertainty. There are rules you must follow to build a solid foundation that can enable you to progress future.
2- Learn the practical applications of math
Studying math can be so boring because you do not learn how to actually use it in real life. When you were a kid learning math was fun because you learned it from your parents, and you use it more as you grow because it makes sense. However, when you move to advanced math, it becomes harder to apply this in real life. Schools usually will not focus on the practical application of math. Therefore, if you are not finding the value in what you are learning, search the internet to see how it is applied to real life.
3- Study mathematical examples
Usually, in every curriculum, there is a wide range of given examples that teach you a step by step solution. Studying those examples very well will teach you how to solve questions before practising. You do not have to attempt those examples yourselves, but you need to take a good look at them and understand them. This can substantially imporve you and make you ready for practice.
4- Practice all questions
We learn by repetition because we can solidify the information and start thinking beyond the problem and be creative. Therefore, the more you do something, the better you get at it because it will become natural to you. Practising all the questions can give you the benefit of learning all the twists and make you think beyond the problems in the textbook. This means that you should study extensively and not on the exam day since it can be difficult to solve all the questions in one day.
5- Write the mistakes you do
When you practice, you will make mistakes, and that is okay. If you make many errors and learn from them, you will not make them in the exam. Students get frustrated when they find out they make many mistakes when they practice and think they suck. However, if you know how to learn from those mistakes, you will imporve your exam marks.
Practice does two good things for you: first, it makes you think and solve questions faster and second finding your weaknesses. When you find a mistake you keep making, write it down in your notebook and explain exactly how you make it. If you write it down and make it a list, you will no longer make the same mistake because you have realised the error and written it down.
If you are using this system where you write down every mistake you make on your list; you should be happy that you made them when you were practising because this mistake will not happen in the exam. You will realise later that this method will make you faster and more efficient with your study and before you know it you will imporve your marks exponentially.
6- Make your own notes
Following the same thinking from the last tip, it makes sense to have your own notes, not the lecturer notes or your friend’s notes but yours. If you do a STEM degree where calculus is part of that degree, you should know that you will not have time to look over every topic the day before the exam. Therefore, it makes sense to have simplified notes written by you that explain every topic and function with a list of difficult examples to revise on the day before the exam and a list of mistakes you make.
Your notes are special to you because you used your own words and method to explain things. It is an easy reference to you and easy to remember when you revise later. Some students hate math so much that they do not attempt to find a way to imporve themselves and only looking for a pass. If you do not understand math, you can never pass; it is simply because math is logic; it is not poetry. If you attempt to make your own notes, you are trying to explain everything to yourself, making your learning far more engaging and less likely to fail at math.
7- Find a study partner
This one does not always work, but if you could find someone to share information with and encourage each other to study, you could learn things faster. Essentially, finding a study partner can offer you instant help and the feedback you need to move forward. So if you have a study partner, set up goals and challenges for each other to push yourselves forward.
8- Ask many questions
The only way to move forward is to ask for explanations on the things you do not understand. There are many ways you can do it today: asking during the class, write an email to your lecturer, ask a friend or book a private consultation with your lecturer. The goal is to remove any uncertainties and questions you have.
To ask questions, you must study extensively before the exam and build up the list of questions. Math always relies on the previous topic you studied; therefore, it is critical not to leave things to the last minute because your lecturer will not answer your questions a few hours before the exam.
9- Seek help early
Anyone can be good at math, but we do possess different abilities to perceive and learn things. Some people require more work than others. If you find yourself struggling, you should reach out and seek help early. This is why you should not leave things to the last minute.
You should not be discouraged if you find out that it takes longer for you to understand math because the more time you spend on something, the better you get at it. You can only get better at math if you put in the time and effort, and with enough hard work, you can do better than your peers.
10- Learn beyond
If you are looking to imporve yourself future, you can always learn beyond your course. This might require you to read textbooks, sign up for online courses or even look at past exam questions to imporve your knowledge. This tip will take you to the expert level for those who are looking to get into STEM. Seeking further studies can be a good idea if you are interested in a topic and want to learn more.
When you understand the theory well and the real-life practical application of a topic, you can develop an interest in the subject and become curious to learn more. This will reflect well on your academic achievements and imporve your marks and take you from someone who hates math to learning its benefit.
The Bottom Line
You can follow three rules to understand math. First, you can become good at math by understanding the basics and removing any ambiguity. Second, math has more than one way to solve a question, making it easier to learn and far more engaging. Finally, practice will take you to the mastery level and ensure that the information stays with you for a long time.
People become more open to learning when they understand, and math is no different. Try to go back to the basics when things become difficult. Try to make your own notes and document everything you learn to make an easy reference for you on the day before the exam. Learning math becomes more engaging for those who learn the theory and understand the practical applications of math.
Finally, if you are looking to go into STEM but do not feel that you have the skills to become one, then you should know that in the real world, there are tools you can use to make math easy. Not everything you learn in calculus you will do yourself in the real world because there are programs that do all the work for you; you just have to understand the math functions. If you want to learn more, check this article Can I Be an Engineer If I’m Bad At Math?
