A question I often ask my students as a cumulative midterm or final exam approaches is "How will you prepare?" Many students tell me that they plan to rework all of their old quizzes, tests, and homework problems. Although I admire their willingness to take on such a Herculean task, I encourage them to use their time wisely.
It does not make sense to spend a lot of time going over problems that you know how to do. Instead you should be focusing on problems that have given you a hard time. The trick is to be able to quickly diagnose your issues, and then find problems to work on that will help you master those topics.
One place to start is with a practice exam from your instructor. If your instructor does not provide a practice test, or you want to start your preparation sooner, try beginning with the chapter tests in your textbook. These problems typically have all of the answers in the back of the book so you will know which ones you have correct. (By the way, avoid looking to the answers until you have solved all of the problems. It is the only way to truly figure out whether you understand the material or not.)
For problems that are incorrect, or problems you don't feel completely confident with, back up a step and look to the chapter reviews in your textbook. Here you will typically find 3-4 problems for each problem that was on the chapter test. Again, the answers to the review problems are typically in the back of the book so you can check your answers. If you need help with any of these problems, make the best use of your resources - classmates, instructor, textbook, tutorial center, online videos, ...
If, after the review, you are still struggling with certain types of problems, it is time to go back to the section of the textbook containing those problems. Look over the worked out examples in the section, as well as the examples in your notes. Then you will find more problems to try in the exercise section. Now you should probably restrict yourself to odd numbered exercises so you can check your answers.
Hopefully, at this point you should be well prepared for your exam.
If you have any questions or comments, I'd love to hear from you. You can either use the comments section on this blog, or you can reach me through the contact page on my website - georgewoodbury.com .
- George
I am a math instructor at College of Sequoias in Visalia, CA and an author of a series of developmental math textbooks. If you have any ideas for future articles, would like to join a blogging group, or contribute a guest blog, drop me a line.
Showing posts with label amatyc. Show all posts
Showing posts with label amatyc. Show all posts
Friday, March 8, 2013
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Day One in a Math Class
Here's a blog from my old Wordpress site, where I share my day one philosophy and strategies. Hope you enjoy!
On the first day of class, especially in a developmental math class, our students are full of fear and anxiety. They feel that math is their worst subject and it’s beyond their reach. They know few, if any, of their classmates. This is not the time to start lecturing. This is the time to start building a community of learners!
I do not lecture on the first day of class. (As a rule, I teach classes that meet 4 times a week for 50 minutes at a time.) I start in a pretty traditional way – I take roll, read through the syllabus, and make sure that everyone understands how the class will go. Then I give my students a survey that allows me to collect information about them. Most of the questions are designed to help the students understand their strengths and weaknesses, and alert them to future potential problems such as working full-time while taking 18 units and taking care of 3 children. (If you would like a copy of my survey, just let me know.) I also ask my students to tell me something that is special or unique about them – it’s a great way to show your students that you are truly interested in them (and their success).
Once the surveys are complete I form groups of 4, giving each group a folder. I ask each group to share their stories with each other, including their response to the special/unique prompt. I then ask them to put their names on the front of the folder and to come up with a group name. It may sound a little juvenile, but it really encourages students to talk to each other. Some groups will sit there and stare at each other, but when I let them know that I will name their group and that they will most definitely not like the name I choose they start talking.
I use these folders to take roll during the semester, and find that it really helps me to learn my students’ names quickly. I also refer to their surveys as I take roll, so I get to know them.
The goal here is to get students to be comfortable with at least 3 other students in the class. As I figure it, connection to classmates leads to connection with the class as a whole, which hopefully leads to a connection with me and the material.
What is your Day 1 like? Do you have something unique that you would like to share? I encourage you to leave a comment on this blog, or reach me through the contact page at my web site – georgewoodbury.com.
-George
I am a math instructor at College of the Sequoias in Visalia, CA. Each Wednesday I post an article related to teaching math on my blog. If there’s a particular topic you’d like me to address, or if you have a question or a comment, please let me know. You can reach me through the contact page on my website – http://georgewoodbury.com.
On the first day of class, especially in a developmental math class, our students are full of fear and anxiety. They feel that math is their worst subject and it’s beyond their reach. They know few, if any, of their classmates. This is not the time to start lecturing. This is the time to start building a community of learners!
I do not lecture on the first day of class. (As a rule, I teach classes that meet 4 times a week for 50 minutes at a time.) I start in a pretty traditional way – I take roll, read through the syllabus, and make sure that everyone understands how the class will go. Then I give my students a survey that allows me to collect information about them. Most of the questions are designed to help the students understand their strengths and weaknesses, and alert them to future potential problems such as working full-time while taking 18 units and taking care of 3 children. (If you would like a copy of my survey, just let me know.) I also ask my students to tell me something that is special or unique about them – it’s a great way to show your students that you are truly interested in them (and their success).
Once the surveys are complete I form groups of 4, giving each group a folder. I ask each group to share their stories with each other, including their response to the special/unique prompt. I then ask them to put their names on the front of the folder and to come up with a group name. It may sound a little juvenile, but it really encourages students to talk to each other. Some groups will sit there and stare at each other, but when I let them know that I will name their group and that they will most definitely not like the name I choose they start talking.
I use these folders to take roll during the semester, and find that it really helps me to learn my students’ names quickly. I also refer to their surveys as I take roll, so I get to know them.
The goal here is to get students to be comfortable with at least 3 other students in the class. As I figure it, connection to classmates leads to connection with the class as a whole, which hopefully leads to a connection with me and the material.
What is your Day 1 like? Do you have something unique that you would like to share? I encourage you to leave a comment on this blog, or reach me through the contact page at my web site – georgewoodbury.com.
-George
I am a math instructor at College of the Sequoias in Visalia, CA. Each Wednesday I post an article related to teaching math on my blog. If there’s a particular topic you’d like me to address, or if you have a question or a comment, please let me know. You can reach me through the contact page on my website – http://georgewoodbury.com.
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