How to Study Math by Michelle
Michelleof Greenville's entry into Varsity Tutor's January 2014 scholarship contest
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How to Study Math by Michelle - January 2014 Scholarship Essay
As a mathematics teacher, I have been told by numerous students that you just don't study math. I have also heard from many students, both successful and unsuccessful, what their various study methods are. "Read over your notes," "work out problems," and "make flash cards for vocabulary" are all very common approaches, which may or may not give the test results the student desires.
Having gone back to school full time this year (2013 - 2014) to pursue my doctorate degree in mathematics education, I have found myself back in the position of the student again. I have noticed that of all the study methods I mentioned, I do not actually do any of them. While I make sure that I understand the vocabulary, my bigger purpose is to understand the larger picture for the concept that I am studying before I make sure that I can work out specific problems.
This has served me well. For example, in my statistics class last semester, I had to understand and apply a lot of formulas. My approach of understanding the basic premise of the formula and how it gives the result that it does helps me not only with knowing which formula to use, when and how, but also helps me to easily bring the entire formula back into memory because there is a reason for the formula being what it is.