Q: What are the top factors for success in Math?
A: Here are some top tips for academic success and confidence:
Be prepared and proactive
A review sheet is a gift
Metacognition (raise self-awareness about your thinking)
Attention to Detail (reduce fuzzy errors)
Self-Care (sleep, food, stress management)
Effort expended (the feeling of a job well done)
Math Success Factors Power Point by Edmonton Public Schools
Q. Are Math facts important?
Q. Isn't Math just formulas?
1. What is the equation of a line? 2. The slope formula?
3. Circumference of a circle? 4. Area of a circle?
Click here for the formulas
If Math were just formulas then open book exams would be easy!
Many professors of Math and other technical subjects along with the Professional Engineering licensing exam allow open book exams.
PE Exam Guidelines.
A: No, Math is much more than formulas. Applying the formulas is the challenge -- many formulas are tricky (like exponent rules) so examples are best to improve recall. Progress can be made by thinking about and understanding the formulas. For example, volume is three dimensional, therefore, the units will be units cubed such as ft cubed or cm^3. For area , the answer will contain square units and perimeter (or circumference) will be just units.
Q: What are "fuzzy errors"?
A: How much is 2^0? (2 to the zero power) Answer
People often get the incorrect answer due to a lack of focus rather than a lack of understanding. Some common topics that illustrate this idea are: Area vs Perimeter, Exponent Rules, the word "NOT"
and the ubiquitous minus sign mistake.
One excellent way to reduce fuzzy errors is to study multiple choice items that have tempting good wrong answers."Is that your final answer?" is a way to help raise awareness and critical thinking -- it would be great if "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" had an Algebra version!
Multiple Choice Exam Construction includes Distractors
Math Confidence Blog on Fuzzy Errors