How To Study Effectively For Exams – In a quiet room on your own is best for focused revising for exams.
The best way to study for Maths Methods exams is to work through questions at a pace where you can make sure you’re getting the right answer.
Always study at a pace you can understand
Your teacher may be telling you to practice doing questions at exam pace so you can get used to how fast you need to do them in the exams. Personally I don’t think this is a good approach to studying and I don’t encourage my students to study this way.
The most important thing you need to be doing in the lead up to exams is to make sure you understand how to solve the different types of problems that you’ve already studied during the year.
You really want to be practicing solving problems and getting the correct answer – at a pace that you understand.
When you understand how to solve problems you remember how to solve them. That’s what you need to remember in exams – how to solve the different types of problems.
If you try to study by doing questions at a fast pace you’re more likely to make mistakes. And you don’t want to be practicing making mistakes.
Perfect Practice Makes Perfect
If you practice at exam pace when you’re studying for exams you won’t understand as well as if you take your time and make sure that you understand how to solve each problem.
By taking your time and making sure you’re doing the steps correctly and understanding how to solve the problem you’re less likely to make mistakes.
Whatever you practice you’ll get better at. If you practice rushing and trying to get all the questions done as quickly as possible and making mistakes along the way, you’ll get better at doing that.
If you practice working steadily through each problem and getting the correct answer then you’ll be getting better at doing just that.
How To Study For Maths Methods Exams
The best way of studying for Maths Methods exams is to take your time and carefully think your way through your solution while you’re doing the steps correctly.
As you do more questions you’ll find that your speed will pick up anyway. You’ll know the steps you need to use because you’ve practiced them successfully in previous questions.
The other advantage of a slow and steady approach is that it helps you get a better understanding of how to solve each type of question. And that is what you really need to be able to do with the questions in your exams – solve them. Not just do them quickly.
It is not possible to successfully answer Maths questions if the understanding is not there. And the best way for you to get that understanding is to take your time and MAKE SURE you can do the problems.
On the day of the exam you’ll have nervous energy because it’s an exam and you’ll be able to work at a faster pace than normal.
Because you’ve already practiced and understood how to solve questions when studying for the exam you’ll be in a better position to think your way through the questions that are similar to the ones that you practiced.