<p>Hey, I was just wondering if someone had advice on how to deal with stupid mistakes on tests --- like 3+2 = 6 (thinking it was multiplication).</p>
<p>I got my math test back a while ago, and it was a D (gasp!). I did not get zeros on any of the questions, but 4/5s on practically every one for stupid little mistakes like arithmetic miscalculations, forgetting to draw an arrow for parametric equations, writing x^3 = 3y instead of y = (x^3)/3. Even if I have time to go over problems, I see nothing wrong with what I do even though it's not right. (I know 3+2=5. On homework, I know it is 5. But on a test, I can look over the problem three times and see a 6.) I obviously get the concepts, but these little mistakes will ruin my grade.</p>
<p>Does anybody have this problem and have methods they would like to share? Thank you!</p>
<p>1) You're not getting a D with 4/5 on every question. That's a B.
2) Slow down. It will kill you at first--hell, you may even run out of time. But these damn little mistakes are killing you, and you're getting poorer grades going faster. Go slower and check your work as you go. Forget the clock and you'll do better.</p>
<p>enderkin --- There were some 3/5s along the way too. All the missed points ended up in a big fat red 64%. <em>sigh</em> Thanks for the advice! You too, benellis.</p>
<p>everyone makes stupid mistakes but if it's really killing you then you should strive to be more careful when doing anything math related. don't rush through your hw and don't take shortcuts until you cut down on the little mistakes.</p>
<p>don't turn in your test directly after you finish. also, checking your work right after you finish defeats the purpose as you're still in the mode you made your mistakes in. the best advice i can give you is to finish, then wait 5-10 minutes (if possible), then look over your test again. looking with a fresh eye might help you much more in these cases.</p>
<p>Practice. Practice. Practice.
Making mistakes when you grasp the concept means that you haven't practiced enough. I worked through a speed maths book and my new maths book during one summer - and stopped making mistakes.</p>
<p>God, I do this all the time, all my chem quizzes have math errors that make me cringe. I've been trying to check my work over as much as possible.</p>
<p>If you get 4/5 on every question, then even if they're not weighted equally, you'll still get an 80%.</p>
<p>Try going through your problems again like you're teaching it to someone. Talk about every little step you do in your head, and now and then it'll help you pick up on the mistakes you're making.</p>
<p>Okay, I've had quite a bit of experience with math and stupid mistakes. I do a bunch of math competitions, and at least from my experience your result is based on two factors.</p>
<ul>
<li>how much you've prepared beforehand</li>
<li>how focused you are that day. That time period.</li>
</ul>
<p>After doing not as well as I would have liked on several competitions, I began to analyze what I was doing wrong. No, sleep wasn't a factor. It was mainly, how focused am I during the test? I realized my scores took a big plunge when I wasn't fully concentrated and said silly things like 1104/64=69 or something like that.</p>
<p>Anyways, I've come up with a set of three questions. Go through all of them, for each problem.</p>
<ol>
<li>Do I understand what the problem is asking for?</li>
<li>Did I do my math correctly?</li>
<li>Did I find EXACTLY what the problem is asking for?</li>
</ol>
<p>After I utilized this technique, my scores were much more desired. I hope it works for you too.</p>
<p>These sort of mistakes used to get me all the time in math. I agree with all the advice about slowing down. Really. Also, watch carefully for copy errors. For example, I often read a figure in a problem that says 0.3 and then copy down .03, because I don't generally use leading zeroes. So then the whole problem ends up being wrong. </p>
<p>If you have time, rework entire problems from start, on a separate piece of paper, without referring to your original work. Also, for a lot of math things, you can check with your calculator. For example, I usually check definite integrals on my calc to make sure I did all the integration right. When the answer I calculated and the calculator don't agree, I know I need to go check my work.</p>