<p>How do you guys avoid this?! Seriously, I always seem to miss 2, 3, or even 4-5 problems because of idiotic, stupid mistakes with math! Do any of you guys have tips for avoiding these?</p>
<p>It’s all about practice.
(Math or cheating techniques lol)</p>
<p>For me, the only thing I can really do is go slowly and avoid stressing. If I do problems quick or start freaking out, then I make really dumb mistakes. </p>
<p>The other thing that might help is doing the problem again.</p>
<p>I take tests strangely… I race through each problem, check the individual problem before moving on, and then rework all the problems before handing the test in. For Algebra problems, plug everything into the original problem. Think through what actually makes sense.</p>
<p>I like to go super fast and rape my calculator’s buttons. Usually I don’t make too many mistakes, if I miss something it’s because I didn’t know how to do it. But I don’t think I’ve ever gotten less than a 95 on a test/quiz thing where I could use a calculator…</p>
<p>it’s weird; when I do practise tests myself I always make a lot of silly mistakes; but when I’m taking the real thing I never do.</p>
<p>Oh, and I never double check. </p>
<p>I think you just have to becareful.</p>
<p>Go quick enough to finish with like ten to fifteen minutes to go, and then check back through all the problems. If these are problems where it is not easy to check answers, then take your time, look at what you type into your calculator, look at what you write down, and then don’t go back and check once you finish (unless you have more time).</p>
<p>If you practice enough, you will understand the material like it’s second nature and be able to run through the problems without thinking twice. But there will always be a couple of more problems that you might go back and try again. It’s better to double check your work anyway. Also, you should always plug your solutions back in to the original equations to verify your answer. This way you know whether or not you did something wrong. You should probably practice more if all this is not coming to you.</p>
<p>I have the same exact problem. I work out the problem and end up getting the correct answer, but for some reason for example in multiple choice tests I choose the wrong answer. It’s really annoying, I guess it could be due to the pressure exerted by the test on the test-taker. Some times this problem does not occur and this usually occurs with test I don’t care about and I usually end up getting most if not all of the questions rights. He, maybe I should just stop caring and I will get 100’s on all my test. What do you guys think?</p>
<p>I don’t agree with GammaGrozza. If you start checking after finishing all the tasks, you will find very few mistakes and it is time-consuming.</p>
<p>Bob</p>
<p>You just have to practice more. And, you also have to stop calling your mistakes stupid. </p>
<p>All you have to do is keep things really organized with your homework and notes. Math is comprehensive. So, you have to consistently drill things. But what you might have to consistently drill, might be different from your classmates.</p>
<p>All I can tell you is that you should just keep a running list of any worked out problems which are hard for you and anything from the class notes which are hard for you. Keep that running list in the front of your binder or what have you and always look through it as well as add to it. Way before your fellow classmates normally do it, start breaking down that list of worked out homework problems and class notes onto index cards where you have the problem on one side and the answer on the other and then start testing yourself and drilling things over and over while consistently adding to it with some of the newer material you find hard. This is not the easiest way to go about things, but sometimes math is like that. </p>
<p>Also, if your tests are multiple choice, do not be scared to do some nice shortcuts. Some folks have already brought up plugging the answer into the original equation and all of that. There is also, for example, the matrix method for some things as well. </p>
<p>Just keep your head up and drill your own personal things you find hard and as long as you do that early enough, you will be alright.</p>
<p>the trick with math is repetition. If you have the time math is the easiest of any class.</p>
<p>When I take a test, I’ll write very neatly and, if there’s any complicated algebra steps at all, I’ll very deliberately make the steps.On the last test I took the only Algebra mistake I made was on a question where I got messy.</p>
<p>The reason why people complain that tests give so little time, is because they write out too many steps.</p>
<p>My “trick”, if you will, is to always skip the trivial steps, and always think in your head how to do the questions in your head, only writing down when you absolutely need to. </p>
<p>That’s how I always finish tests in half the time it takes. (SAT preps, AMCs, other math contests)</p>
<p>Then again, doing it my way is hard to double check.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE=member]
the trick with math is repetition. If you have the time math is the easiest of any class.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Couldn’t that be said of basically any class? For example: “the trick with history is memorizing it all. If you have the time history is the easiest of any class.”</p>
<p>Anyway, how are you missing entire problems due to stupid mistakes? A stupid mistake, to me, is a silly error that will cost you 1 or 2 points at most (depending on exactly how significant a single point is with your teacher’s grading scheme). A mistake that causes you to miss a whole problem seems a little more serious unless we’re talking about multiple choice questions. </p>
<p>If you’ve got teachers who are giving you multiple choice math exams, then frankly I feel sorry for you and urge you to see if you could persuade them to do something different. Multiple choice questions are absolutely the worst way to test someone’s math ability and are completely contrary to the entire spirit of the subject.</p>
<p>Ugh, don’t get me started on math exams. I think most of them are pointless. Giving students routine, straightforward computation problems to be solved within (say) an hour’s time hardly provides an adequate means for discriminating between those who are merely able to execute memorized algorithms and those who actually understand anything that’s going on. As this thread shows, they also tend to punish for making small mistakes rather than lack of understanding. I’m a big fan of essay-based take-home math exams whose problems span a very wide range of difficulty starting with a slightly hard but still routine computation and concluding with a severely challenging problem that would be unsolvable by every student except those with almost perfect understandings. Of course, the tests can be graded on a curve: obviously the teacher would by construction not expect but one or two students to get the final problem, for instance. The huge benefit of this approach is that it discourages memorization (you can look everything up!), encourages people to try to actually understand stuff, and actually provides a large enough difficulty span as to discriminate between different students effectively. And it makes what member said wrong. :D</p>
<p>Wow, I got off topic! Uh, proceed.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>No. The trick with math is knowing why the math works before doing the math problems. This is the problem I see with math education in the US at lower levels; they just give you a bunch of computational equations and tell you to memorize/plug and chug (most annoying example: FOIL). No proofs, no explanations, nothing. Repetition only makes doing math faster, not more accurate.</p>
<p>To the OP: First, read the question clearly. Identify what you are trying to figure out and all other variables. Understand how to approach the problem, then clearly write out your work. You will rarely, if ever, make a mistake.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE=vinnyli]
No. The trick with math is knowing why the math works before doing the math problems. This is the problem I see with math education in the US at lower levels; they just give you a bunch of computational equations and tell you to memorize/plug and chug (most annoying example: FOIL). No proofs, no explanations, nothing. Repetition only makes doing math faster, not more accurate.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>To me, what helped me understand algebra was that it is a form of short hand created by Arabic accountants as a way to memorize things. I finally knew there was actually a purpose behind it and helped me picture what I was doing. I actually learned that in BIO class rather than algebra class.</p>
<p>I guess you’ll have a hard time learning all the theoritical number thoery stuff :O</p>