<p>I just took a Math test today and it was not even close to what I was expecting. The teacher says all you need to do, is look at your notes and you'll be prepared for the test. I looked over the notes, understood all of the sample problems and how to do them, yet when I arrived to the test, I noticed that it was a lot harder than what was given in the notes. The thing is that the teacher doesn't give homework. And although we have a textbook, the teacher doesn't cover what is in that chapter. How do I prepare for a test such as that? Is it possible?</p>
<p>In my opinion a lot of it is mental. When you're taking a test, ALL of the problems have answers. They aren't impossible, and obviously at some point in history someone else saw the same problem, made a small leap in logic, and figured it out. The only thing stopping you from doing the same thing is yourself. Obviously intelligence plays a role, but I still believe that a large part of the ability to do well on tests without studying is going into it knowing that everything has an answer, and, in the case of math, someone else saw the same problem before and without any help made a small leap of logic and solved it.</p>
<p>At some point in time we've all taken an unfair test. I remember one of my classes where the prof was like "Why is sky blue? Because of Rayleigh scattering".. Then on the test it was "Calculate the wavelength of light observed from the scattering in the atmosphere given the following parameters...." Well, I know it's blue... but I don't know how to calculate anything to get the exact wavelength</p>
<p>As far as your case goes, now that you know your prof is evil, I would study all the concepts and then do whatever related problems in the book that you can find. The more practice you have solving problems, the more trouble-shooting ideas you will learn so when the test comes, you'll know different things to try in order to get the answer. Professors like to give problems that require multiple concepts to be applied.</p>
<p>My French professor is the same - the concepts presented in the class and in the book are fairly simple, but the tests don't correspond and are far more difficult. I get together regularly with other students to review the material, and was also assigned a tutor through academic support services, which definitely helps. But at the end of the day, I've resigned myself to the fact that some professors are unreasonable, and if I get a B or B+ because of an unreasonable professor, knowing that I've done all I can to study the material, it's not the end of the world.</p>
<p>That's what curves should take care of.</p>
<p>and... im in highschool, got straight A's in math until now because my new math class (honors pre calculus) is the fastest paced class in my school. It is insane. If you pay attention, take crazy notes, do all the homework (which in my class, tests and quizzes are 100% of the grade, so u dont need to to homework) and go out of your way to learn more, then when they test comes, you still are not even guaranteed a B. It is insanely hard. My teacher gives you the Hard problems in the book, but when the test comes, he throws you a fast one that makes the book's hard problems seem like a stroll in the park</p>
<p>My thermo professor does that. He's a genius, MIT grad, got a PhD at Berkely in 2 and a half years. So far the averages on the tests were 45 and 34. And the final (I took today) people walked out knowing they got below a 30, it's annoying. There is no way to study for it.</p>
<p>Yep...everyone will have at least one professor that gives complete crap exams. </p>
<p>The only thing you can really do is over-prepare for them. If it's possible, stop by their office and ask which problems from the book would be beneficial (it'd probably be a good idea to stick to the ones with solutions in the back). They may not cover those in class, but it's still good to be able to work a variety of problems...helps with the whole understanding the process and being prepared for anything type of thing.</p>
<p>The only thing I've found that works is to do everything assigned or recommended by the teacher, make sure you understand every single question of that, then do anything else you can think of to prepare. It takes forever, but it usually works. If you have a idiot professor, you just have to be satisfied that you tried your best and probably do understand most of the material.</p>