Are you one of those people who got their exam back a couple weeks ago and gasped at the amount of large red X's on your answers? I know I was one of them. After looking over my exam I realized that I need to change the way I study. I came up with 6 tips I can use to improve my grade.
(Note: This listicle is not meant for naturally-gifted math geniuses but rather for the average college student who doesn't want to fail math).
1. Read Notes Daily
I know this sounds extremely basic and obvious but I find that reviewing your notes after every math class enhances your understanding of the topic, especially if the topic is still fresh in your mind. Time is money; if you spend a lot of time not reviewing your notes and try to cram last minute, chances are you'll probably get an undesired test result.
2. Go to the Tutoring Center regularly
If you don't understand something, why wait till office hours? The tutoring center in Gilmer Hall tutors you free of charge! As long as you're willing to make an effort to save your grade, who says it's not possible for you to make drastic changes in your performance?
3. Online Help
Sometimes your professor doesn't know how to articulate his/her message to you. You just don't get it. There are plenty of free online resources such as Khan academy and Coursera. I find watching videos about various math topics extremely helpful.
4. Read the textbook!
There's a reason why your math professor assigned you the textbook. There must be extremely useful examples in the book that may help you on the exam. If you have a lot of time on your hands, don't forget to do some chapter exercises and compare your answers to the answer key at the back of the book!5. Ask about trick questions on the exam
It wouldn't hurt to approach your professor or TA and ask about the type of questions that'll be on the exam. Get familiar with the exam format and the way the questions are worded.
6. Get a lot of sleep
Studies have shown that sleep is vital to academic success. In the words of Dr. Epstein, medical director of Sleep Healthy Centers, “recent studies have shown that adequate sleep is essential to feeling awake and alert, maintaining good health and working at peak performance; new research also highlights the importance of sleep in learning and memory. Students getting adequate amounts of sleep performed better on memory and motor tasks than did students deprived of sleep.”[i]
The most important thing is that you need to have confidence and the motivation to try everything you possibly can to get a good grade in math, or any of your classes. Getting a B or a C isn't the end of the world, but you never know what you can achieve if you push yourself to improve as much as you can.
[i] "AASM News Archive." AASM. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2016.
