Math in College(Contempary)

Hi A.,

I spent many, many hours in math classes (since my degree required 24 hours of math and another 12 in physics, which is nothing more than applied math), and I am by no means a math whiz. I found that four things are essential to being successful:

1. Stay in close contact with the teacher. They may offer help in an area that you are struggling in, but this contact will also help them to place a face with a name. They will be more likely to help you out at grade time if they know who you are and they know that you are trying.

2. If there is a TA or a tutoring service, take advantage of these services and get some help. The more time you expose yourself to the subject, the better you will get.

3. Most importantly, you MUST spend time working problems. If you struggle in math, which you indicated that you do, you need to work more than just the assigned homework problems. The only way that you will get better is to constantly practice. Math skills are not learned through memorization, they are aquired by practice. If you run into problems that you can't figure out, ask your teacher or TA or tutor to help.

4. Don't procrastinate! Get your homework done early so that you can get help if you need it. And don't wait until the night before a test to begin working problems. Practice as often as you can, regardless of when your next test is.

I learned these things the hard way. I had to re-take a couple of classes because I thought I could simply "look over" my notes from the class to study for a test. Once I figured out that working problems was the only way to really learn the material, I was successful. I didn't make "A"s, but I did pass and graduate. Hang in there, you can do it!

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Absolutely get a tutor. It will be worth every penny.

Think about where you have been that is a serene place for you - relaxing on the beach, a beautiful wooded area, mountains - whatever feels peaceful for you.
Bring something small from someone you care about & look at it from time to time, knowing that they are cheering you on.

You can do it, girl! Good luck.

S.

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Hi A.,
I would suggest visiting your college learning center ASAP. If you attend Lone Star College,
you will want to visit the Extended Learning Center. There is a math center with math tutors that can help you work through problems. The center also offers study skills courses, which will probably include coping with test anxiety. Congratulations on your impending graduation!

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Math is not easy for me either. I only took one math course in college, College Algebra. What helped me was to do my homework right away each day...I think my class was on Tues/Thurs, and I did not wait until Monday and Wed. nights to do the homework, I did it as soon as I could after that day's lesson so the info would still be fresh in my mind. Then, when I had a test coming up, I would review for it a little each day for several days, rather than trying to cram everything into the last night or two. I ended up with an A in the class! It helped a lot that I had an awesome teacher. Good luck!

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I would suggest getting some tutoring help if possible. I know a lot of colleges now have tutoring services included in your tuition.
Do your homework asap.
If you are a more literary person, try thinking of the problems as it is telling a story. I tutored/taugh math & languages (French & Spanish) for years, and this was the easiest way for people to move through based on their strength. It sounds silly, I know, but if you think of the equation as having a beg, middle, end it helps tremendously.
Best of luck!

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As Brandi R said, you need to work out the problems when you are studying; don't just look them over. As a math teacher, I found that was the biggest problem for so many of my students. So many people don't take the time to work on the subjects that are more difficult for them.

Do as many problems as you can from each section that have answers in the back of the book. As you are doing them, take note of which ones you cannot get the right answer on your own. Show the work on those problems to the instructor or tutor. They will be able to see where it is that you get stuck and give you hints on what to look for and which technique to use as Thomas R pointed out.

Sometimes, when you see the right answer you will be able to go back and figure out what you did wrong or what the question was really asking. Do another problem of that type to show yourself that you understand it. As you start getting the majority of the problems right, you will build confidence that in a test situation, you will be able to do them correctly.

This works for any subject - put yourself in a test situation and keep correcting whatever it is that is keeping you from being successful. Seek help for what you cannot work out on your own.

If after doing this, you see that it is more of a mental thing, then do as Stephanie M suggested.

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I have no suggestions about math. I would suggest that you talk privately with the teacher and find a tutor to help you through this.

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Hello A.,
Test anxiety is a very common problem, I work in the accommodations office at a university. You may want to talk to your doctor about a diagnosis of test anxiety, then you can talk to your accommodations office at your college and ask them what kind of accommodations they can offer you. The most common are extended test time and alternative testing location (such as alone in a quiet office). Many people start to get more anxious when they are in a room with many people and as the other students are finishing and leaving the room, they start questioning themselves "why are they finishing when I am not even close?" If you cannot get a diagnosis from your doctor, you may just want to talk to the math teacher and explain your situation. He/she may be willing to offer you the option of taking the test in a quiet room.
Hope that helps, good luck!
S.

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Take deep breaths, read questions carefully, if you don't know it, skip it, then come back to it.

Does the college you go to have a tutoring lab? Most do for things such as math. This might help you tremendously.

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Dear A.,

What I always do before a test is take several deep breaths and say a little prayer. Your mind can remember things better when you are calm. You might also have some mints during your test to help open your nose so you can breath better and get oxygen to your brain.

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When I was taking a test, I would suck on peppermint hard candy -- peppermint is supposed to help you focus. Also deep breathing and visuallization may help. The day before the test sit down and visuallize going into the test, your surroundings, the feel of the chair, the paper, the pencil (or computer keyboard, it's been awhile since I was in college). Take deep breaths and become calm. Try taking a practice test while pretending it is the real thing. Check your work, but if in doubt go with your first answer (the first answer is often the right one). Good luck!

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Hi A.,
One of the best tools I know to help with anxiety and/or learning blocks is called Emotional Freedom Techniques or EFT. I am a parent educator/coach and use these techniques with great success for adults and children. You can go to their website www.emofree.com and get lots of info. You can also contact me directly and I would be happy to send you some articles, etc. Good Luck!
Blessings,
K.

Does your school's library have an area where the profs file their lecture notes? Many of the teachers at the university I attended kept their lecture notes on file in the library, and students could order copies. (Often, little more than copies of their powerpoint slides.) Occasionally, instructors also kept copies of their test banks - copies of tests they had given in the past. It helps to give an idea of what sorts of problems would be on the test. I would not have passed biology without them! You might ask your library about this - it couldn't hurt!

You'll obviously need to know how to solve individual problems. But once you know the techniques, the most important single thing I can suggest when you're learning is to understand why to use this technique instead of that one.

Like when you're putting together some wood with screws. How do you know when to use a Phillips screwdriver, vs. a straight screwdriver? You look at the shape of the slot. As you go through your classes, you need to understand "why this technique" as well as "this technique". If you don't understand that, I suggest you ask your prof, and work on it on your own.