There is no strict method of success that will work for every student in any math class, but there are basic principles, some obvious, some not, that work very well in almost all cases. If you are willing to assume responsibility for your own success then this discussion may be helpful.
Go to class. Here is the bad news: no matter how good your excuse is, missing a class with a solid excuse puts you as far behind as irresponsibly skipping a class. So don't miss class unless it is absolutely unavoidable. Obviously you cannot come to class in the case of a dire emergency, a car breakdown or accident, or if you can't walk, or concentrate enough to drive in.
The problem with missing a class is that students are invariably unable to learn what they missed on their own--no exceptions! In my experience, it seems that most students who miss a class don't even attempt to learn what they missed on their own. And whether you realize it or not, you gain a great deal that helps you to learn by listening and seeing math unfold. Because of the pace in college, missing a day of class is comparable to missing nearly a week in high school.
Do the practice. Here's the biggest secret about learning math: you will learn the most by practicing it. It is only through practice that the concepts and techniques are absorbed and reinforced.
Don't short-change yourself. Do the practice that your professor recommends. I have taken many anonymous surveys in my classes and I invariably find that the majority of students do too little practice, and this explains why too many are dissatisfied with their math grades. Don't fool yourself. Successfully doing one or only a couple problems doesn't mean you learned that topic. You must practice sufficiently in order to drive home the concepts and learn how to deal with the subtleties and nuances that can crop up in the problems.
Practice often. Almost every student makes at least a token effort to practice at least once a week. Once a week is better than nothing, but not much better. You are not tapping the power of your brain to figure out things and understand concepts when you rarely expose it to practice. My suggestion is to practice at least 30 minutes a day for five or six days a week. This will not only make you a more disciplined learner, by frequent exposure your brain will work much more efficiently in learning.
We all have short term and long term memory. You need to practice often in order to better hard-wire your brain for longer term memory. It's a physical matter of establishing neurological connections in your brain. For the same reason professional musicians find they must practice nearly every day to maintain their "chops."
One or two longer practice sessions per week, say, several hours in length, is also a good idea. Sometimes you need to concentrate on the math for an extended period in order to make serious progress. This only counts if you can do it with little or no outside distractions from people or TV.
I found that studying with instrumental music, not vocal, in the background was a highly effective way to concentrate. (In my case I listened to classical music.) This drowned out all other distracting noises and presented only a single distraction that could be ignored.
Check your answers. What is the sense of practicing if you make no effort to check your results for accuracy? When possible, also learn to check your answers on your own. For example, factoring can be checked by multiplying everything back, or a solution to an equation can be checked by inserting it back into the equation. When you go the extra mile to check answers on your own you will begin to make huge progress in conquering math because this technique will give you excellent insights on how everything works.
Students who habitually check their answers on their own normally get A's and B's on math tests because they are learning well and are able to catch many of their errors.
Be organized. The successful practice of mathematics starts with well-organized thinking. Your hand-writing need not be all that neat--mine isn't. Organization is about not skipping too many steps, not being sloppy about writing information, about using parentheses and brackets to organize expressions, not writing in a cramped style, and so forth. Writing known information on your paper, such as the definition of variables in a word problem, or something like the quadratic formula, puts information in front of your face so you don't have to store it in your memory.
Use your textbook. Math textbooks are usually difficult to read. Much of the reason is because they are not the same kind of reading as reading a magazine or a newspaper. So don't read your book like a newspaper. Have pencil and paper in hand and, at a minimum, write down each step of example problems and stop to make sure you understand how the book arrived at each step. It's the only way to keep your attention from wandering and to ensure you fully understand each problem.
The textbook is a second source of information that will illuminate what you've learned in class. You paid a lot for the book, so use it often and wisely!
Communicate. Communicating what you are doing goes hand-in-hand with being organized. Here's a trade secret: the better you communicate what you are trying to do in an organized manner the more partial credit you will earn when you are wrong. If your grader can't figure out what you were trying to do then he's not going to give you much, if any, partial credit. The worst thing you can do is only give the answer with no work shown. It's only right or it's wrong--there is no in-between.
Don't turn in rough drafts for your homework. A rough draft is your initial attempt at a problem and is bound to be more sloppy and less organized than it ought to be. Neatly rewrite homework you are turning in for a grade and you may be surprised at how many errors you catch.
And don't use that spiral notebook paper with the jagged edges when you tear it out unless you can remove the jaggies! It's very unprofessional and we are trying to prepare you for the professional world.
Learn from your mistakes. Not everyone will always be able to figure out why something they did in math went wrong, but those who make a habit of figuring out errors make huge progress. I am convinced that the greatest leaps in math learning are whenever you are able to figure out why you made a mistake. If you can't figure out what went wrong, then ask.
Take notes. I seldom looked at my notes when I was learning math, but I found out that I did much worse when I didn't take them. The explanation is simple. If you don't take notes you will day-dream and lose concentration on what is going on. Taking notes forces you to pay attention. Why most judges won't allow jurors to take notes is a huge mystery to me.
Taking notes properly means copying the mathematical steps on the board and writing key words that will jog your memory later on.
The very best thing you can do with notes is to rewrite and condense them. This takes great self-discipline and time management.
Grow up. You are responsible for your learning. If you aren't learning from your professor then make it his responsibility to clarify things you are missing or help you find your errors. Blaming your professor for your difficulties without going to your professor for help is simply a childish attitude.
Don't become overly emotional about math in a negative way. It never helps. Your job is to pass your math class, that's all. And if you've had terrible experiences in your past with math find a way to put them aside and move on. It is harmful to dwell on the negative.
Get help when you need it. Ask questions in class when something is not clear. Don't worry about what others may think of your question; most likely others are wondering the same thing and will appreciate your courage in asking.
Outside of class the best way to get help is to bring your work to your professor to look at. In most cases your problems amount to only one or two misunderstandings which the professor can clear up for you very quickly. If you have tried your best with some effort then you are the most receptive to learning.
Sensible test taking. When someone hands you a math test don't just start working on the first problem. Skim through the test to get an exposure to all the problems on it. Then start working the easiest problems, working your way up in difficulty, so that you leave the hardest problems to last. The obvious advantage is that you will have had time to score good points on the problems you are most likely to get right.
Less obvious, but more important, if you follow the above advice then your brain will be working in the background on the harder problems retrieving ideas on how to solve them while you are knocking out the easier problems. Try it!
Deal with math test anxiety. Perhaps a third to a half of students experience math anxiety when taking a test. A classic symptom is going blank as soon as you get the test in hand. Some people even get sweaty palms. Excellent books have been written about this subject since 1973. The cure is largely centered around relaxation, but the bad news is that there is no reliable method that works for everyone. But here are a few things you can try.
--Reread sensible test taking above and try that.
--Confidence from studying well goes a long way. Many students deserve to be test anxious because they haven't studied as much as they should have!
--Find a way to quit worrying about your grade. Your grade will take care of itself. Worrying about it becomes a distraction.
--Take a deep breath once in a while. Close your eyes once in a while for a few moments and think about something unrelated to the test.
Math does not come easily to everyone. It doesn't come all that easy to me either, but I am blessed with an inordinately strong interest and motivation for the subject. I have tried about everything when it comes to surviving and doing well in math classes. This article is based on my experiences in learning math and my observations of students while teaching math. If you are unsatisfied with how you've done in your past in math classes then isn't it time to change your tactics?
To contact the author by e-mail click on this link: Jon Davidson