How to Learn and Pass Mathematics Easily - Educate Ghana Summit

Educate Ghana Summit has after research outlined nine (9) strategies to help students pass mathematics. Below are the 9 techniques;

1. KNOW THE TECHNIQUES, METHODS & FORMULAE.

First of all, this might seem painfully obvious, but making sure that you are well acquainted with the techniques, methods, and formulae is already a colossal help.

It is better for you to know the fundamentals, the less work you have to try and figure out when you are struggling with a specific problem, even when you don’t know exactly what to do. If you can apply the formula, you are somewhat there. Feeling confident with this also helps you to prevent the ill-famed ‘blanks’ that tend to hit on the examination day.

2. MAKE FRIENDS WITH THOSE WHO ARE GOOD AT MATHEMATICS.

It may be a surprising idea, but approaching your work with a positive attitude can make a world of a difference to your performance in the subject.

If you open your Maths book in a good headspace every time you study, you are going to be far more productive. Make the awake decision to learn and understand the work properly (as opposed to just learning it to pass the test). You never know, you might even surprise yourself and end up liking Mathematics in your lifetime.

3. STAY AHEAD WITH THE SYLLABUS.
Be punctual and make sure you always know what is going on in class and you understand all the works. That is not to say you have to understand it the first time you see it, but if you are still struggling with a concept, go home and go over it until you understand it.

You never want to be playing the catch-up-game the day before the test. Revising for exams should be just that, revising, not re-learning work you only half-understood when you learned it the first time.

Homework is the worst part of every student’s day. If you can’t sleep at school, why should you need to do school work at home? But homework is a very useful way to check that you are comfortable with the concepts you have been covering in class and to establish a more permanent foundation for these concepts in your brain.

5. DON'T DEPEND ON YOUR TEACHER ALONE.
Mathematics has so many diverse ways to explain different concepts, and some ways will make more sense to you than others. So who do you ask, apart from your teacher?

Ask your peers too. Maybe there’s someone in your class who seems to be getting the work really easier than you do, ask them what they do or what techniques they use to understand the work.

You can also ask other Maths teachers in your school, as they might have a different way of explaining a concept that you are struggling with.

Don't keep quiet and suffer.
Sometimes it is hard to ask for help, but doing it will give you freedom.

6. GO FURTHER THAN THE CLASSROOM.
If a student finds out that he/she is paying much attention in class and doing all expectation works, but still not satisfied with the progress, that should not be the end. There are so many resources on the Internet to help you improve your Maths mark – more than you can imagine. So let's utilize Internet wisely.

There are many written online tutorials and videos available. Youtube is a great tool for learning not watching photography, so if you’re having trouble understanding a concept, you can often find many in-depth and clear explanatory videos there.

Everyone must note, searching for something little more structured, there are hundreds of free short courses that you can take on websites.

The best thing about learning something online is that you can go over the same concept as many times as you like in your own time until you feel comfortable.

7. PRACTISE CONSISTENTLY.
As an educationist, my best advice to students is consistent practice because, every Maths test you write is practical, so parrot-learning the theory isn’t the best strategy if you really want to be successful in exams with higher marks especially mathematics.

The more you practice, the more concrete the concepts become in your head, also the more confident you become with the work. And if you feel that you tend to underperform because you make ‘laughable mistakes’, remember that the more you practise, the better you become at identifying where you are making these errors and so you will start to make fewer of them.

8. DO EXTRA LESSONS.
Many at times, students have to spend a lot of time practising Maths to understand the work and be able to apply it confidently. And it’s not always easy to find the motivation to do this by yourself. If your school offers extra lessons fine, then go to them. Having a dedicated hour or two a week to practise your Maths and maybe pick up a few tricks or hints that the teacher shares in these lessons can make a huge difference to your performance and to your interest as well as confidence in the subject.

If your school doesn’t do extra classes, then try to make individual arrangements with your teacher or find a private tutor. One-on-one classes can be extremely useful because whoever is going over the work with you might be able to identify which concepts you are struggling with in particular and explain them to you very well in a way that you grasp fully.

9. SOLVE PAST PAPERS
Besides, solving past papers is the best way to be successful in Mathematics. Once you have studied your syllabus and know the concepts well, past papers are the next step to a successful exam.

Mostly, examination bodies, teachers etc like to test the same work year after year, so if you’re performing well in past papers then obviously you will do well in your exam.

Signed
Mr Boadi William
CEO, Educate Ghana Summit.
..we educate the nation.