To avoid maths mistakes is not like going through a checklist. Many components like correct reading, concentration and understanding go hand in hand. Therefore, it is import to pay attention to all the following tips.
Not Recognising The Topic.
During a class, you know the topic being taught on any given day, as it’s written on the board.
But in an exam, that’s not the case – the topic isn’t conveniently written at the start of each question.
Before attempting the question it’s going to help to know what it’s about and for that you need to get good at recognising various topics.
TIP: Practice your question topic recognition skills by going through past papers and testing yourself to see if you can work out the main topic of each question, without answering the question.
Not Reading The Question Carefully.
Every question contains valuable information. Some information is what you need to use in your workings and some might be about how you should give you answer: to 3sf, 2dp, in exact form, in a particular form, years from time X…etc. It’s easy to misread the question and answer the question you think is being asked instead of the question actually being asked. If you start answering the question from the wrong place, you’ll end up in the wrong place too.
TIP: When answering a question, don’t be in a rush to start writing instantly – give yourself time to read the question first. Answer the question in front of you, not the one you think!
Not Understanding the Topic.
This one is pretty obvious but to have success at anything, you need to know the topic inside out.
This means you should have an outline in your mind of the method needed to answer a question for any topic.
If a question looks alien to you, it’s a good sign you are not quite ready on that topic, so it’s time to go back over it.
TIP: Get help from a teacher or tutor to make sure the topic has been explained in full to you with some examples, and don’t be afraid to ask if you still aren’t sure…then look for variations of questions on that topic – the more questions you see, the better prepared you will be!
Careless Workings.
This is a big one – so you know the topic and you are confident in how to approach the question, but then you get derailed by making careless mistakes in your workings. This had nothing to do with your understanding of the topic, but just a mistake in your algebra or number work. These are common but annoying mistakes to make when you know the topic.
TIP: Practice makes perfect – train yourself by attempting a variety of questions on algebraic manipulations, arithmetic fractions etc as they often crop up as part of the workings in questions of other topics.
General tips to avoid maths mistakes.
Every exam, independent of if it’s a maths exam or not, requires some preparation. Not only the study in itself, but also to prepare yourself and your body. Some general tips are to drink enough water, snack healthy food and get enough sleep the night before the exam the day. You can find more general tips on Humanitas University’s website.
In a nutshell
All the above tips help you to avoid maths mistakes. In a nutshell, what you need to keep in mind, is:
- Identify the topic
- Read the question carefully
- Understand the topic
- Stay concentrated
We at Fully Explained help our students not only to understand the topic, but also practice applying these tips so that they are prepared for their next exam and avoid maths mistakes.
