HOW TO GET AN 'A' IN MATH !
by Professor Jack Weiner
1) After class, DON'T do your homework! Instead, read over your class notes. When you come to an example done in class...
2) DON'T read the example. Copy out the question, set your notes aside, and do the question yourself. Maybe you will get stuck.Even if you thought you understood the example completely when the teacher went over it in class, you may get stuck.
And this is GOOD NEWS! Now, you know what you don't know. So, consult your notes, look in the text, see your teacher/professor. Do whatever is necessary to figure out the steps in the example that troubled you.
Once you have sweated through the example, DO IT AGAIN! And again. Do it as often as you need so that it becomes, if not easy, then at least straightforward. Make sure you not only understand each line in the solution, but why each line is needed for the solution.
In part, you have memorized the solution. More importantly, you have made the subtleties of the problem unsubtle!
This is the great equalizer step. If your math or science aptitude is strong, then maybe you will have the example down pat after doing it twice. If not so strong, you may have to do it several times. But after you have done this for every class example...
3) DO YOUR HOMEWORK!
If you follow this method and if the teacher chose the examples well, then most of the homework questions will relate easily back to problems done in class and the rest should extend or synthesize the ideas behind those problems.
Guess what you'll find on 80% or more of your tests and exams? The same kinds of problems! And you will have your “A”. Good luck, although if you use this method, luck will have nothing to do with your INEVITABLE success.
SOURCE: http://www.uoguelph.ca/~jweiner/geta.html
Professor Jack Weiner, University of Guelph