Today the importance of mathematics for students has never been greater. As a partner contributing to improvement of scores in mathematics, we are sharing some of the tips and tricks from different users, experts and research.
Each problem has its characteristics
When it comes to mathematics, reading and seeing someone do it is not a substitute for doing it your self. The number one tip and trick to mastering mathematics is to sharpen your pencil and take it on. Each problem is unique and has its characteristics that can only be experienced by trying it out.
Reduce Mathematics Anxiety
Other than mastering mathematics, a repeated practice reduces ‘mathematics anxiety’- a phenomena that inhibits learning when a learner perceives mathematics as a ‘battle’ rather than a friendly familiar subject. To eliminate this anxiety, and do well in mathematics, you must have solved many problems.
Deliberate Practice is leading enabler
Research including Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise, shows that deliberate practice is the leading enabler for acquiring knowledge and expertise. Continuous exposure to mathematics will build familiarity, turn concepts into informal knowledge and progressively make it possible to relate mathematics with the real-world occurrences. Whereas speed is not a common pattern for all good mathematicians, it is an added advantage that can be gained through repeated practice and continuous engagement with the subject.
Aim for Routine and consistency
Repeated practice does not imply taking life away from the child through endless hours of number crunching, it is more to do with routine and consistency. Daily or every other day practice of several math questions for about 45 minutes is a good enough. This need for routine and consistency is well facilitated by the boldungu platform because it ensures assessment, syllabus coverage, fun, and relevancy to national curriculum.
Review Concepts from Previous Session
Before each practice session, we advise that you review the concepts covered in the last session. Here boldungu becomes very handy because learners not using boldungu will just read through or practice the same questions in their books or online tools. No learner will pick a pencil to redo the exact question, so they end up assuming and with time they skip the pages.
New question all the time
Boldungu is designed to create new questions even for the same concepts while avoiding repetition. It is designed to help learners intimately engage and conquer as much mathematics as they possibly can. For mathematics, practice is about mastering concepts not redoing the same questions. To keep learners engaged, boldungu also has gifts that unwrap after every passed question which make learners to continue practicing while looking forward to new questions and gifts.
Since most learners cannot avoid mathematics, let us be friends with it.
