Despite the presence of mathematics in the daily lives of most of us, it remains the most complained about subject and a source of serious stress for many. Most lives, be it a cook or a farmer, a carpenter or a mechanic, a shopkeeper or a doctor, an engineer or a scientist, a musician or a magician can be stress free in their day-to-day life if mathematics is well understood and utilized. In this article we share with the boldungu users how to help their learners improve scores and build confidence.
Below are some of the tips and tricks to maximize the benefits by working through the process for each problem:-
Reread some sentences
Avoid the temptation to start answering after reading the question once. Read and read it again to be sure you completely understand what the question is asking for. The aim of rereading some sentences is to confirm that you have fully understood the question. Do not be quick to conclude that it is identical to the one you have seen before. That is why at boldungu, we make available all sorts of questions in some cases with slight but significant variations to ensure the learners is in the habit of understanding the question before putting pen to paper.
Underline some important data in the text
Once you have read the question, it is important to underline some important data. Do not just underline numbers and value, there are words such as more, less, altogether, and others from the math vocabulary such as round off, power of, exponents that must be underlined. The trick with underlining is that it keeps you focused and serves as basis to verify your result.
Make a plan
For longer problems, a detailed plan is needed, for some just pointing to specific method or approach is enough. At boldungu we relate each problem to specific methods and the reasoning behind.
Divide the problem into subtasks before solving it
This goes in hand with the plan. Larger problems need to be divided in subtask. In some cases there is need for intermediate results before the final results. This will help you to understand the problem before the solution
Interpret the result before congratulating yourself.
Does your answer make sense? This must be in relation to important data underlined above. Is the answer expected to be smaller than one of the data provided? For instance when adding, we expect the final result to be bigger. Before congratulating yourself, you must check the answer if it is approximately correct.
