Month: August 2018

Studying Math: Want a Challenge?

Many students who write to us are involved in math competitions. They don’t always say that explicitly, but we can tell when the problems they ask about may be far beyond ordinary homework, requiring deeper problem-solving skills. The three questions I’ll look at today are from students asking how to prepare for these competitions, or …

Studying Math: Some Suggestions

Last time, we looked at some discussions we’ve had about motivation to study math. We’ve also had a few questions asking for help with study skills, and some of those answers, too, can be found in our archive. Let’s take a look.

Studying Math: Get Motivated!

As fall approaches, and the beginning of a new school year for many, let’s take a look at some of our past discussions of how to study math. We’ll start with some perspectives on being motivated to study, since you are not likely to do well if you hate math (as so many students tell …

What is Multiplication … Really?

I want to close out this series on multiplication with a very different kind of question. We have seen that multiplication of natural numbers can be modeled as a repeated sum of the multiplicand, taken the number of times indicated by the multiplier; and that the terms “multiplier” and “multiplicand” reflect only this model, not …