The start of a new year seems like a good time to take a look at the big picture. A question from September raises a big topic: What is mathematics, in general? What does all math – arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, calculus, and beyond – have in common?
Having recently tutored a number of students through their finals, and given a lot of the same advice repeatedly, this seems like a good time to share a couple recent questions on how to approach learning and doing math. We’ll see one student who wants to stop making mistakes, and another who needs to learn …
As many schools get into a new semester, this may be a good time to take a look at ways to use our service as effectively as possible.
(An archive question of the week) I’m going to do something unusual, and post a discussion that was never archived. I ran across it while searching for the original of an archived discussion to check something, and this one stood out as worth posting around the start of the school year. It’s a question from …
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 …
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.
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 …
From time to time, a student will write to us asking for advice on studying, rather than on math itself. As either successful students, or teachers, or (quite often) as adults who recall overcoming difficulties in the past, we have some good advice to offer. Today, I want to look at three answers, by three …