How to Get Better at Math: 9 Great Tips
Math has a reputation for being difficult to understand. It can even be a source of panic and dread for some students with math anxiety. All too often, however, math anxiety is the result of a lack of self-belief rather than a lack of mathematical ability.
Of course, you’ll need to put in the work if you want to know how to get better at math. Research shows that math ability is the result of intense practice rather than some innate skill, so there’s no reason to think that you can’t get better at math too.
Want to know how to master math? Keep reading to find out the top tips.
Ask Questions in Class
It’s hard to get better at math if you still have unanswered questions whirling around your head after class.
Make a point of asking the teacher those questions when you have the chance in class. Vocalizing these doubts will help you, your classmates, and your teacher. There’s a good chance that other students are wondering the same as you. And by letting the teacher know that something isn’t clear, you give them the chance to further explain a complicated or confusing topic.
Always make sure to write down the answers your teacher gives too. These notes will guide your understanding when you’re studying alone at home.
Master Each Topic Before Moving On
Math courses follow a specific sequence, with each new concept building on the last. If you get stuck and try to skip ahead, you’re only going to get more confused and frustrated.
It might be boring, but you need to master a specific topic before moving onto the next. Read and reread your book, find new books, check out YouTube tutorials, ask classmates, and ask your teacher. But whatever you do, make sure you understand the problems in front of you before turning the page.
Learn from Your Mistakes
Don’t gloss over mistakes or let them go. Math isn’t subjective so getting less than top marks on a test or homework means you’ve made mistakes you must learn from and fix. Go back, ask for clarification, and do further research until you know where you went wrong and how to avoid repeating the same mistake.
Study Better
A large part of learning how to master math is improving your study skills.
When you’re doing your homework or studying, make sure your environment is free from distractions. Silence your cell phone and place it face down on the table, turn off the TV, and avoid listening to music. You should also clear your desk of everything except your textbook and calculator.
This distraction-free environment will then make it easier to focus as you work to get better at math. To do this you’ll need to make the most of your study time by reading through your notes and completing all your homework, as well as working on more difficult problems for further clarification.
Help Others to Help Yourself
Learning how to get better at math is an ongoing and often non-linear process. There may be topics you find easy while some problems will leave you stumped. You can also bet that things you understand will seem impossible for a classmate, and vice versa.
Where possible, try to help classmates who are struggling with topics you have a good grasp of. Not only is helping them the right thing to do, rephrasing and explaining a problem will help consolidate your own knowledge. Through this, you’ll also gain a better understanding of potential stumbling blocks and how to overcome them in the future.
Get a Tutor
There may be times when your classmates and even your teacher are unable to help you understand certain math topics and problems. This is when it can be helpful to connect with online math tutors.
As well as providing one-on-one guidance, tutors can bring new techniques and learning methods to the table. What’s more, they often have a knack for making the process of learning how to do math problems much more approachable.
Break Down Complex Problems
Math can sometimes seem intimidating, especially when it comes to complex algebra problems. But often, even the most complicated math equations are nothing more than a series of simpler component steps. Once you identify these steps and how to solve them, you’ll soon find the answer to the larger problem.
Understand What the Calculator Does
If your goal is to learn how to become better at math, you can’t continue blindly trusting your calculator’s answers. After all, they’re still subject to human error, meaning that one wrong key could give you a completely incorrect answer.
While you may not be as fast as a calculator, you should be able to come up with a ballpark figure as an answer to any math problem. This will help you gain accuracy and speed with simpler calculations, and you’ll also be in a better position to check if the calculator is right.
Apply Math to the Real World
Math can sometimes feel too abstract to be relevant to life outside the classroom. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. From measuring out cake ingredients to managing finances, we all use math every day.
If you’re struggling to get a grip on an abstract math problem, try turning it into a real-world example. As one famous Brazilian study showed, children were far better at performing self-taught street mathematics than they were at answering the same problems presented in an abstract form.
Not only will finding real-world applications help you get better at math, but you’ll also see how vital math skills are to our everyday lives.
You Can Do It!
If you wanted a quick and easy solution to show you how to get better at math, the truth is, there isn’t one. It’s going to take a lot of hard work and focus to get better at math.
But the good news is, once you start putting in that extra effort, the improvements in both your understanding and in your grades will make it all worth it.
