paying attention

Fourthly, from my experience attending college for nearly fifteen years and tutoring students from almost every state university or college in the country and some in other countries, the questions the professors solve during lectures are the questions that will be on the exams.

Professors are always dumbfounded by how bad students do on exams, considering they gave all the solutions to every problem in detail with all the tips and tricks directly to the students in the lecture. (This is—in general—mostly true.)

Fifthly, “Tips & Tricks.”

Oh, how it pains me to tutor a student and explain the tiny little trick that turns a mountain into an ant hill, only for them to not believe me because they didn’t already know it. I ask them to get the notes from class (if they have them) only to be able to instantly show them the trick the professor explicitly explained in class. Ignorance, arrogance, and defiance are your enemy in math. Just assume you know nothing; it will be easier this way.

So, what do I mean by “tips & tricks?” There are always easier approaches to questions. Generally, these tricks are required to solve some problems as you would not learn how to solve them from the raw until your upper-division junior, senior, or graduate-level courses. They are often hidden in the question banks, not in writing, or they are given in lectures. Without them, you will not be able to answer many exam questions. So, attend lecture, pay attention, and copy every question and solution. It will pay off!

i. paying attention

Paying attention? What an odd thing to say. Why would anyone pay attention when they don’t get anything out of a lecture?

I have the most challenging time paying attention if I have to write notes down, so I don’t take notes—I just pay attention. Some people are the opposite. You have to figure yourself out.

I will say- It is a heck of a lot easier to pay attention if you prepped yourself on the section before the lecture. Wow, is it easier? Even fun because you’ll be the only one in the class that can answer any of the questions the professor asks. Have you ever been in class, and the professor asks, “Can anyone answer this?” And no one can? How could they? They didn’t read the book or lecture notes or do any research on the topic.

Regardless, the BIGGEST reason to pay attention is because of ‘the tricks’ and ‘unique questions.’ Tricks to solve otherwise unsolvable problems at your level can only be learned in lectures or by doing research. Questions on the exams that are not in the textbooks can only be recorded in lectures.