How to Get Better at Math
We have all heard people say: “I’m not good at math.” They say it as if they were talking about a physical condition, the way they might say, “I’m not tall”.
But being bad at math isn’t a physical condition. I’ve taught remedial algebra at a community college and I’ve taught science courses for non-science majors, and–in almost every case–the the problem has been gaps in the student’s background.
So how do you close those gaps and learn how to get better at math? First, it helps to know that math is sequential, which simply means it builds on what you learned before. You have to be able to count before you can learn to add. You have to understand addition before you can understand multiplication. And so on.
If you never learned to work with fractions when they were just numbers, you are going to have trouble with fractions that have algebraic expressions in them.
These knowledge gaps can exist for many reasons. Maybe you missed school for a while. Maybe you had a teacher who didn’t explain the topic very well, or maybe the teaching style wasn’t one that resonated with your learning style. Maybe you switched schools and the new class had already covered things the old class hadn’t done yet. Heck, maybe you were a bit of a goof-off in the third grade; a lot of eight-year-olds are!
This “why” doesn’t really matter. What matters is that you can do something about it.
Before I talk about how to fill in the gaps, I want to explain why it is important to fill educational gaps: they compound. If you didn’t understand or acquire a basic concept or skill, but are to push forward without closing the gap first anyway, you won’t be able to master the new skills that build on the old ones. Instead, your learning gaps will increase.
You see, learning is sort of like playing Jenga, a game in which you build a tower out of blocks. Players take turns removing a block from the tower and placing it at the top. The point is to do it without making the tower fall down.
When there are just a few gaps, the tower can still be stable and you can still make it taller by adding blocks at the top. This is sort of like missing a few days of school and catching up what you missed when you come back. However, there are too many gaps, the whole tower will just … collapse.
If parts of your math background are weak, don’t feel bad. This is just a diagnosis, not a criticism of you. Remember that doctors diagnose illness not to put you down, but so they will know how to help you get well. Similarly, knowing what the problem is in schoolwork is your first step toward fixing it.
So, how do you get really good at math?
To get great at math, your best bet is to try working with a free math tutor who can help you find and identify your individual learning gaps. Start with the problem you’re stuck on, and a tutor can help you work backwards to figure out the source of your math troubles.
So,when you ask for help with a math problem on UPchieve, and your coach wants to take you on a detour to review something from an earlier course or earlier topic, don’t fight it. The coach isn’t ignoring the problem at hand; they are trying to give you the tools you need to solve it.
Of course, this works better if you don’t wait until 15 minutes before the assignment is due to ask for help. But even if you are in a hurry, try to remember that the point of a homework problem isn’t the answer; the point is to understand how to find the answer so you can solve a similar problem on the test.
And if you want to get better at math and feel better about math, plan to devote some timeto filling in gaps over summer break. Working on closing learning gaps is a great summer goal for a high school student, and there are plenty of free educational websites out there for students to help guide you.
For example, Kahn Academy is well set up to help you. It’s completely free, and includes math courses from lower grades through high school, so you can start where you need to.
Each course includes a course challenge, which is a 30 question test on the topics in the course. After each question, the program tells you whether your answer is correct. If it’s not, you have the option of clicking on “Get Help” which gives you the solution to the problem and also a list of the topics in the course that you should review.
I recommend that you think back to when you first started to feel that you weren’t good at math. Go to the course before that one and take the course challenge (scroll past all the topics in the course to get to the challenge) Make a note of the topics that you need to review, and go through the lessons on just those topics. When you want to talk to someone, bring your questions to UPchieve.
Why? If you combine a free learning platform with free online tutoring, you’ll be a math master in no time!
When you finish the topics you need in one course, move up to the next until you get to the course you are taking now. By taking the challenge in each course first, you will avoid spending a lot of time on things you already know well.
Final Thoughts on How You Can Get Better at Math
Of course, in math–just as in basketball music or anything else that people need to learn to do–some people will seem to learn some subjects more easily than others. But so what?
Just because you have to work a little harder at math doesn’t mean you can’t do it. And working to fill gaps in your background will make future math courses easier.
Ready to get started? Sign up to start working with a tutor in as little as five minutes!