Yes, it's the truth!
You can't memorize Maths! Rote learning has been deemed as "study dead books" in chinese : du si shu. Yes you can have really good memory but knowledge learnt by pure memorization doesn't get retain long enough and most importantly, it is simply a waste of time and resources since you can't really apply what you have memorized to questions unless you have completely understand the fundamentals and the linkage.
The reason for me posting this up is that I was shocked to find one math tutor with this approach
"Sec 3 start - Explanation of concepts. Solving questions by reasoning and by memorising approaches.
Sec 4 start - Memorising apporaches with the reasons told. Because no time. Concept explained only when it is necessary for reasoning "
Gosh! I was taken totally aback. All right, the only thing that O Level students need to commit to memory are some formulaes. Even if your memory isn't that great, there are many other ways for you to work around the problem!
I did a similar post on " Learning is never about memorization" my www.askalwayslovely.blogspot.com during Pre-O Levels period.
Ai Ling Ong
Hi, I'm Ai Ling Ong. I enjoy coaching students who have challenges with understanding and scoring in 'O' Level A-Maths and E-Maths. I develop Math strategies, sometimes ridiculous ideas to help students in understanding abstract concepts the fast and memorable way. I write this blog to share with you the stuff I teach in my class, the common mistakes my students made, the 'way' to think, analyze... If you have found this blog post useful, please share it with your friends. I will really appreciate it! :)
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