This year, I registered myself as a private candidate to take O-Level Additional & Elementary Maths papers which happened two weeks ago. I will discuss more of my experience in another post.
One point after doing the papers I realize was: Cambridge is still testing candidates on basic concepts for most of the questions. There are 1-2 atypical questions but if you are clear with your basics, it takes only slightly longer thinking time to solve the problem.
All students should have received their end of year examinations results already and two of the most common reasons why students don't do well in their Maths examinations:
- Carelessness
- Lack of practice
Does it sound familiar to you?
Many times, when I reviewed the examination papers, I found that it wasn't just careless mistakes but lack of basic concepts in solving the questions. Reducing careless mistakes can be easily achieved through strategies; I applied these "no more careless mistakes" strategies in my O-Level papers as well.
However, lack of basic concepts requires more work. I always share with my students the correct way of studying for O-Level Maths would be
- Understand the basics concepts for each topic
- Practice questions of varying challenge level, starting from basics.
- Review the answers and understand what goes right and what goes wrong
- Repeat step 2 and 3, with intermediate level questions
- Repeat step 2 and 3, with advance level questions
There's no shortcut in doing well in O-Level Maths. It's simply "Understand, Practice, Review" (UPR).
It has proven to be effective for myself, my students and I'm sure it could work for your child too.
It's possible to be achieved by a student with discipline and desire to improve himself but many students who aren't doing well in O-Level Maths aren't motivated to even flip open their notes or textbook, just like my students who first joined me.
If you need a programme to get your child started on his revision for O-Level Maths, this holidays I'll be conducting Topical Revision Workshops for O-Level A-Maths & E-Maths for students sitting for O-Levels in 2014,
For more details, click here.
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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