I normally will start off with explaining the concepts for every topic. Well some students may find that a waste of time. If that is the case, you have to let me know and I will skip all these and go right into the worksheets or tutorials. However if you have problems answering the basic questions in the school worksheets or tutorials, it just shows that you lack the understanding of the concepts. Maths is a subject which requires understanding and applications of concepts , so it is very important that you understand what is taught in class before attempting the questions. It will even be a waste of time if you just keep on doing the questions and realise at the end of the day that you have not fully understood the topic. The standard of O level and A level Maths is not very high if you were to ask for my opinions. In fact, it has been deteriorating these few years with the use of the graphic calculator in A level Maths.
The grade of the student reflects how well he or she has understood the topic. The following serves as a guide for A level students. If you have obtained a borderline A(70-75) , I would say you do not need much help except that you just need more practice and you have to polish up on your speed. After all, exam is a race with time limits. You may understood everything but just are not fast enough to finish all the questions or you lost your marks because of all the so called stupid careless mistakes. Do not be surprised that careless mistakes could add up to 20 marks. I will normally give the students with lots of past year exam papers to drill up on the speed. For A level Maths, it is a 3 hour paper so you must have the stamina to go though the 3 hour paper. The time duration is definitely more than enough, in fact there shouldn't be a problem in finishing the paper in 2 and half hours.
If you are a B or C grader(60 to 69), your weaknesses lie mainly in speed, ability to answer more difficult questions and of course careless mistakes again. In a maths question, especially those of the higher level(Sec 3 to JC 2), there is always the last part which is the so called killer question. It may ask you to deduce or show some results from the previous parts. This is where the students lost the marks. Imagine you lost 4 marks for every question because of this, you would lost about 30 to 40 marks for the whole paper.
If you are a D or E grader(45 to 59), most probably, you have not even understood the basic concepts or you do not know how to apply those concepts in solving the problems. Intensive practice and drilling is the only way to improve. You have to know that maths exams test your knowledge in understanding and applications ofconcepts. Memorising formulas will not help if you do not know what the question wants. So you may need to revise the whole topic all over again. Make sure you understand(not just memorise) the methods of solving different kinds of questions.
Lastly if you have got a S ou U(less than 45), you have to work very hard. There is no other short cuts for you, sad to say. IQ is not a main factor in doing well in maths. I do not believe that a student needs to have high IQ to score well in maths. In fact, some smart students perform badly in exams. Attitude and time management are very important. If you have CCA activities 3 to 4 times or even EVERYDAY a week, please do something about it because no one else can help you except you yourself. You have to change your attitude and your studying methods. It may work when you were in PSLE but not in O level or A level.
Monday, June 1, 2009
My Profile
Name : Kho Thong Liang
Date of Birth: 29 Oct 1973
Contact No: 94775709
Status: Full Time Maths Tutor
Qualifications: B.Sc.(Hons) in Mathematics(NUS), majoring in Applied Mathematics,
Masters of Engineering by Research(NUS), majoring in Fluid Mechanics
Tutoring Experience: from July 1998
Subjects Taught: H2 Maths(JC1 and 2), E Maths(Sec 1 to 4), A Maths(Sec 3 and 4),
IP Maths(Sec 1 to JC2), IB Maths(Year 1 to Year 6)
JC Students taught in the past 10 years from RJC, HCI, VJC, TJC, NJC, ACJC, SAJC, CJC, JJC, PJC, MJC
Students Taught in IP and IB from RI, RGS, NYGH, HCI, DHS, ACSI
Date of Birth: 29 Oct 1973
Contact No: 94775709
Status: Full Time Maths Tutor
Qualifications: B.Sc.(Hons) in Mathematics(NUS), majoring in Applied Mathematics,
Masters of Engineering by Research(NUS), majoring in Fluid Mechanics
Tutoring Experience: from July 1998
Subjects Taught: H2 Maths(JC1 and 2), E Maths(Sec 1 to 4), A Maths(Sec 3 and 4),
IP Maths(Sec 1 to JC2), IB Maths(Year 1 to Year 6)
JC Students taught in the past 10 years from RJC, HCI, VJC, TJC, NJC, ACJC, SAJC, CJC, JJC, PJC, MJC
Students Taught in IP and IB from RI, RGS, NYGH, HCI, DHS, ACSI
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