This Will Make You Better at Math Tests, But You Probably are Not Doing It

In this video I talk about something that will help you do better on math tests, immediately. This is something that people don't really talk about and something I always focused on. I had a friend who didn't have this and he ended up focusing on this and ended up doing awesome. What do you think? Do you focus on this one thing? Leave any comments or questions below.

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[ryanang]

My theory has always been: we don't practice to learn, we practice for familiarlity AND speed.

[Christian-enlk]

“The key is speed”
Me: I already tried that
“And I don’t mean drugs”
Me: oh never mind

[jamaalbuki]

Your totally right, without speed I would never have been able to study real analysis. I’m so glad I had a really good dealer during university.

[tekperson]

I graduated college almost 40 years ago. I was one of the slow but good folks. I realized fairly quickly that the test results didn't represent my actual knowledge of the material well. So, I gave up worrying about the test score (other than pass/fail) and focused on understanding the material. My grades were okay, and I was able to get a great job. Turns out, when you are an engineer in the workplace, folks care about what you know and how well you can apply that knowledge to new problems. You aren't given an insanely short time window to solve a problem in the real world. My youngest is in college right now. He is also one of those kids whose tests are poor indicators of understanding. He just had an internship this summer and was surprised to find out he was a star in the workplace. And his workplace really didn't care if he had a 4.0; what they cared about is that you could actually apply his knowledge and was continuing to learn. If students fail tests because they aren't fast enough, maybe the problem isn't the student.

[pisulolol]

me, a procastinator: *saves this video to watch later*

[chinter]

I'd definitely counter this with a navy seal saying: "Slow is smooth, smooth is fast." Performance arts that require a lot of technical skill and perfection like playing the piano require a ton of slow practice before picking up speed. The goal should really not be speed in its own end, but smoothness and flow. When you get that flow, you use less energy while going fast, which is critical in long tests

[oneoveronethirtyseven]

As a math instructor myself, this video just deflates me. The fact that your advice is correct just goes to show how little most math courses succeed in actually teaching mathematics. There should be absolutely no situation where a student who understands the concepts fails an exam because they are not fast enough. Often times instructors focus so much on timed exams that students come to the conclusion math is about following mysterious rules and algorithms as quickly as you can. True understanding of what's going on under the hood becomes secondary.

[RuyVuusen]

Remember: speed is important but hastiness only leads to mistakes. You should improve your base operational pace and not your rush speed. Ideally, you should also learn to adjust your speed according to the time constraints and problem difficulty, without going overboard on either side. Regardless of your speed, you should be able to think clear and without shortcuts (doesn't mean using shortcuts—mentally or otherwise—is bad, just that you should at the very least be able to clearly grasp what you are cutting short so you don't end up jumping over necessary steps).

[agumonkey]

speed is a neurological metaphor for memory, when you go fast your brain can tap into instantaneous memory. Whenever you fall off that mode of operation you get into slow / bookmarked thinking, which is good too but different. Waving between the two is key IMO.

[CrystalClearMaths]

So glad to see another mathematician recommend speed training for students. I discovered this principle at the beginning of my third year of high school and my results improved dramatically within months. The key was lots of mental drill work with basic skills ... like numerical calculations with integers, fractions, percentages, radicals, indices, logarithms, etc. as well as expanding binomial products and factorising quadratic expressions, completing squares, etc. In fact, there were many skills that I tried to practise mentally so that I could perform most such operations in my head within ten seconds. It paid off in a huge way. In my first state-wide mathematics test, I completed the two hour paper in 40 minutes (including showing all working). As The Math Sorcerer says, I was able to 'redo' the paper a number of times to check each answer.
Tests are a speed trial. No one trains for a track even by simply jogging slowly. All top athletes include pace work and interval work in their training. Good mathematics students will approach their own mental training in the same way.
Listen to this man. He is full of wisdom and practical advice about 'doing' mathematics.

[molluskweddin]

Speed ruined math for me. Timed tests in elementary school frustrated me and caused me to just quit trying to understand math. I barely passed (and often failed) math for the rest of my school career. I recently went back to college and I need two math credits, so I’m back to teaching myself math all over again from multiplication forward. Maybe I’ll get faster eventually, but for now I need to take my time with problems so that I’ll actually understand them.

[TechPonder]

I know he's a genius by how wide his eyes are opened

[The_DCR]

Speed makes me hate math.

When I'm given adequate time to work through the problem, I often find myself actually enjoying the process.

Trying to speed up just stresses me out and ruins any semblance of joy I get from mathematics. Timed tests SUCK.

[AM-cwtf]

Watch this 2x the speed It’s quite terrifying, SPEED INDEED.

[fluffurbia]

Brian Greene - the theoretical physicist - has said that he lets his students take as long as they want in tests - and he asks very challenging questions to test depth of understanding and perseverance.

Coincidentally, I came across a mathematician saying the following yesterday:

‘It’s good to be quick but it’s more important to be deep.’

So, yes, when it comes to conventional timed tests covering basic material, it clearly helps to be speedy. But there are excellent mathematicians working in research who are s-l-o-w and reflective - and who actually weren't that great at doing exams against the clock.

[marcovalentinoalvarado]

For the love of God. I'm subscribed. This is not just motivational, also useful!

[Stolid]

Hey, I truly agree with what you said. I really want to thank you, because I've managed to turn things around in my life since you released the "How to Learn Math from Start to Finish" video. Heck, I even went up to the nationals in my country's Math Olympiad selections (didn't make it past that, now I'm out of school and the chance is gone, but I've learnt a lot). And I'm extremely indebted to you and Mr.Grant from 3Blue1Brown for making me understand the joys and beauty of math. Thank you, again, very sincerely, Mr. Sorcerer.

[raneemzaki]

you’re amazing i’m grateful i’m able to watch you

[chandalir]

This makes so much sense. I just fail a arithmetic because I was going slow and was running out of time. So I rush the test and failed. I was wondering how I failed it was so simple. But I was moving slow and the teacher walk in told me I hold only 20 mins left I got scared because I had a lot questions and started rushing and fail. I have a retake this week. Thanks this made so much sense. I definitely practice this.

[klekaelly]

I am a software developer and happen to be taking Calculus again. I absolutely agree with what you said. In software, it takes me hours to learn how to do something, but once I know it, I can do it fast. With math it is the same way, it's going to be dead slow at first but after lots of time you start to benefit.