7 Easy Hacks to Improve Your Math Skills

Here's another cool Blog post we wanted to share with everyone!

According to this mathematician's blog (//karagila.org/2019/quick-hacks/), improving your mathematical skills is as easy as:

1. Get a graduate-level degree in mathematics! 
2. Spend time, a lot of time, thinking about concepts.
3. Spend time writing proofs of things.
4. Spend less time reading about quick hacks to improve whatever. 
5. Remember that failure is part of the learning process. 
6. Teach others. 
7. Be patient. 

I often talk about a lot of these points, when it comes to understanding why some students enjoy math more than others. I believe it's important to remind our students that the beauty of mathematics "is that [it] is deductive. You can't bend the data to your will." Quick hacks (I like to think of algorithms as "hacks") exist because mathematicians in the past came to these conclusions; when we reach out to these hacks without understanding why they exist, we miss out on the beauty of this subject. "Mathematics is much slower than most sciences.... If you make it about the journey, rather than the end, you will enjoy the experience a lot more." 

Always encourage your students to think about concepts, even outside the Centre. Leave them with problems to ponder on as they leave for the day, and give them opportunities to teach others (especially our instructors!). Most importantly, as talented as Mathnasium instructors, classroom teachers, and university professors are, we all reached our levels of Mathematical Mastery by making mistakes - make sure your students know this. Tenacity is key to problem solving, and thus key to the study of mathematics. These are the real reasons why studying mathematics is important.

Sandra Zietara

Curriculum Specialist (Canada)

Mathnasium Learning Centres