TheKracken said:
This was sort of why I was asking Nano..As i Wasn't sure what my plan of action would be. But, what I was thinking was basically just read the chapter and at the end of every section there are review problems and I would just do most of the odd problems for practice as the answers are in the back. I would do this pretty much whenever I have time so about 4 days a week for a few hours each time, and I have a teacher I can go to if I get extreemly stuck. The Book I'm using is Calculus 6th edition by larson, hostertler, and edwards...it seems decent, but If you have a different recomendation go right ahead,m I'm just barrowing this from the school.
You mean 5th edition right? It is the latest, and the one I have. I'll try to break it down to what would be helpful for you..
1) Read the chapter slowly! Math shouldn't be read like biology, and in calculus you will be introduced to several new concepts.
2) Try to get a very good understanding of the concepts introduced to you. You can use other materials, and in fact, it would be recommended if you have another book to supplement your study with in case you get stuck.
3) You can take notes on the chapter, this forces you to read it slowly and really think about the theorems at hand.
4) Make sure you understand the theorems to be presented, as per axioms in algebra, you will use these to solve all the problems that ensue.
5) Do the proofs! Why not? You will get an appreciation for the mathematics and it will actually help you with the problems because you will understand why things are the way they are. If you understand why, everything follows really easily. I can see this in my class, where it is really obvious they have a superficial understanding because they will get questions wrong that I would contend are really easy.
6) Do lots of practice problems, but do it in a way that you should only do what you think would challenge you. If you see the basic concepts repeated over and over in the problems, and you see that it is way too easy, then look for something a bit different. For example, if they introduce something you think might trick you.
7) Do word problems! They will challenge your intimacy with the concepts that were introduced. Plus, they will likely be on future tests.
8) Work out some of the proofs in the problem sets, they are fun. Make sure you look up a few proofs first so you can get the feel for how to tackle them, unless you are already familiar.
9) Be careful when you work out the problems, sometimes you will be prone to silly algebraic mistakes when you go too fast.
10) Use cramster! <-- Invaluable tool for success. ;) Use it if you get things wrong, it will help pinpoint your mistake/loophole in your understanding.
That is about it, hope it helped. ^.^ I picked up a lot of these things through many wasted hours and trial and error.
