How should we do the review?

by **Guest** Wed Oct 08, 2008 12:13 pm

Are we supposed to follow the 10 steps to review immediately after each wrong answer? Won't that take time?

by **StaceyKoprince** Thu Oct 09, 2008 4:00 pm

It takes a lot of time. And that time is when you get better. Just doing a problem itself doesn't make you much better. What makes you better is all of the thought and analysis that goes into the ten questions. It's no different than learning an instrument or sport - you don't just play one song and then move on to another one and then another and so on. You go back over that first song and think: hmm, do I have my fingers placed the right way on the instrument? And what does this symbol over here mean? Oh, I see, when I see that symbol in general, I better get ready to move my fingers up the keyboard! (or whatever) You learn how to play in general, not just how to play that one song.

That's what the "10 questions" will help you do: learn how to take the test in general, not just how to do that particular problem. You're not going to see that particular problem on the test anyway. But you might see one like it - and if you learned how to think about the test in general, then you can actually answer that similar-but-not-the-same problem in the future.

Also, don't do this just on the ones you get wrong. Do it on EVERY problem. In particular, it's easier to learn shortcuts, spot traps, and make educated guesses on problems you get right. Then you apply those lessons to harder problems of the same type, sub-type, or content area.

I can easily spend 2-5 times as much time going over a problem as I spend doing the problem in the first place. At first, it will take you longer but, as you learn how to analyze this stuff, you'll get better / more efficient.