Reflection
This section is dedicated to explaining how and what I did in order to prepare for my first exam for Math 12, reflecting on how I did and what I could have done better to improve my score and performance. In order for me to understand what I have to study and what would potentially be on the test, I decided to look at previous quizzes as well as the homework in order to determine the important topics that might be included in the exam. It was also important to keep note of important formulas that were used consistently throughout the course to answer problems as they were likely to be on the exam. For questions or problems I did not understand how to complete I decided to turn to my cousin who is highly educated in math to guide me throughout the solving process. Outside of my cousins occasional help, I studied solo for the most part. However I believe it would have been more effective and enjoyable for me to get together with other classmate and do a group study. As for how long I studied, I only studied for a few days constantly but definitely could have prepared better in advance and take more time to thoroughly go over past assignments. I personally believe the best form of studying is to do it in increments constantly rather than cramming a bunch of information in one to two nights. Doing this allows for my brain to actually dissolve what I am learning instead of just memorizing.
The image provided above was one of the questions on the exam that I ended up doing incorrectly. I had the right idea with plugging in the 2 as x and finding out that the end result was a 0/0 so I could then factor to find my answer. However I ended up factoring wrong which lead to me getting the problem wrong. When factoring the denominator I factored out 7 when instead I should have found a better common factor which would have been 14. Through 7 I came out with (7x-4), but if I had factored 14 I would have gotten (x-2) both in the numerator and denominator. This would had allowed me to take out the (x-2) since they would have cancelled each other out and left me with 7/14 which would have been my final answer, 1/2.
After receiving my exam score I talked with some of my classmates who had the same type of exam with me to go over some of the questions I got wrong. Asked them questions on what they did if they got the question right and tried to understand my mistakes. I believe I need to give myself more time to study a bit and potentially study with other classmates as well. It would definitely help and benefit me if I talked with my teacher about some of my struggle and confusion on math problems I don't understand.
Learning Styles
Thinking back on a positive learning experience I had was during my first year in community college, this is when I experienced my favorite class. The class was a critical thinking class and involved a lot of writing. The class was organized in a very interactive manner where everyday we always discussed specific topics amongst ourselves . The topics and assignments we discussed involved conspiracy theories, political topics, etc. that really challenged me and other classmates to think. I believe the great experience I had in this class very much correlates with my learning type due to the fact that enjoyment and engagement a core part of what I decide to participate in, according to what the website says about ESFP type learners.
Another Important aspect about my learning type is that we are visual learners. It is very hard for us to understand concepts without it being visually shown to us. This is also very important when learning math since it has proven very difficult for me to understand how to do a problem just by being told how to do it. I need to see how to a problem step by step in order to actually know how it's supposed to be done. If I ever have trouble understanding something I now know the importance for me to ask the teacher to show me how the problem is done instead of just hearing how its done.
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