Understanding and Memorizing
Posted by Jonathan Ng | Filed under Personal
My exams are round the corner, and as usual, I’m making doing my last minute preperations. This semester, I’m taking a module/subject known as “Probability and Statistics”. No doubt I’m having some trouble getting the hang of it… as the notes given by the lecturer… isn’t really a huge amount… after all, they’re just notes.
Some say stats is very easy… either they’re real smart, or they do what most Malaysian students do - memorize the formula and steps. Some give the excuse that since it’s not exactly a “core” subject, so who cares… just get an A for the damn test and forget ’bout it. But then again, mathematics is undoubtedly important, in whatever field you’re in.
What about me? What’s my “style” of studying? Well, it’s sad to say that I too, memorize to some extent. Who is it to blame? The Malaysian education system/culture? Or is it really true that one does not need to plough through tons of text over topics you’re studying, to get to the very bottom of that topic?
Of course I do believe in striking a balance between pure memorization and getting to the very bottom of the.. erm.. theorem for example. What I do is I try to at least understand the notes given by the lecturer. I assume that if I could answer the questions in the exercices or pass year questions, that would be considered as “I’ve got sufficient understanding of the topic and can succesfully apply my knowledge”. But, come to think of it.. it might seem like I’m in actual fact, relating the questions to examples/sample answers I’ve covered in the notes, and just answering the question based on my memory and rough undrestanding of the examples.
So what do you think? Is the local education system to blame? Do students really need to get to the very bottom of whatever topic that they’re studying? Or just have a “rough understanding” of their notes?
note: this post also serves as a experimental post, as I try out worpress
Tags: rants
