Q&A: A Wise Man's Advice
A Wise Man's Advice
Question
I am currently studying Calculus 1 at the Open University.
I have difficulty solving some of the exercises, for example those that appear immediately after the explanation of a certain topic. Another example is those that require proving a claim that appeared in the book. So I peek at the solution, try to understand it, and reproduce it several times in writing (using memory, unfortunately).
Do you think this is okay? Otherwise, I might get stuck wasting valuable time trying obsessively to solve exercises.
Thank you
Answer
I didn’t understand the question. Is it forbidden to peek in the book? If it’s forbidden, then it’s forbidden. Alternatively, tell the teaching assistant or the lecturer that you’re peeking.
Discussion on Answer
I don’t know how to give general advice. Each person according to his own tendencies and learning style. But as a rule, for the overwhelming majority of students, the lecture alone is not enough to solve exercises. You also need practice, meaning that they solve exercises with them as examples. It seems to me that this is what you’re doing, and it seems perfectly fine to me.
Benjamin,
I took the course at the Hebrew University, and at the time the lecturer said that it was allowed to consult with friends and even read their full solution and submit it under your own name, provided that you write the solution yourself from memory and don’t copy it from the page.
From my personal experience, at the beginning most students find it hard to solve things on their own (and that’s okay), but there’s a point in the middle of the course when suddenly things click and you manage to solve them by yourself.
Good luck
Thank you very much
Sorry, I really didn’t explain myself well.
The exercises I was talking about are exercises from the book, whose solutions are at the end of the book. It’s permitted to peek at the solutions in order to verify whether a solution done by the reader is correct. And in general it seems to me that it’s allowed, but preferable to try to deal with the question first.
I feel frustrated that the exercises are supposed to be solvable for someone who has read what was written before (I have no idea what happens with the other readers), but for me, for example, I need to look at the solution to the first exercise in order to understand how to approach the next one.
I look at the solutions more in order to understand how to express a solution in mathematical form (or understand the mathematical language). I can understand what is being done, but not remember how to do it. I found that the method I’m using, which I mentioned at the beginning of the question [“I peek at the solution, try to understand it, and reproduce it several times in writing (using memory, unfortunately)”] helps me, but I’m worried that because of this I won’t succeed in the long run.
From your rich experience in education, do you think this method is a valid way to understand what is being studied?
Thanks again.