work slow or fast? (1 Viewer)

[ninetypercent]

I make many many silly mistakes in Maths when I work fast. During Year 11, I had around 1 hour left to check for my Half Yearly and Yearly but despite that, I still made 10+ silly mistakes.
I worked slow for my first common test in Year11 and as a consequence, I wasn't able to finish the exam. I lost 10+ marks because I didn't get to finish it and i wasn't able to check my work (silly mistakes).

so should I work fast or slow from now on?

 

[clintmyster]

tbh I had a similar problem in that I never ever got 100% in a yr11/12 test. What was more heartbreaking was losing a whole mark for not putting a "+C" and ending up getting 99%. IMO not finishing the paper is a lot more disheartening then silly mistakes. They happen. Despite what other people say, sometimes they're unavoidable when you are rushed for time. What you should do though is start to make a list of what silly mistakes you tend to make. For me, I always had rounding errors (like didn't read the question), copying the question down wrong (for like integration). The hardest to fine is algebraic errors because when your reading through 10+ lines of working, your mind may skip something.

A good technique though is to get into the habit of writing neatly so you can quickly go through your solution. Try to work down the page and limit your working across so when you read your working, it seems more logical. Other than that, that's about all I can say. Silly mistakes are a bitch.

 

[ninetypercent]

so maybe i should work fast rather than slow because I know that I will still make silly mistakes if I work slow. I think I would rather have 1 hour left to look for silly mistakes than not finish the exam and not look over it.

 

[shady145]

practie scanning your work while writing it, go at a medium pace

 

[clintmyster]

one thing I didn't mention is that its easier to somewhat remove more silly mistakes if you do more practice papers. The more you do, the earlier you can identify trends in your silly mistakes and then hopefully rectify them.

 

[ninetypercent]

lol but i don't mark the past papers that i do and I don't do them under exam conditions. maybe I should start doing that

 

[GUSSSSSSSSSSSSS]

lol but i don't mark the past papers that i do and I don't do them under exam conditions. maybe I should start doing that

well there's a suggestion !! lol


and btw if when u work fast u have 1+ hr to spare, but when u work slow u run out of time, take the "goldilocks" approach (lol) and find the working pace that's "just right", you've got the entire summer holidays to find the working speed that will work perfectly for you!!!