Multiply And Conquer

So, you're stuck. Probably bored too, you've been working on this problem for a while now. You've tried everything, but nothing seems to be helping. What can you do?

How about phoning a friend?

Chances are you know most of the people in your class fairly well. I'm sure that several of them would have got stuck on the same question as you, and several more may have worked out the solution (the rest haven't been doing their homework, tut tut!). I'll bet there are a few people out of the group who have solved it who are really good at explaining things, and then out of them there is maybe a couple who have the time to walk you through it. So why don't you ask them to?

If you've got to this point and you HAVEN'T just contacted one of these people, then obviously something is holding you back. Why is this? Perhaps you don't know the person that well. Perhaps you have some other reason. But trust me, if you reach out to this person, only good can come of it. I'll explain:

George lifts his head from the table for the tenth time and stares blankly at question 12. He glances at the clock, minutes are passing like hours. 'That's it', he thinks, 'I've had enough. Facebook o'clock.' Scrolling through his page he sees Ashwin is online. 'Why didn't I think of messaging him earlier? He's the smartest guy in school!' He sends a message:

'Hey man, how's it going? Struggling with question 12 on page 173. Have you done it?'

Ashwin messages back: 'Let me find it. Yea, it was tricky. Do you need a hand?'

'Wow, that was fast!' George thinks to himself. Ashwin and George work through the problem together, and in 5 minutes everything is clear. George's mental block is gone and he's busy churning away at the questions.

The next day, Ashwin can't solve one of HIS questions. However, during class that day, he had noticed that George had been quick to answer the teacher's problems on the board, and he suspected that he had some kind of system. Ashwin hadn't had time to ask about it in class, but now that he was stuck he might as well. Sure enough, George is online. He's very happy to be able to return the favour of yesterday, and show's him the system he devised and uses Ashwin's problem as an example. Satisfied, they both went back to work.

So now, whenever either of them have a problem, they can just message the other and get it all sorted out! EXCEPT: what if neither of them can solve it? Bring in Kim.

Kim was happily blasting through her math study, when she gets invited into a group conversation with Ashwin and George, two of her classmates. She smiles to herself: they probably need help.

G: Kim! How's it going? Your hair looked nice today!
K: …what do you want?
A: We're both having problems on question 8 d) of the homework. Can you lend a hand?

Kim looked down; she was up to 13, nearly finished the exercise. She had time to help them and teaching someone is a great way for her to study effectively.

K: Sure. So, we let 'a' be any positive integer...

Before long, Kim Ashwin and George were all working together on their homework. They would sometimes meet together after school and finish it in the library to save time. Within a few weeks, most of the class would meet them there, and everyone helped each other understand every question. The class improved so rapidly and markedly that Mr. Smith asked what was happening!

Find a friend. Co-operate. Find another friend who wants to join in, and keep building it. Bigger is better. Imagine: you could improve your grade, make new friends, have less stress in your life, and most of all… get better at math!

Happy studying!

Article reproduced, thanks to MyGuru.