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How to Study for Math Exams by Writing Practice Problems
A well-written exam will test students’ understanding of the concepts covered during class, with a series of questions that might take various forms, including: multiple-choice, true false, calculations, proofs (in the case of mathematics exams), and essays. To really be prepared for an exam, regardless of the exam format, students need to be able to boil down the material from class and the textbook into key concepts and skills that should be practiced over and over, in different contexts. As one progresses through the educational system, the problems tend to become less about rote memorization (“plug-and-chug”) and more about synthesizing concepts and applying ideas to new contexts, though the rate at which this happens depends on where one receives their education.
In any case, I want to talk now about the various merits of writing your own problems if you’re a student preparing for an exam. While I’ll talk about the advantages of this, some of the reasons I do it personally, and why I implement this into my teaching, remember that the fundamental idea is to continually rearrange and manipulate the concepts that are important for understanding the material.
Why I started writing problems, and why I still do it
Even as an undergraduate, I started writing problems for fun; that’s really what it…