Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

I agree with this. In the end it is beneficial with repetition for learning anything, and I think subjects with calculations are partly a craft where you need to get it in your fingers. I teach a subject, it not maths but a (different) engineering subject and what I see is that the students don't buy text books any more (for several understandable reasons), but one of the things they miss out on is a lot of practice problems. This becomes evident in the types of errors they do at the exam, and an apparent lack of system for laying out their problem and solution in an understandable matter for themselves (and me).


More often than the "at the end of the chapter" math problems are not about calculations, but are essentialy mini-problems requiring mini proofs. It's not about 1-1 applying the knowledge that was in the chapter, but rather about creative thinking. Some problems can take hours or days to solve. There isn't much to "get in your fingers".


I find that in any creative fields it helps being really good at the fundamental skills so they don't get in the way of your creativity.


You need to get creativity in your fingers. You can get good at solving problems. As those who did much better than me in school proved.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: