I finished grading my Calculus 2 exams, and I usually spend a good chunk of the day handing back the first exams talking about study techniques to better prepare students for the material. Often I fear no one is listening when I do this, so taking a cue from my study materials, I decided to wage a different attack this semester: a FAQ powerpoint with snarky memes.
Q: How bad was the test?
A: Let me put it this way:
Q: I don’t understand how I failed the test. I got a 4 on the AP test and I didn’t even have to study. This stuff has always come easy to me.
A: Let me answer that by rephrasing your question:
Q: What’s with the Dragon Stamp on my test?
A: You committed on of my 3 Deadly Sins of Mathematics: false distribution, false cancellation, and false integration. The things I warn you against doing every day in class.
Q: But why did I get no partial credit?
A: Zoidberg…?
Q: Fine. How should I study for the next test?
A: I test proficiency of technique, not mere recognition of it. You need to practice the techniques until they’re second nature to you. Said differently:
Q: Fine. How do I get proficient?
A: First off… do the required quizzes, each and every day.
Q: Aren’t the exam problems are harder than the quiz problems?
A: I don’t think so, but wouldn’t that mean it’s even more important to get the quizzes correct? Nevertheless, I gave you access to eight years of old exams so that you’d have an idea of what to expect. For example, here’s a pair of problems from recent exams…
and a problem you had on yours:
Here’s a triple of problems from past exams…
and a problem on yours:
Here’s a problem taken off of the six most recent exams in chronological order:
and a problem on yours:
If you cannot see a pattern here, or you did see the pattern but never thought to learn to do the problem, well…
Q: Doesn’t that sound like a lot of work?
A: The university catalog says you’re expected to spend 2 hours outside of class for every hour inside it.
Q: Wait… you expect me to do work outside of class?
A: It’s up to you. There’s always next semester.
This is hilarious and I love the beer drinking college student meme!