Learn From Your Errors

This is probably one of the more important sections here and also one of the most over looked.  Learning from your mistakes can only help you.

• Review Homework.  When you get your homework back review it looking for errors that you made.
• Review Exams.  Do the same thing with exams.
• Understand the Error.  When you find an error in your homework or exams try to understand what the error is and just what you did wrong.  Look for something about the error that you can remember to help you to avoid making it again.
• Get Help.  If you can find the error and/or don’t understand why it was an error then get help.  Ask the instructor, your tutor, or a classmate who got the problem correct.
• Rushed Errors.  If you find yourself continually making silly arithmetic or notational errors then slow down when you are working the problems.  Most of these types of errors happen because students get in a hurry and don’t pay attention to what they are doing.
• Repeated Errors.  If you find yourself continually making errors on one particular type of problem then you probably don’t have a really good grasp of the concept behind that type of problem.  Go back and find more examples and really try to understand just what you are doing wrong or don’t understand.
• Keep a List of Errors.  Put errors that you keep making in a “list of errors”.  With each error write down the correct method/solution.  Review the list after you complete a problem and see if you’ve made any of your “common” errors.