Introduction—describes the overall investigation process

Since in today’s ideology grades indicate the amount of what students learn; law enforcers/board of education makes regulations and guidelines for teachers to follow. Students are judged through their performance on tests and that good grades are a symbol of how much students learn. Throughout Americans’ historical, economic, and political cultures, schools receive a certain amount of money that depends on students’ performance on standardize tests. Learning about the way college students prepare for exam is a good way to examine the effective ways of how students perform on mathematics test. The ways students’ study can be very different. The three main factors that are affecting students’ performance on test: the amount of time studying for a test, IQ levels, and the ways students train themselves to recognize and understand the concepts to solve the problems. In this paper, we are only considered the first two factors.

First, interviewing nine college students, who are taking mathematics classes to examining the amount of time studying for tests affect students’ test grades. The method of the students used is considered effective when they receive B+ or above, which is equivalence to 85 and above. Otherwise, their studying method is not effective. The goal is to find ways that teachers can help students to excel on tests. I developed appropriate questions to survey students in mathematics classes. First I read responses and summarized results from Pre-Calculus and Probability classes. Since there were various answers for the open responses, it was necessary to develop a unified classification scheme for the open responses on the questionnaire--generalizing the answers. The purpose is to have a better understanding and finding effective methods that students used to succeed on mathematics tests.

II. Summary

Four arbitrary college students were chosen in Pre-Calculus and Probability classes. These students have different nationalities, but they all fell in the categories as white, black or Asian. Four students in Pre-Calculus were being identified as C1, C2, C3, and C4. C1, a female freshman, is an international student from Ghana (black). C2 is a white freshman male American, who majors in Technology and Business. C3 is a female freshman, who is an African American and majors in Biology. The fourth student in Pre-Calculus, female freshman, is Vietnamese American, who majors in Communication and Business. The other four students in Probability were called as P1, P2, P3, and P4. P1 is a male sophomore, who is from Sierra Leonean (African), while P2, a male junior who is a Bulgarian (White). P3 is a female junior white American. The last student is a female senior, who is Vietnamese American.

Compare and Contrast between two Classes

Three Pre-Calculus students waited at most two days to study for their Pre-Calculus test. They did not perform well on their tests. As the result, C1’s, C2’s and C4’s methods of studying are ineffective. C1, C2, C3, and C4 earned from a range of 74 – 82, 60–85, 87–100, and 30–70 respectively. C1 commented that she has a 10 IQ and that C1 was the only student, who studied right away and more until the exam day. However her grades did not prove that she has that IQ. C1 did not get any A on her test. Both C3 and C4 waited until two days before the exam and try to remember and understand everything that was taught in class. C3 was also the only one who made good grade. C4 had bad experience with mathematics, and all her tests showed that she struggled in mathematics. C3’s grades made her believed that she has a low IQ, 3. C2 neglected studying for tests, but he almost had an A, who believed that his IQ is 8. C2 said, “I don’t study. I fail when I study.” C2 was not making A’s and he reasoned, “I was never taught but I still passed my classes.” C2 could have done so much better if he changed his way of thinking and studying habit. He was doing okay in class and passing was all he needed. All students in Pre-Calculus class were freshmen and no matter where they are from they need to have better methods to do well in any class.

P1, P2, P3, and P4 studied for mathematics tests and their tests ranged from 70– 90, 88–90, 86–92, and 46–75 respectively. They all prepare for tests, but in different ways. P1 studied immediately and more until the exam day. P2 waited until 4 days, while P4 waited 3 days before the exam to study everything. P3 was the only student in the sample, who studied the day before the exam. She reasoned, “I retain it better.” P3’s method of study was effective. P4 fail on her first test because she studied the day before exam and she said, “I didn’t have a clear understanding of the concepts and I couldn’t remember which formulas to use for which situation.” P1, P2, and P4 had effective methods of studying, but P4 needed to change her way of studying. P4 needed to study for more than three days before the test day to get a better result.

IQ of a person affected their performance on tests, but studying also would make a tremendous difference on test performance. For instance, P3 studied the last day before the test, but she also tutored classmates with their homework. Recall that her method of studying was effective for her. She believed her IQ is 8, and she commented, “Math is easy because I have the mind for it.” 3 out of 4 students in Probability commented that mathematics is not difficult. P2 added, “I don’t feel challenged that much, all it takes is practice and practice and careful reading. But certainly it is not easy either. I rate my IQ to be a 9.” P1 believed his IQ to range between 6 and 7. Although P1’s IQ was barely above average, his study method was effective because of the range of grade that he made on the tests.

The main differences of the students in two classes were grades, major, and IQ. Students in Probability outperformed Pre-Calculus students in grades. Probability students were higher classmen, who had more experience in studying for mathematics test than the freshmen students in Pre-Calculus. The major difference between Pre-Calculus and Probability classes was that Probability students have a better method of studying for mathematics test than Pre-Calculus students. Moreover, all students in Probability class major mathematics while nobody in Pre-Calculus major in something else. Overall, all students need to find the best ways that will help them succeed. Through the survey, the result shows that students who are well prepared for test by studying several days in advance had more advantage than those who do not. Students who have a low IQ need to study more than students who have high IQ. In general, students who understand the concept and use the tests as a way to study and do not depend on examples from the book or answers from others. The success way of studying is when students work through the mathematics problems on the homework and other practice problems by themselves. They try their best to solve the problem and tackle the practice problems like a test. Then they will more likely to be able to solve the problems on the test. Homework can be used as a tool to study for test if students used them the right way. Notice that the school system and even in this paper use students’ test grades to evaluate students performance. Number/letter grades are so easy to measure and easy to talk about.

The way students study also can tell something about their cultural background. In general, most students studied alone for their tests. P1 was the only person, who studied in group in the probability classes. P1 commented, “It is easier.” It showed that his culture affected his ways of studying. C1, Ghanaian, who studied alone and in groups. P1 and C1 were both African, who tended to studied in group. This showed that students of the same culture would likely have the same study habit.

However, the observation in Probability class was not the same as in Pre-Calculus class. Students in the Pre-Calculus class studied in groups when they struggled with mathematics problems. This meant that those who struggled tend to need help from others so they preferred to study in groups. It was an easy way to escape thinking. That students’ culture do not matter when students struggled with mathematics problems. They would work in group and get help from outside sources. By investigating how college students study, I can help my students to improve their test grade. I will encourage students to test themselves to see if they know how to solve various problems and practice by working on the homework problem. Working in group will help students to learn different ways of solving a problem and learn new ways to solve the problem.

Teaching mean helping students understand the mathematics concepts and encouraging students to solving problems on their own. The goal in my classroom is to teach students to solve problems on their own without the help of others.

My classroom will have a lot of intriguing objects/artifacts that help motivate students to learn mathematics. I will also find a way to help students to find their intrinsic motivation. Both extrinsic and intrinsic motivations to study can help students to do well on test.

In conclusion, I will use many methods to teach my student. Moreover, I will allow one-on-one tutoring, working in groups, and working alone in my classrooms. My way of teaching can improve the school system. Tradition teaching is teachers teach, think, and do, while students listen. My classroom will have tradition teaching, but also allowing students to play a role as a teacher.

In school system, struggling students have seen education as a low culture in their lives, while the people in powers from the mainstream value education. The students’ who drop out is the subculture in the mainstream culture. Dropping out of school is a result when students do not understand mathematics and give up on studying. Why do people get an education? One main reason was to the mass culture that the corporation, business and ect. that value people with a degree.