When studying for math classes, I noticed that I can get quite overwhelmed. Practice quickly turns from being enjoyable, to being downright greuling.
For a while, I wondered what I was doing wrong. Then, while doing some research about visual design, I realized that the issue stems from cognitive load
Cognitive load is a term that describes the amount of information your mind is processing at once. It's highest when there's a lot going on in your mind. It is particularly set off by:
- multitasking
- visual clutter
- lack of presence
- etc.
Naturally, you can see that these are all easily seen in a typical math problem.
So, what does it cause? Well, it begins with confusion. People often get intense brain fog from high cognitive loads because their brain is focused on too many things at once. If you have a phone in the room while you're studying math and check it frequently, you may find that you're less focused. You may find it hard to remember what you did a day after your session. You might even forget how to execute what you were studying on an exam.
It's not just phones though. Cluttered rooms, loud music, frequent conversations. Even just having problems with multiple, moving parts (think trig sub, triple integrals, etc.) is enough to overload your brain. So, how do we combat this?
This was a question I considered for a very long time. After practicing and developing for a few months I came up with a solid system to study non-proof mathematics.
Before anything, make sure you study in a clean, silent space. If you put music on, make sure that you can fully focus on it (no words, no huge dynamic changes). Keep things simple and minimal
Then, your studying starts directly after your lectures. As soon as you're done with classes for the day, put important concepts into Anki. Anki is a free flashcard app that uses spaced repetiton. This basically means that problems are spaced out so that you practice your least confident topics sooner, and you most confident later.
Every day, get onto Anki. have a notebook by your side. Write down concepts from memory.Like, write paragraphs about mathematical properties and mechanisms. When you get stuck, watch a youtube video (but try not to do this unless you're really struggling to remember). This will make you very confident with mathematical concepts relatively quickly.
This helps to reduce cognitive load because you're just using two things at once -- a notebook and a flashcard app. No ads, no fluff, just recalling things.
Next, we need to tackle the technical, procedural part of math. This was the area I really struggled with for a while. Studying for the practical side involves two things: reps and simplicity. I had a hard time finding a resource that did these two things in one, so I created my own. Mathtrain is the result. Get on mathtrain and select the topics you need and the difficulty you want to practice with. Then practice, trying not to look at walkthroughs. If you're incredibly stuck, then look, but again, try not to. Like Anki, it is free with no ads.
This helps reduce cognitive load because it is in a minimal environment that feeds problems for you. Once again, you only need two things -- a notebook and the website.
Once you feel confident for the day, stop. Relax and take a break for the night. Burnout is a horrible thing.
That's it! Thanks for reading. Good luck in your studies.
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Note: You will see blurbs about a supporter tier on mathtrain. This is not required and doesn't restrict your access to materials. Zen mode is covered completely free. If you would like to support, MathTrain offers a spaced repetition mode, customization, and user stats. However, it is by no means necessary to have a good practice session. My goal is to help you with math, not to profit from you.