How to Ace Calculus: The Art of Doing Well in Technical

Courses
Tips: Reading Assignments & Problemsets, Tips: Studying Study Hacks November 14th. 2008,
2:08pm

T angent Troubles

Calculus is easy. Or at least, it can be. The key is how you digest the material. Here’s an
example: when you’re first taught derivatives in calculus class, do you remember it like this…

Or do you intuit this image…

As I will argue in this post, for any technical course — be it calculus, physics, or
microeconomics — the key between an ‘A’ and a struggle comes down to this distinction.
Below I’ll explain exactly what I mean and reveal how top technical students use this realization
to consistently ace their classes.

How Every T echnical Class is T aught

Technical classes have a simple structure. In each lecture, the professor presents a series of
concepts. Depending on the difficulty of the material, she may cover anywhere from one to more
than a dozen. For each concept, the professor will derive the result from concepts you already
know and/or provide an example of the concept in practice.

That’ s it.

This simplicity is good. It will make it easier for us to develop a strategy to conquer the
material…

The Magic of Insight

What do you do with the concepts being spewed by the professor? Most students dutifully copy
them down along with their accompanying examples. For example, if it’s the first week of
calculus, you might record the standard derivative equation I reproduced above.

This is fine, but it’ s not enough….

In addition to capture, you need to develop insight.

What do I mean by insight? That click in your brain — the moment when the tumblers of your
mental locks align, the door swings opens, and an intuitive sense ofwhat and why come flooding
out. Forget the equations you copied from the blackboard, I’m talking about developing an
understanding deep down in your bones.

For our example of the derivative, this might mean having a solid mental grasp of this image:

A derivative at a given point is just the slope of the tangent line that kisses that point. Even more
intuitively: it can be though of as the “steepness” of the graph at that point. That’s all. The
complicated equation from above is just a way to calculate a specific number that describes this
steepness.

If you understand this graph — really understand it — you understand the insight behind
derivatives. If all you know is the equation from above, then you’re screwed.

Insightful Studying

I am now ready to reveal the big dark secret about technical class studying:If you want to do
well in a technical class all you have to do is develop insight for every single concept covered
in lecture.

That’s the whole ballgame.

That’s how every high-scoring technical student does it.

There’s no shortcut.

It’s the only way.

Here’s what I commonly observe: the students who struggle in technical courses are those
who skip the insight-developing phase. They capture concepts in their notes and they study by
reproducing their notes. Then, when they sit down for the exam and are faced with problems that
apply the ideas in novel ways, they have no idea what to do. They panic. They do poorly. They
proclaim that they are “not math people.” They switch to a philosophy major.

Without insight you can’ t do well.

How to Develop Insight

Developing insight can be hard. (Though it gets easier with practice.) Especially when you’re
given a dozen new concepts per lecture. The implication:you have to invest a lot of effort
during the semester — not just right before the exam — to keep up with a technical course.
Every one of those concepts described in lecture has to be translated from symbols on a
blackboard to a shiver-inducing deep comprehension. It’s not easy, but at least the challenge is
now well-defined.

Here are some tips that can help:

1. If you have a hard time understanding the material as the professor presents it,prep the
concepts before class by reading the textbook.
2. Ask questions when the professor loses you. Often their answer can knock you back on
track to insightful understanding.
3. Ask the professor or TA for clarificationsimmediately following lecture.
4. T ry to review your notes as soon as possible after classto cement insights while the
information is still fresh in your brain.
5. Always go to office hours. But before you show up, spend time with the troublesome
concepts trying to build insight. Figure out exactly where you get stuck. This will help
the TA or professor give you targeted, useful advice. Never just say: I don’t get it.”
6. Keep a running list of every concept taught so far in the semester . Mark the ones that
you have an insight for and the ones you don’t understand. It helps to see clearly exactly
what insights you still need.

The Practice Factor

Once you’ve developed an insight for every concept in a technical course, the final step before a
test is to do a small number of practice problems for each to practice applying it. (This is where
the mega-problem sets of Straight-A come into play.)

Here’s the crucial observation: if you skip the insight-generating phase, no amount of
practice problems will help you side-step exam disaster .If it’s a week before the exam, and
you lack insights on most of the concepts: you’re out of luck.

It’s Not Easy, But It’s Also Not Complicated

It’s hard to do well in technical courses. But it’s not complicated.

During the semester, you have to see yourself like a lone soldier trying to fight back the tide of
encroaching concepts. Do everything you can to build insights in the heat of battle. Become
obsessive about conquering concepts.

Once you’ve turned your attention to the real battle needed to do well in technical classes, you
can invest your time and energy exactly where it’s needed.

And if not, there’ s always philosophy…