SAINT AGUSTINE UNIVERSITY OF TANZANIA FACULTY OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION MB 604 QUANTITATIVE METHODS FOR MANAGEMENT Prof. Dr.

James J. Spillane, S.J.

SOME SUGGESTIONS ON THE STUDY OF MATHEMATICS There is abundant evidence that students often display wasteful and inefficient procedure in studying mathematics. They sometimes do not know how to begin their work. They waste time in trying aimlessly one thing after another. They fail to form the habit of depending upon themselves. They are unsystematic and do not take time for deliberate reflection before starting their work. They allow their attention to be distracted and their work interrupted. They are careless in their reading, in their listening and in their written work. Many times they do not recognize that the specific procedures involved in the study of some parts of mathematics are not necessarily the same as those involved in the study of other parts of the subject. They do not analyze their assignments to determine what particular procedures will contribute most effectively to the mastery of the work in hand. If students are to acquire the ability to do effective independent study, they need specific instruction in methods and habits of study. It seems clear that one of the most important tasks of the mathematics teacher is to help them to a knowledge and acquisition of general habits which are more conducive to the improvement of study in general and of specific procedures which are involved in the studying of particular parts or aspects of the work. The following list of suggestions will be helpful to students and teachers in this connection: 1. Form the habit of studying your mathematics at a regular time. 2. Form the habit of studying your mathematics in a regular place. 3. Form the habit of getting down to work at once. Do not dally or waste time! 4. Form the habit of paying concentrated and sustained attention to your work after you start. 5. Do not allow avoidable interruptions after you start. 6. Work rapidly (as rapidly as you can) after you start. 7. Work by yourself for the most part. 8. As a preparatory step, get the assignment clearly in mind. Recall the teachers explanation and, if necessary, study again the sample examples or exercises and the explanation in your text. 9. Plan your work for the work period before you start. 10. Read the problems and exercises carefully. In each case be sure that you understand clearly what is given and exactly what you are expected to do, find, and / or prove. Keep these things clearly in mind while you are working. 11. If you are to copy an exercise or a problem, be sure that you copy it correctly.

12. Take plenty of time to think. Do not start to solve a problem or to make a proof until you have clearly in mind exactly what is given and exactly what is required, and have developed a plan for doing what is wanted. 13. If you do not know how to begin, consult your textbook and try to recall the explanation which your teacher has given. 14. Try to write out the questions that bother you, making them very clear and specific. Often the answer will suggest itself. 15. Do not give up! At least try to find out just where and what your difficulty is. 16. Form the habit of listing all new words and concepts and list them at once. Use the dictionary and your text. 17. Form the habit of using the idea and reference tables in your books as sources of information about new words, formulas, numerical values, etc. 18. Memorize important rules, formulas and facts but be sure you understand their meaning and can use them correctly. 19. It is easier and better to memorize statements and formulas as wholes than to memorize them by parts. 20. In memorizing formulas it helps to read them aloud. 21. Memory hints are helpful in memorizing. 22. Work carefully. It is easier to avoid mistakes than it is to find and correct them after they are made. 23. Write neatly. Put down figures in neat rows and columns. Small, round, vertical writing is most legible. 24. Never use scrappy paper. Use scratch paper as little as possible. 25. Remember that every symbol has a definite meaning. Always read meanings into the symbols you use. 26. Read thoroughly and reflect as you read. Superficial reading in mathematics is generally just a waste of time. 27. Form the habit of expressing verbal statements in symbols. 28. Compare exercises in algebra with similar types of exercises in arithmetic. Sometimes this will give a clue or a suggestion that will be helpful. 29. An exercise is frequently made up of a series of steps. Do one step at a time. 30. When time permits, check your work and your answer. 31. In order to fix rules and formulas in your mind, use them as soon as possible after you have learned them. 32. Sketch diagrams or graphs when you can. This often makes it easier to understand problems. 33. In numerical problems, form the habit of making preliminary estimates to serve as a rough check on your work. 34. In preparing for a recitation spend time in organizing the lesson in a logical form in your mind. 35. Replace large numbers by approximations in planning the solution to problems. 36. When listening to discussion in class, listen with your whole attention. Do not have books opened or pencils in hand unless specifically asked to do so.

37. Be mentally alert, active and aggressive. 38. Enjoy overcoming hard mathematical obstacles. 39. In studying material to be understood and digested (as a proof in geometry) plan out the proof or the attack first. Then go over it rapidly and sketchily to get it all in mind. Next, take it section by section, writing out the details; and finally review it; and check it rapidly. 40. Be critical of all statements made whether by yourself or by someone else. Be especially critical of statements that are not adequately supported by reasons. HOW TO SOLVE IT I. You have to understand the problem - What is the unknown? What are the data? What is the condition? - Is it possible to satisfy the conditions? Is the condition sufficient to determine the unknown? Or is it insufficient? Or Redundant? Or Contradictory? - Draw a figure. Introduce suitable notation. - Separate the various parts of the conditions. Can you write them down? II. Find the connection between the data and the unknown. You may be obliged to consider auxiliary problems if an immediate connection cannot be found. You should obtain eventually a plan of the solution. - Have you seen it before? Or have you seen the same problem in a slightly different form? - Do you know a related problem? Do you know a theorem that could be useful? - Look at the unknown. And try to think of a familiar problem having the same or a similar unknown. - Here is a problem related to yours and solved before. Could you use it? Could you use its method? Should you introduce some auxiliary element in order to make its use possible? - Could you restate the problem? Could you restate it still differently? - Go back to definitions. - If you cannot solve the proposed problem, try to solve first some related problem. Could you imagine a more accessible related problem? A more general problem? A more special problem? An analogous problem? Could you solve a part of the problem? Keep only a part of the condition, drop the other part; how far is the unknown then determined, how can it vary? Could you derive something useful from the data? Could you think of other data appropriate to determine the unknown? Could you change the unknown or the data or both if necessary, so that the new unknown and the new data are nearer to each other? - Did you use all the data? Did you use the whole condition? Have you taken into account all the essential motions involved in the problem? III. Carry out the plan.

Carrying out your plan of the solution! Check each step. - Can you see clearly that the step is correct? Can you prove that it is correct? IV. Examine the solution obtained. - Can you check the result? Can you check the argument? - Can you derive the result differently? Can you see it at a glance? - Can you use the result, or the method, for some other problem?
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G. Polya, How to Solve It. Princeton, New Jersy: Princeton University Press, 1945

HOW TO SOLVE IT: A DIALOGUE I. GETTING ACQUAINTED - Where should I start? Start from the statement of the problem. - What can I do? Visualize the problem as a whole as clearly as you can. Do not concern yourself with the details for the moment. - What can I gain by doing so? You should understand the problem. Familiarize yourself with it. Impress its purpose on your mind. The attention given to the problem may also stimulate your memory and prepare for the recollection of relevant points.

II. WORKING FOR BETTER UNDERSTANDING - Where should I start? Start again from the statement of the problem. Start when this statement is so clear to you and so well impressed on your mind that you may lose sight of it for a while without fear of losing it altogether. - What can I do? Isolate the principal parts of a problem to prove. The unknown, the data and conditions are the principal parts of the problems to find. Go through the principal parts of your problem. Consider them one by one, consider them in turn. Consider them in various combinations, relating each detail to other details and each to the whole of the problem. - What can I gain by doing so? You should prepare and clarify details which are likely to play a role afterwards. III. HUNTING FOR THE HELPFUL IDEA - Where should I start? Start from the consideration of the principal parts of your problem. Start when these principal parts are distinctly arranged and clearly conceived, thanks to your previous work, and when your memory seems responsive. - What can I do? Consider your problem from various sides and seek contacts with your formerly acquired knowledge. Consider your problem from various sides. Emphasize different parts; examine different ways; combine them differently. Try

to see some new meaning in each detail, some new interpretation of the whole. Seek contacts with your formerly acquired knowledge. Try to think of what helped you in similar situations in the past. Try to recognize something familiar in what you examine. Try to perceive something useful in what you recognize. What could I perceive? A helpful idea, perhaps a decisive idea that shows you at a glance the way to the very end. How can an idea be helpful? It shows you the whole of the way or a part of the way; it suggests to you more or less distinctly how you can proceed. Ideas are more or less complete. You are lucky if you have any idea at all. What can I do with an incomplete idea? You should consider it. If it looks advantageous you should consider it longer. If it looks reliable, you should ascertain how far it leads you, and reconsider the situation. The situation has changed, thanks to your helpful idea. Consider the new situation from various sides and seek contacts with your formerly acquired knowledge. What can I gain by doing so again? You may be lucky and have another idea. Perhaps you will be led astray by some of your ideas. Nevertheless you should be grateful for all new ideas, also for the lesser ones; also for the hazy ones; also for the supplementary ideas adding some precision to a hazy one, or attempting the correction of less fortunate ones. Even if you do not have an appreciable new idea for a while you should be grateful if your conception of the problem become more complete or more coherent, more homogeneous or better balanced.

IV. CARRYING OUT THE PLAN - Where should I start? Start from the lucky idea that led you to the solution. Start when you feel sure of your grasp of the main connection and you feel confident that you can supply the minor details that may be wanting. - What can I do? Make your grasp quite secure. Carry through in detail all the algebraic or geometric operations which you have recognized previously as feasible. Convince yourself of the correctness of each step by formal reasoning, or by intuitive insight, or both ways if you can. If your problem is very complex you may distinguish great steps and small steps. Each great step is composed of several small ones. Check first the great steps, and get down to the smaller ones afterwards. - What can I gain by doing so? A presentation of the solution each step of which is correct beyond doubt.

V. LOOKING BACK - Where should I start? From the solution, complete and correct in every detail.

What can I do? Consider the solution from various sides and seek contracts with your formerly acquired knowledge. Consider the details of the solution and try to make them as simple as you can. Survey more extensively parts of the solution and try to make them shorter. Try to see the whole solution at a glance. Try to modify to their advantage smaller or larger parts of the solution and try to improve the whole solution to make it intuitive. Try to fit it into your formerly acquired knowledge as naturally as possible. Scrutinize the method that led you to the solution, Try to see its point, and try to make use of it for other problems. Scrutinize the result and try make use of it for other problems. What can I gain by doing so? You may find a new and better solution, you may discover new and interesting facts. In any case, if you get into the habit of surveying and scrutinizing, your solution in this way, you will acquire some knowledge well ordered and ready to use, and you will develop your ability to solve problems.

G. Polya, How to Solve It. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1945