How I Became a More Competitive Student with Tutoring

Hitting the 90% ceiling

Before joining Matrix Education, I was a rather well-rounded student, but Maths was always a weaker subject of mine. I felt there was almost this glass ceiling, where I would study and try my hardest, but I was unable to achieve those final marks that would take me from 90% to 100% and become a competitive student. I was often let down by silly mistakes and not being specific enough in my study process to identify those small, niche mistakes, which would snowball and let me down in a test. 

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How Matrix transformed my learning

However, everything seemed to change once I began doing Maths with Matrix Education. Matrix built a comprehensive foundation and knowledge of the content for me. Maths became a lot easier to understand, and I developed an admiration and passion for Mathematics that I still maintain. During school, class time was less about cramming in new information, but rather mastering the material, increasing my fluency, and extending this proficiency to encompass more challenging concepts and questions.

I felt my confidence improving along with my exam results, as I was elevated towards my full potential. 

The key to becoming a competitive student? Learning from mistakes 

The most critical habit I’ve adopted from Matrix to become a competitive student, without a doubt, is reflecting on results and utilising feedback. Being ruthless towards your mistakes is integral in ensuring academic success.

Imagine studying without marking your work or reviewing your errors. It’s like an annoying horror movie where the clueless characters walk into the haunted mansion, ignoring the repeated signs of danger and meeting a very unfortunate fate due to their lack of observational skills. Do not let your mistakes fall into obscurity! You will regret it!

My step-by-step process for learning from mistakes

To remedy this, here is my tried and true process on how to reflect on your results and maximise improvement from your mistakes:  

1. Prioritise past papers

• Whenever studying for a test, I always make sure to prioritise doing past papers under test conditions. This will best replicate your strengths and weaknesses when it comes to the actual test, not how skilled you are at talking to your friends, listening to music, doodling on your page and doing Maths at the same time.
• Past papers also provide that sense of pressure and examples of those 4-marker-last-page style questions that will most definitely appear in your exam.
• Matrix’s weekly quizzes and topic tests also provide a great opportunity to test your knowledge and performance under exam conditions. Make sure to also analyse, reflect, and take full advantage of these.

2. Mark and annotate 

• Once completed, I immediately mark the test. I suggest highlighting and annotating each failed question with the correct answer and workings, as well as where the error originated from (e.g. reading the question incorrectly, gap in understanding).
• Although it may seem tedious, I like to imagine that with every annotation I write, I’m rewiring my brain to recognise and avoid these mistakes. 

3. Analyse and record 

• At this stage, it’s really important to recognise any patterns in your errors. Is there a particular subject or style of question that you struggle with (e.g, word questions, completing the square)?
• I summarise these mistakes and patterns by writing them within a book or on sticky notes placed near my desk. This way, I can update and review them throughout my studying, as well as visualise my past mistakes to consciously avoid repeating them during future tests.

4. “Don’t practise until you get it right, practise until you can’t get it wrong”

• Outside of school and Matrix, I am a dancer. I’ve recognised one piece of dance advice is a tenet in studying for academic achievement:  “Don’t practise until you get it right, practise until you can’t get it wrong”.
• After analysing my mistakes from the past paper, I adjusted my studying accordingly. I find the exercises and theory in my school textbook or the corresponding matrix chapter. I set myself a goal, depending on how critical this mistake is, or whether it’s a mistake in theory (e.g, not understanding the quadratic formula) or practise (e.g, writing the wrong number down).
• An example goal I give myself for silly mistakes might be to complete 20 simple questions without making a mistake involving units:

I will keep practising with extra questions, solely focusing on my targeted mistake, until I have completed my goal successfully.

5. Don’t be too hard on yourself 

• Throughout this process of analysing your mistakes, it is important to not be too hard on yourself. Becoming a competitive student takes time. Studying for a test is meant to be a learning process; that’s the point. You are tested on more difficult content to assess your skills and understanding, you are meant to make mistakes. However, what separates students who are successful academically is their ability to acknowledge their imperfections and work with them to achieve their best.