The silly math mistakes we have made in class -Ottawa, ON, Canada

Exam time is fast approaching and the goal is to get collect as many marks as possible on the exam. The easiest way to collect marks is to minimize the number of “silly” math mistakes made. What are silly mistakes? I’m not even sure I can replicate all the silly mistakes I have seen, notice and point out to students that cost students marks. In many cases, even students can’t believe the mistakes they make when they get their tests back. Sometimes it costs students that one mark that is the difference between a pass and a fail. Some examples of silly mistakes:

Silly mistakes

Dividing by zero
Basic arithmetic errors
Errors while working with fractions
Computational errors
Not answering the question being asked
Not showing your work completely
Rushing
Not attempting a question

How to overcome silly mistakes

Check your work. It may seem like it’s a waste of time to check your work but when you’re in that exam writing environment, anxiety and stress levels are higher and it is easy to make mistakes and not notice them. But, when you go over your work after a few minutes have passed, with “fresh” eyes, you will notice things you didn’t see the first time around.
Read the question. Read all the questions before starting the test or exam. Why, you may ask? It’ll give you and idea of what to expect so there are no surprises as you go through the exam questions. You can budget your time based on what the questions are. You can gauge what you know and what you don’t know and as a result this will help you budget your time, energy and efforts.
If you get stuck on a question, leave it, go on to another question and return back to that question you were stuck on. Go over what you were doing and you may see error in your ways or try attacking the question with a different approach.
Writing your solution out in detail can sometimes help find little mistakes. Sometimes trying to do too many steps at one time or in your head can lead to errors that can’t be found but have been made and get carried out throughout the rest of the solution leading to the incorrect answer.

Some of the methods to overcome silly mistakes are more applicable for tests or exam situations. However, getting into the habit of practicing these methods all the time will make the methods outlined above second nature and a true habit that you’ll always apply.

Let’s take a look at some of the more common silly mistakes.