Theory-Centric and Practice-Centric Approach
As we move onto a higher level of Math, practice alone is never going to be enough. If you want to make consistent and stable progress, there will be many topics where you must internalize the theory before you can apply it effectively.
I'm sure we have heard people say Math is all about practice, and if we put in the hard work, we will get good results. This may be true all the way up to secondary school but it is not going to work at JC level. At JC level, you need strategy. That's where the Theory-Centric approach and Practice-Centric approach come in.
What do I mean by Theory-Centric and Practice-Centric? Here is the easiest way to understand what is a Practice-Centric topic. Let's say you see a question from a topic you haven't learnt yet. If you can logically deduce the concept by going through the solution step by step, the topic is very Practice-Centric. If the solution only makes sense when you have a prior understanding of the concepts, it is likely that the topic is more Theory-Centric.
The methodology that I use in my classes is based on critical and in-depth analysis of the whole syllabus. The very Theory-Centric topics take up a good 30-40%, and that’s where the hardworking students who did nothing but practice actually lost marks! To avoid this, let's identify exactly where each topic falls on the spectrum, and then use the most effective method to tackle it.
By switching strategically between the Theory-Centric approach and Practice-Centric approach instead of just blindly practicing, we will see higher level Math in a completely different light. I have seen my methodology work for so many students not just in terms of getting excellent results, but equally important, they ended up finding a lot of joy in the learning process.
Read more about our methodology here.