Exams are always stressful, but if your national exams are coming up, chances are you may feel even more pressed for time. You may feel underprepared and think you have not completed enough practice questions, or there may be lapses in your learning. Your foolscap papers may be peppered with corrections written in green pen and angry red crosses. With so much pressure to do well, you may be even more stressed out and clueless about what to do.
As a result, some consider seeking tuition assistance. Most people begin tuition at the start of the academic year, but some do not take up tuition, as they feel it isn’t necessary and resources from school alone are sufficient.
So, if you belong to this latter group, you may start feeling unprepared and begin to panic as the national exams draw closer in the later months of the year, and regret not signing up for tuition earlier. However, it isn’t too late to start getting math tuition at all. Here’s why!
Tuition will help you identify your weaknesses
If you feel you are weak in all your topics, you may be discouraged and confused about where to even start. Math is a subject where topics are cumulative and build upon one another, so it is easy for your questions to snowball and appear insurmountable down the road. If your foundation is weak, you may not be able to understand the topics that follow.
This is especially true for new subjects, such as Additional Math, and it is one of the reasons why additional maths tuition in Singapore is so popular and highly sought after. When you are exposed to so many new concepts at once, even passing the subject will seem like a formidable task.
For example, in Additional Math, differentiation is a completely new topic. You are introduced to basic algebra expressions, and later on, you will learn how to differentiate trigonometric expressions and logarithms with these basic algebra expressions. If you are unable to understand the earlier topics that serve as your fundamentals, these future topics may be extremely hard to understand and apply. You may feel frustrated and confused as you don’t know what exactly you do not understand.
However, with the help of a tutor, you will be able to identify the gaps in your learning and what you need to improve on. Topical tests will be administered so your tutor can understand what specific areas you need help in and focus on them accordingly. With focused learning instead of general teaching, you will understand what you lack immediately and focus on those areas instead of studying without a structure or focus in mind.
Tuition offers a wide range of resources
You may feel that materials given by your school are limited and not as helpful as you expect. While school notes are general and briefly lay out the content you need to know, they may not be organised, concise, or contain sufficient detail and examples to support your learning. You may also not know how to consolidate your knowledge and feel overwhelmed when trying to revise everything for your national exams.
Tuition does not only offer additional notes and practices. Some centres will also tailor their teaching and content for their students by utilising technology. Online question banks contain questions and problems from various schools in Singapore, allowing you to practise beyond what you already have. They may upload crash course videos, and you can watch them at your own pace and pause when necessary to digest the information in your own time.
Some centres that offer H2 math tuition also moderate online forums where students can ask questions anytime they want without fear of judgement, allowing them to clarify their doubts immediately. This is especially useful since JCs in Singapore progress with the Math syllabus differently and usually do not teach a common topic at the same point in time. The forum hence consolidates common questions that students from all colleges can refer to after their school completes the topic.
Tuition is about personalised teaching
In school, lessons are usually conducted in larger class sizes of up to 40 pupils, and in junior college, lecture halls may be filled up to even hundreds of students. With so many of your peers in the same room, you may feel embarrassed to raise your hand and ask any questions out of fear of drawing attention to yourself and judgement from others.
Your teacher may also skim through the content without going into detail as they attempt to complete the syllabus within a fixed period before the exam, so their explanations of the concepts and solutions behind the practice questions may not be as in-depth as you need them to be.
However, with group tuition, you will not only be able to participate in smaller classes and receive personalised help, but you will also benefit from the more relaxed and comfortable class environment since everyone will be more willing to ask any questions they have. Therefore, everyone benefits from group learning as you may even uncover any doubts you didn’t know you once had.
Conclusion
While tuition may not seem necessary in the beginning, it may be a helpful solution when you are feeling discouraged and unmotivated to continue studying for your national exams. If you find yourself spending an excessive amount of time trying to solve questions that can easily be explained with the help of a patient, experienced tutor, don’t hesitate to try tuition.
It is never too late to get math tuition as an experienced tutor will collaborate with you and help you improve your grades in time before you sit for your exams. It is only too late once the exam is over, so if you are contemplating tuition before your national exams, just give it a shot!
