The 24 hour rule (a great strategy for math)

Mathematics is a subject that is very unique. It is fundamentally different from other subjects in two ways. One, it is abstract and two, it is hierarchical in nature. Because of the peculiarity of the subject, many students across the globe have difficulty understanding it. What often happens is that a student sits in class and is unable to understand the abstract concept being taught for that session. The next day (because of the hierarchical nature of of the subject) the teacher builds on what was taught in the previous class. Since the student did not understand what was taught in the first class, this only serves to compound the student’s lack of understanding. After a few repetitions of this cycle, within a week the student is totally lost.

I know this scenario very well, for a great part of my high school sojourn this was my story. I knew that I was fighting a losing battle and that I had to operate differently if I wanted to be successful. The strategy that I eventually employed worked beautifully and today I call it the 24 hour rule.

In a nutshell the rule states that ‘you must never allow yourself to remain ignorant of a mathematical concept or set of concepts for more than 24 hours’. By obeying this rule I was able to remain on top of my work in the latter part of high school and throughout my university life.

This is how the 24 hour rule works in reality. If you are in math class and you find that you are totally lost, you must seek out help from either a teacher, friend, YouTube search or a textbook to ensure that you understand what was taught within 24 hours. If you fail to do this, the hierarchical nature of the subject will cause your ignorance to deepen and before you know it, you will feel helpless with no prospect of recovery.

Let me point out that internet searches such as YouTube should be your last resort. Quite often students spend hours searching through videos or articles and find that they are unable to obtain the specific help that they need. I strongly recommend going to your teacher and letting him or her break the concept down so that you can understand. There is a totally different dynamic when a teacher sits with you individually than when he or she addresses the class as a whole. If the teacher is unavailable, then the next best bet is a friend. It is quite possible that your friend will even do a better job at explaining the concept, because you are both at the same age and stage and see things similarly.

I have applied the 24 hour rule as a student of mathematics to good effect. It is one of the best strategies to employ if you want to be successful in mathematics. If you give it a try, I promise you that you will see an immediate change in your level of understanding and grades.