Study skills for maths in college

Question

I'm currently studying Electrical Engineering and Computer Science but I really do enjoy math since junior high school . I have enjoyed all sorts of math I've been taught , geometry, linear algebra, analysis .. Right now in uni , we have a discrete mathematics course. It was the very first time I did such kind of math combinatronics , graphs, logic ... I was amazed ... Although I like them and I want to further explore my interest in them during school I often find myself struggling to understand whether I need to stop trying to solve something on my own and read the solution or should I go on. And often , when I read the solution , I find myself wondering If I have deeply understand it and if I would be able if I never have seen this before if I would be able to reconstruct it. Sometimes , I feel really small , there are so many things I don't know and so many things propably I think I know , but maybe there are so much more behind them. But that seems to be not a good strategy for uni finals exams. I often find myself with little time to revise everything needed and I think it's because of this problem.. I am not the kind of person that waits for magic.. I know math need practice, patience and time. Do I need to try to be creative , and never giving up on a problem when I revise if I really wwant to improve or should I have a different attitude towards school to imrpove my grades? When I don't know how to answer a question , what should I do? How should I stidy other;s people's solutions? I often feel confused and tired because I don't see anybody else struggling so much with self - esteem or if they need to be able to understand deeper or anything like that..

Answer 1

Nobody is able to find proofs for all the math we know. That is why it took more than two thousand years to get to it. So don't be too frustrated if you are unable to find a specific proof. Indeed, it is often very useful to read proofs from other people, because they may have found a different way of solving the problem. More generally, it is always worth it to work in groups. Often when you don't understand something, your colleague might have a very nice explanation and vice versa. However, it is also important to train. So if you didn't find a proof, try to redo it after reading the solution. That might help you the next time! Finally, be aware that there might be some domains which are simply more difficult for you. And that independently of your interest. I, for example, am deeply amazed by abstract algebra and the ideas therein. However, it is often much harder for me to understand a algebraic proof than an analytical.