Cheat, I mean, Reference Sheets

The slope formula…the distance formula…the midpoint formula – ARGH!
With all those x sub 1s and y sub 2s, these formulas or maybe they’re equations..HMMM…anyway, get all jumbled and misapplied.
As an adjunct Math prof, former engineer and ‘Robin the Math Lady’, I help people to build Math Confidence through metacognitive strategies.

How much does a cheat sheet help? If Math = formulas, then it would indeed be cheating. But problem-solving is so much more. In engineering school, our open book untimed exams with only 3 problems would take 6 or more hours and a ‘C’ would be welcomed with open arms! Some profs allowed just one piece of paper. It took days to craft a crowded cheat sheet chock full of problems (ok, opportunities) with a 0.5mm mechanical pencil. This process helped us know our strengths and weaknesses for maximizing potential on our exams (ok, assessments).

Now as a prof, I encourage homework and classwork on cheat sheets for reference points
so that learners can size up the challenges and tackle them under peak performance conditions (tests). Cheat sheets boost confidence, performance and enjoyment of Math and learning!

Study Groups Lead to Metacognition

In engineering school, Math is an assumed skill set. Strength in fractions, rounding, unit conversion, scientific notation, trig functions will help students in problem-solving. Conversely, it is easy to get the wrong answer by miscalculating or making an incorrect assumption.

Study group discussions (debates!!) helped refine the thinking process as you had to defend your answer in front of a crowd. This process was very effective and important in building metacognition skills as well as recognizing common errors and the potential for what could go wrong!!

The College Board has a very similar post:
http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/high-school/50432.html