If you feel worried about your mathematical skills you are not alone – feelings of insecurity about mathematics are widespread in the adult population. Many adults feel anxious, helpless and worried when they are confronted with a mathematical problem. In many cases adults complain that their brains have ‘gone dead’ and they are unable to think about the problem without breaking out in a cold sweat. Even the most highly-educated people can turn to jelly when asked to sort out a mathematical equation or work out a fraction or percentage.

Yet maths and science should be viewed as being no more complex than any of the other subjects we have learned over our lives. With a little perseverance, and perhaps with the help of a good, patient tutor, adults find that they are able to grasp and understand what they initially thought were complex mathematical and scientific concepts.

Although advice and guidance for improving your mathematical and scientific skills is offered in this chapter it is not possible to cover basic maths in this book. If you have to complete a maths component on your course, and you feel that you are really struggling, find out what support is available from the Study Support Unit at your college or university (see Chapter 18).

READING MATHEMATICAL AND SCIENTIFIC MATERIAL

Mathematics and science courses might need less reading than that required for other subjects, but they do require you to understand and master the concepts about which you are reading. Writers of scientific material often pack together a large amount of facts and figures and students tend to feel compelled to wade through the text in a logical, sequential order.

However, scientific and mathematical texts contain clues about what is being presented – headings, subheadings, summaries, conclusions. You will find it more effective to skim and scan the material, spending extra time on the relevant sections and moving quickly through the less relevant information. By doing this you will be able to cover a greater number of texts and your comprehension of what is being discussed will also improve.

You can help to enhance the effectiveness of reading scientific and mathematical material by considering the following points:

• When faced with a scientific or mathematical text skim through the material to get an overview of the ideas presented. Pay particular attention to the introduction, summary and conclusion.
• Try to build up an overview of the information first by scanning the relevant sections and trying to work out how they all fit together. Look for key words or phrases that help you to understand and piece together what you are reading. In this way you will not be trying to memorise hundreds of isolated facts but will be able to understand the bigger picture.
• When you skim and scan a text, be aware of words or terms that are new to you. See if you can find a definition within the text, but if not, refer to a glossary or dictionary. Keep a record of the term and definition, including a page reference, as this will help you when it comes to revising.
• Try to understand what you are reading rather than memorising the facts. You will probably need to memorise some information, but you will find this easier to do if you understand what you are trying to remember.
• Try covering up some of the material you are reading and work through the ideas or figures in your head. You will get a feel for your level of understanding.
• Pay particular attention to charts and figures. Scientific texts usually summarise major ideas and facts in graphic form.

UNDERSTANDING CHARTS, TABLES AND GRAPHS

Some people find that their minds go blank when they are faced with what appear to be complex tables, charts and graphs. However, if you work your way logically through the figures, you will soon find that you begin to understand what you are seeing. The following tips should help you to do this:

• Look first at the main headings. Do they give you an idea of what the table is about?
• Look at the headings in each column or the titles on the axes. Are you clear about what is included in each of these columns?
• Pick a figure inserted into one part of the table or on the graph. Try to work out what the figure is telling you.
• Scan the table or graph for interesting figures or anomalies.
• Can you see any particular trends? What do they mean?
• What are the high and low points? Why might this be?
• Are there any blips or unusual figures? What do they show? Why might this have occurred?
• Try turning the numbers into words.
• Summarise the main conclusions that you can draw from the chart.
• Write down any ideas that you have as this will help you to move your thinking from abstract numbers to written material.

PRODUCING CHARTS, TABLES AND GRAPHS ON A
COMPUTER

There are a number of different computer programs that can be used to produce graphs, charts and tables:

• Spreadsheets
• Word processors
• Presentation graphics packages
• Desktop publishers
• Specialist programs.

In most cases, the easier a program is to use, the less sophisticated will be the presentation of the graphs, charts and tables. However, unless you are studying on a course that requires complex presentation of statistical data, you should find that some of the simpler programs are perfectly adequate for your requirements.

As you will see in Chapter 10, the majority of students use Microsoft software and products. The following steps are based on this type of software. If your college or university uses other software, seek advice and guidance from your Computing Services Department. In general you will need to follow the steps outlined below to produce your graphs, charts and tables:

• Step 1 – Indicate that you wish to make a table. Look for the relevant button in one of your menus (this could be the edit, insert or table button). At this stage you may get the chance to say what type of table or chart you require. You can choose a ready-made chart or design one of your own.
• Step 2 – Edit your table. In most cases you will need to type your titles and numbers into the table or change the titles and numbers that have automatically appeared. Click on one of the boxes (cells) in the table and type in your word or number. If there is something in the cell already, your number or word will replace it. Press enter and click on other cells to alter the rest of the table.
• Step 3 – Change the look of your table. You can do this by viewing the options available in the format menu. You may need to highlight your table first, or you can just click on each option to see what your table would look like in different formats, including the various types of graphs. You will also find options for changing the chart type, axes and colours.
• Step 4 – Save your work. Think of a suitable name and location in which to save your chart. It may seem obvious, but some students forget to do this and then find it impossible to retrieve their work.
• Step 5 – Print your work. If you are given a choice of printers you need to be aware that a draft printer at your college may not print graphs. For a high-quality copy you will need to use a good quality printer. You may find that you need to edit your chart, table or graph - for example, with different colours or shading – to get clearer distinctions between the different parts.

COPING WITH PROBLEM SHEETS

For most mathematics and science courses you will be required to complete problem sheets. Again, this is nothing to be worried about – with a little preparation and careful analysis you will find that you are able to work your way through the problems presented. The following tips should help you to do this:

• Begin working on problem sheets as soon as possible. If they are not assessed, don’t wait for the answers as this will not help you to understand the topic. Exam questions may include many of the issues covered on these sheets, so if you understand what you are learning you will do better in your exams.
• Always work through problem sheets before the seminar is held on the topic. It will make more sense to you when the issues are discussed and you can ask questions on issues you have not been able to understand. Don’t be afraid to do this as the seminar leader will be pleased for the contribution.
• Make sure you understand thoroughly what you are being asked to do – if not, clarify with your tutor.
• Many problems can be solved through the use of a good diagram or model. This will help you to simplify and interpret the problem.
• Write down what you are doing. This helps you to keep a note of the procedures you have used and helps you to retrace your steps if things go wrong. It will also help you to better understand abstract concepts.
• If you are presented with multiple choice questions, make sure that you read all the options before you decide upon your answer.
• Try brainstorming with other students to help you work through difficult questions.
• Remember that even if you do not get the question right, you have learned a lot just by trying to solve the problem, so don’t be disheartened.

CONDUCTING EXPERIMENTS

On many science courses you will be required to conduct experiments. Most adults find this an exciting prospect - indeed, this is probably one of the reasons why you have chosen to study a science subject. The procedures you use for your experiments will vary and depend upon the subject and level of your course, the requirements of your tutor and the equipment available to you. For degree-level courses you may be required to do the following:

• Think about a title for your work. Your title should describe in a clear, concise way the nature of your experiment. It should be meaningful and easily understood.
• Write a statement of your purpose. This should be short and succinct, describing clearly what you intend to do in your experiment. This will help you to focus your thoughts.
• Think about your methods. How do you intend to conduct your experiment? What are the different stages?
• Gather information about your topic. This may require a literature search, a review of lecture notes or discussion with tutors and other students.
• Identify and summarise significant points from the literature or from your discussions.
• Form a hypothesis. This is a statement about a phenomenon or observation that is put forward for testing (see Chapter 13).
• Decide what experiments are needed to test your hypothesis.
• Design your experiments. When you do this you may need to consider the following points:
• Conduct your experiments. This may involve the following, depending upon the type of experiment:
• Summarise results and draw conclusions.
• Write up your results.

When you are conducting experiments you need to be aware that not all of them will be successful or produce the results you intended. This does not mean that you have failed – you can still learn from unsuccessful experiments. Unexpected results help you to modify and build upon your hypothesis until you are able to produce more successful results.