Lol I’ve had to essentially derive formulas that I should have memorized mid test before. Or reverse engineer examples from other questions to figure out the concept needed for another question (again, should have known that going in). I used to take absurdly long tests due to stunts like these, but tbh it usually worked. I distinctly remember discovering how logarithms worked mid-test at some point, for example
Comment on Hard to answer the question when you don't even understand the question
AI_toothbrush@lemmy.zip 21 hours ago
In primary school i used to just not study or take notes and just used my “gifted kid” abilities to soak up as much info as i could during class and then when i didnt know something during the exam i would go back to look at the questions and try to extrapolate the answers. Still works sometimes when im in a pinch.
0ops@piefed.zip 21 hours ago
Aganim@lemmy.world 21 hours ago
Reminds me of highschool math. At some point you needed a graphical calculator, you could load programs into them but that required hooking them up to a computer with a crazy expensive data cable. So I found a schematic, ordered the components for a fraction of that price and learned to solder. It looked ugly AF, but it worked. Next step I wrote a program containing the formula’s I needed, uploaded it and installed a program which hid your program menu until you pressed a certain key combination. It could even simulate a hard reset, as you could get spot-checked and asked to do just that.
I could also have memorised the formula’s, but that wouldn’t have been fun. And unlike all those formula’s I still use my soldering and programming skills. 😋
0ops@piefed.zip 20 hours ago
Respect dude. Those cables are stupidly expensive (to match the calculators I guess), I just bit the bullet on mine
Aganim@lemmy.world 20 hours ago
Well, it did help that they used a simple serial connection back then and didn’t require any advanced electronics. Just a bunch of resistors and basic stuff like that. All relatively large components that are easy to solder with what I had back then. I’m not sure how easy it would be these days with USB.
CocoaBird@sopuli.xyz 21 hours ago
In a way I think being able to derive a formula is a much more valuable skill than rote memorisation, especially in higher education. That being said I’ve also done this when I was just lazy and didn’t remember my lessons…
captainlezbian@lemmy.world 19 hours ago
Yeah hell my statics lecturer encouraged it
AI_toothbrush@lemmy.zip 21 hours ago
Exactly. Tho i only had 45 minutes usually cause thats how long my classes in primary were.
chaogomu@lemmy.world 19 hours ago
I did that for my entire time in school.
I used to think I was just very smart. Now I know that it was mostly attention deficit and a near perfect memory. A memory that I had trained by with this beat up self-help meditation book that I found. It taught a real method of meditation, but also promised magic mind powers. I found it when I was like 7, so I practiced the fuck out of those basic techniques.
These days, I train my memory by reading 20-30 different webnovels that update anywhere between daily and once every 2-3 months. Still haven’t gotten a real handle on that attention deficit though…
okwhateverdude@lemmy.world 21 hours ago
Passed a literature class exam this way once. Didn’t read the book at all. Just listened in class. Building associations and connections in the test content and applying some deductive reasoning works way better than teachers think.
synae@lemmy.dbzer0.com 21 hours ago
I think that’s just called learning
okwhateverdude@lemmy.world 21 hours ago
Yeah, but doing at test time is the novelty 😉
Uebercomplicated@lemmy.ml 2 hours ago
I did what you describe until I had to do the IB in 11th and 12th grade… the IB was crazy. I think my first two years of college were literally easier than IB.
AI_toothbrush@lemmy.zip 1 hour ago
I did it in ib as well cause i went to a really hard highscool and then moved to ib so i knew most of the chemistry, phyiscs and math already. I did have to study for my other subjects tho.
Uebercomplicated@lemmy.ml 38 minutes ago
Yeah, I think my highschool kinda fucked me over. It was one of those stupid “international” highschools where we did the IGCSE before the IB — and the IGCSEs suuuuuuck. I literally didn’t study at all and got an A in Math. I think it did jack shit to prepare me. You may be able to tell I still have quite a bit of festered up anger towards the IGCSE… 😬