As the students reach class 11, one of the subjects that frighten most of the students is Maths. Class 11 Maths is way different than anything students have studied up until then. The topics are new, more complex and frankly, a bit more frightening at first glance. At that point, when most of the students open their Maths books for the first time and see the contents of the book, they are a bit scared to see the names of the topics they have never even heard of, which sets a notion in their minds that these topics are going to be difficult. However, with the right strategy and the right preparation, nothing is very difficult to achieve.
If you have studied Maths decently enough up until 10th class and have a thorough knowledge of the basics of the subject, there is nothing to worry about. These basics are the foundation upon which the building of class 11th Mathematics is built upon.
Upon first glance, and even on studying, many students might find the topics such as Complex numbers, Permutations and Combinations or Calculus quite daunting and they might be unable to make sense of these topics in the first go. However, the important thing is to not give in to the fear and be consistent in making efforts to understand the topics you are facing difficulties in. Believe me, if you devote enough time and practice to Maths, it will become your favourite subject and the subject you could score the greatest number of marks in.
However, in order to develop that level of understanding of the subject, we will need to develop a strategy to face our fear of Maths and its haunting companions.
Here are some of the strategies you can follow to ace the subject –
- Practice – One of the most important and effective pieces of advice you can ever get to improve on 11th class maths is to practice a lot. Mathematics is a subject based mostly on formulas and the applications of these formulas in various situations and circumstances for different questions.
Practicing more and more of the topics, even more so for the topics you are weak in or are having difficulty in understanding, is the key to understanding and recognizing the patterns of questions that can come from the topic and how you can solve them.
- Concepts – The syllabus of Maths of class 11th can prove to be a bit tricky as there are a lot of new concepts that would prove to be difficult to get a good grasp on initially. However, it’s important to focus on the basic concepts of each chapter and topic as it lays down the foundation of the way the chapter is going to be. It is necessary for you to understand how to solve a certain type of question, as most of the questions asked in exams are asked from an exhaustive variety of questions.
Even if you fail to understand the concept initially, keep at it, ask it to your maths teacher, but leave nothing behind. The key to succeeding in Maths is a strong knowledge of the basic concepts.
- Solved Examples – It cannot stress enough the importance of the solved examples in the Maths NCERT textbook. In each chapter after the theory of each topic, there are certain solved examples that show how to solve the questions based on the concept you just learned and introduce you to a variety of questions that could be asked based on the concept. Many students skip these examples and proceed directly to questions in the exercises which is a big mistake. If you follow the NCERT books and the solved examples, you will quickly be able to understand the topics and develop confidence in them as you will be able to understand how the question was solved.
One more importance of Solved examples is that many times the question paper setter for the exams directly asks a question that is either the same or based on the solved examples. Imagine the advantage you would get if a question you have previously solved in the solved examples is directly asked in the exam, which is sufficient to explain its pedigree.
- Exercises – After the solved examples, the exercises at the end of a concept are really helpful in helping understand the topic. The questions in the exercises are generally of increasing difficulty, which helps in building confidence in the topic when you answer the question correctly.
- Reference Books – There are many reference books that you can refer to for Maths of class 11th but the one that stands out the most and is recommended the most is RD Sharma. RD Sharma provides a plethora of questions of various difficulty levels, from easy (to develop your confidence and strengthen your concepts) to difficult (to practice the variety of questions asked in exams) which are a go-to guide for every student in class 11th opting for Maths subject.
If somehow, you are facing any difficulty in solving the problems in RD Sharma, you can always refer to RD Sharma Solutions for Class 11 to find the solutions and understand what you were doing wrong.
- Important Chapters – There are several important chapters which are not only important to score good marks in class 11th but also because these chapters and their concepts are required in class 12th Maths also. Some of them are –
- Trigonometry
- Permutations and Combinations
- Binomial Theorem
- Formula Book – Keep in mind to make a separate copy for the formulas of each chapter and note them down as you come across different formulas in different chapters. There are many formulas in Maths and thus making a Formula Book and keeping it updated and revising from it regularly goes a long way in learning formulas and building them in your memory.
- Solve Previous year Question Papers – When you are thorough with the concepts and have practiced enough questions, solve previous year question papers to see how well prepared you are by solving questions already asked previously. It is an important way to gauge your preparedness for the exams. It is advisable to do an analysis after the paper and understand what you did wrong and the right way of doing the question as it will improve your score dramatically in the final exam.
It is understandable if you find class 11th Maths tough and unable to understand. However, with the strategies provided above, and with determination, perseverance and the will to do better, nobody can stop you from making Maths your strong subject!
Good Luck!