Structuring your study and having an appropriate strategy are vital tools to achieving in the ASVAB Arithmetic Reasoning exam. In this section, we take you through some of these tools and how you can apply them to your exam preparation.
Posted in 4th December, 2014 | Arithmetic ReasoningPreparing for the Exam
Preparing for the Exam
Preparing for this exam depends entirely on the work you’re willing to put in. Investing significant portions of your time is vital, but this is only time well spent if you know how to study Arithmetic Reasoning effectively. There is one simple trap you may fall into, and forewarning this now will hopefully act as a powerful prophylactic to potential disaster. Avoid, at all costs, the memorization approach to solving math problems! What do I mean by this? If we are presented with a math problem and a solution, we might try to see the method and recite it to memory, but we wouldn’t understand how to solve a highly similar problem as we didn’t train ourselves to see it.
By approaching your ASVAB Arithmetic Reasoning test from the perspective of understanding the solution, you will have already made huge progress in your study effort. The whole purpose of the exam is, after all, to determine which candidates have the required critical thinking skills. By choosing the memorization approach, you run the very serious risk of acquiring a mediocre result and given the competitive nature of military positions these days; this is an unwelcome and untenable position to adopt. So, first things first, look at every question as a means to improvement. This means reflecting on why you don’t understand the answer to a question and “get it” once shown the solution.
Ideal Exam Preparation
Yet, we would not advise you to study from solutions alone. While retrospective analysis is, of course, beneficial, it’s not as advantageous as attempting the question for yourself in the beginning and, only then, discovering where you went wrong. If you were to only study ASVAB Arithmetic Reasoning problems with the solutions to hand, you would miss out on knowing where you went wrong. So, attempt each question, even if you haven’t the slightest idea how to approach it. Seek the solution to the problem and work backwards, or retrospectively, to determine which individual step you were missing. This is a highly systematic approach to arithmetic problems and a strategy you need to adopt in the weeks and months leading up to the day of your exam.
Given the vast array of potential types of question, you cannot possibly hope to prepare for what might appear. Instead, your focus should be conceptual – in the sense that no matter what problem appears on the exam paper, you have equipped yourself with the tools necessary to hack away at the problem and arrive at the correct answer. Further to this, let’s not forget that analytical skills are crucial to the success of your military career, careers that are build on analytical approaches to military problems. You need to grasp this motivation and drag it through your ASVAB Arithmetic Reasoning study to ensure you make the most out of every study session.
Practicing arithmetic reasoning problems is, of course, very important. But, more important than this is how deal with each question. Always approach questions with the intention of understanding where you went wrong rather than what you got right.
The ASVAB subscription program has all the study materials you need to learn conceptual tools. Simply take one section at a time, understand the concept therein, and practice them with the hundreds of quiz questions available. This cements understanding and focuses on this as opposed to the failed memorization approach that many students continue to labor under. When you become equipped with these tools, you’ll not only enhance your score during the ASVAB Arithmetic Reasoning exam, but these will also remain transferrable analytical skills you’ll be able to call upon at any point during your military career – as you learn how to solve problems when a given set of complications arise.
One final tip you should keep in mind for now concerns scientific notation. It’s very important when you complete math problems that you use the correct notation and units at all times. It’s quite simple to get units and notation mixed up, but with just a little practice, you’ll ace it in no time. For example, to convert 986,000 to scientific notation, we simply need to write 9.8 x 10^5. Why to the power of 5? Simply because there are five numbers remaining after the decimal point! Another way to look at it would be this: 9.86000. You can clearly see how five numbers exist after the decimal point and so we use the notation accordingly. This type of notation always appears on your ASVAB Arithmetic Reasoning exam and, so, it’s something you should factor in when studying relevant problems.
The next section goes through the various types of arithmetic problem you will be asked on your exam. This will prepare you to answer each and every question.
Share
