One of the best ways for a student to prepare for the Calculus AB Exam is to purchase a copy of AP Calculus A Course Review by Dr. Michael Yapko. This is the same textbook that is used for the College Board’s official AP Calculus A Test which measures a student’s understanding of the material and their abilities in controlling the variables. For a student preparing for this type of test, it will serve a great benefit to review Yapko’s text more than once. In fact, the third and fourth reviews should be taken just to refresh a student’s memory on topics covered in previous sections. Review articles do not need to be lengthy or difficult as long as the student reads the material from start to finish and analyzes the data they gather.
When reviewing AP Calculus Test review articles, a student will find that some are quite technical and will require the student invests a significant amount of time to understand and comprehend. However, there are many review articles that are written in a very easy to understand manner that a student can easily understand and grasp. It is important for a student to remember that if an answer is incorrect, they simply revise the question and do not have to worry about explaining their mistake.
Once a student finds a set of review material they are comfortable with, they should begin to develop a game plan for mastering the course. It is a common misconception for students to begin their studying using only one concept and then expect to be able to solve the entire class without any difficulty. This is unrealistic and will actually serve to bore the student as they attempt to repeat the same tests over again. Instead, a student should develop a game plan that includes at least three to five concepts for each section. The first step is to review all of the topics for a given class at least once prior to working on the section. This will allow a student to familiarize themselves with the material and will also help them determine if they are ready to tackle it when the exam comes around.
The next step is to evaluate how well a student is doing with reviewing the topics. By taking into consideration how many concepts were covered and how well a student mastered those concepts, the examinee can determine whether or not they have enough knowledge to tackle the problems on the exam. One way to gauge this is to see how many concepts were covered in a single line. If the student reviewed all of the concepts in each line, they may be able to cover all of the questions on that line but there are likely to be more problems on that line than on others which will make it very difficult for the examinee. The student needs to see what they are capable of learning before going into the test.
Once a student has reviewed all of the topics, it’s time to decide whether or not they are prepared to take the test. While testing isn’t something that most students enjoy, it is an important part of their education and must be completed on time. Going into a test with little to no preparation can have negative affects, such as not being prepared to understand or answer questions that come up on the test. Most students need to review at least an hour before the test, which means doing a lot of practice tests beforehand to ensure they understood the material thoroughly. However, doing too much review beforehand can also have bad consequences, which include a slower learning process for the test itself.
After completing a review session, it’s then time to start studying for the exam itself. Learning should include reviewing all of the topics from the previous session and developing habits for answering the types of questions that will appear on the test. The main concept of the AP Calculus AB Exam is understanding the concepts and solving for a number. Therefore, students need to spend the majority of their time on practice exercises to learn how to solve for these factors.
Finally, a student must do a final review of any prior information before entering the test room. This includes reviewing all types of notes and researching any previous exam answers. After going through the steps listed above, a student should be able to do well on the AP Calculus AB Exam.
