14. starptautiskā konference 2012 - Latvijas Jūras akadēmija

Proceedings of 14th International conference „Maritime Transport and Infrastructure - 2012”10%15%10%29%17%Do only HW tasksDo additional tasksLook for similar tasksRe-read lecture conspectsMake additional notesUse books19%Fig. 1: Learning methodsDifficulties of acquiring calculus courseStudents’ learning methods and preparatoty work are the factor of their individual scores inthe resulting test on calculus. What has been obtained during analysis completely matches theexpectations (looking at the winter session results 2012), which are following: insufficient preparationand irrelevant learning methods of students were the reason of relatively low scores on calculus relatedtasks. As can be seen on Fig. 2: Winter session results, which covers exclusively positive calculus testresults of 100 LMA first grade students, 40% of students barely made their ways to the positive scorewith a mark of 4, 19% of students made a slightly better effort and received a mark of 5, almost asmany students (18%) received a mark of 6. As can be seen, this tendency keeps up the percentdecrease as the score increases; 13% of students scored 7 in the math session, 6% of them got a markof 8, which leaves 3% of students who scored 9 and only 1% of students who scored 10, which is thehighest score possible.Furthermore, according to gathered data, 42% of students did not receive a positive mark ontheir first attempt, whereas 58% (which is slightly over a half) of them, with great effort, butnevertheless, passed the test on their first try.The above listed data shows that the difficulty of acquiring calculus course actually persistsand the situation requires a change (see Fig. 2).Individual study methodsTo improve the knowledge level, it is vital to cultivate learning skills. Any student couldcreate and develop a personal learning method, by making notes, analyzing task solution methods,using handbooks etc. For incitement, two special methods, which can promote this process, arementioned below.Mind mapThe inventor of mind map is Anthony Buzan. The mind map is a kind of diagram that consistsof different words, images, coloured lines and other elements, which are drawn around the central keyobject. The elements of a mind map are grouped according to use and application in a chaotic, yet agraphic vivid manner, which stimulates extensive thinking and analysis. A mind map is similar to aconcept map, which is a type of algorythm, used to structurise data.86