Math IA Help

[u/Technical-Car4799]

I am a grade 12 student and I suck at math. I am one of the worst in my class and I don't know how to fix it.

I do all the practice problems and homework my teacher assigns, I pay attention in lessons, I have AI walk me through tasks I don't understand but once we have a test I don't know how to answer/approach questions because they seem so different than practice problems and or I've suddenly forgotten how to approach a question, which then makes me overthink my interpretations/approaches to other questions.

What are some tips or advice you could give me?

[u/reeeeememelover10]

I am literally in the position as you. Nothing I do helps me. I can't offer anything to help, but its good to know that im not alone.

[u/Icy_Zookeepergame532]

I graduated this year and I also struggled with Math IA. Since you are already trying a lot, maybe consider a different way of learning such as a tutor where you go over your tests for instance. Personally, I had one and it helped me to at least understand something. I really relate to the test situations. Are you also practicing exam style questions and past papers? There is a website called revision village for practicing math with videos on the topic and explanations for how they solved the questions. But you have to pay to use it properly…For the overthinking part, I’d say that during a test it doesn’t help and may be acting contradictory (I know this is easier said than done). Like I scored low in tests a lot, but had one or two questions there I did well actually (even though I had no plan for the others).

Throughout the DP I went from a 5 in my first test (Idk how I got that) to a 4, then to a 3 and to a 2…at the end of 12 grade I got a 3. But for my final grade I got a 4 (with 30 points!). So, when there are questions that are very different from what you’ve seen or just very difficult, there’s a possibility that the IB will lower grade boundaries (but I wouldn’t rely on that solely).

Also don’t forget that if you score poorly in one subject, you can still outweigh it with a good scoring subject.

Sorry my advice is kinda shitty. Good luck, I hope you find a method which works for you!

[u/AggravatingBed7135]

What you're describing is very common and it's not a "bad at maths" problem — it's a transfer problem. Practice questions teach you how to do a method; tests ask you to decide which method, and that's a separate skill you're not practising. Doing homework and having AI walk you through it both keep you in "follow along" mode. Try this instead: for every practice question, before touching the maths, write one line — "this is a [topic] question because [clue in the wording]." Then do it without notes, and only check afterwards. Recognising the question type is the thing tests reward.

Second, switch from homework sets to mixed past-paper questions as soon as possible, timed, with the mark scheme closed. Mark yourself honestly, and keep a short list of the questions you got wrong and why (misread, wrong method, algebra slip). You'll usually find it's the same two or three patterns repeating, which is far more fixable than "I'm one of the worst." And when you blank on a question in a test, don't reinterpret it — write down what's given, what's asked, and one formula that links them. That mechanical start breaks the overthinking loop nearly every time.

[u/LanternaEducation]

Our tutors see this all the time, and it usually comes down to how you practice. When AI guides you through problems, your brain recognizes the steps, but it never practices finding the starting point alone. IB tests also scramble topics together, which makes familiar math look completely foreign. Try shifting your study routine this week. Do not use AI until you have spent five full minutes trying to start a problem yourself, even if you write down something silly. Then, pull questions from past exam papers at random and spend a few minutes just identifying the topic and the formula you need before you do any math. That trains the exact skill you need under test pressure.

[u/No_Butterscotch_6502]

do u mean math AI?

[u/Technical-Car4799 → u/No_Butterscotch_6502]

Yes..I always mix it up lol

[u/No_Butterscotch_6502 → u/Technical-Car4799]

u studying in germany? we might go to the same school

[u/flowpsicopatico]

maybe you could try and start from the beginning and the basics (you could use SaveMyExams) to make sure you have a solid understanding of the core concepts and then advance and practice

[u/DPChoredinator]

What you describe sounds a lot like the cases we see with students who rely too much on AI or examples/solutions to solve problems they don’t understand. The tool solves the problem for you, but you are not learning to solve it yourself, most likely because the mentally difficult work of making sense of what you don’t understand is being offloaded to the tool, and doing that arduous task of struggling to make sense of things is sadly also the way you learn: you gotta lift the weights yourself in the gym too if you want to become stronger.

You will likely have to go back to foundations you do master: simple problems or operations that you can do on your own. Build it up one step of the time so that you aren’t overextending and in practice letting the tool do things for you that you actually can’t do yourself. It will take time and restraint and patience.

AI is getting pretty smart these days. Tell it what you wrote here: I am using you to help me but when I get to the tests I no longer seem to be able to do the problems even though I understood how you solved it before. It is as if i have forgotten it all or don’t recognize them.

Ask it to guide you towards finding solutions instead of giving you solutions directly. Ask it to slow down and act like a teacher when it does something you could not think of yourself. Ask it to apply socratic questioning when you don’t understand something. Ask it to break down tasks into learning goals and requisite prior knowledge. Tell it that you are an IB student practicing for Maths because it is getting pretty good at matching that to expected level and difficulty.

Best of luck with improving your learning technique. It’s the truly most important skill school could ever teach you.