Audit Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Audit - Assignment Example In the course of the financial statements audit, an auditor is subject to the audit risk and he/she commits it if his/her audit opinion is inappropriate. This arises where the financial statements are materially misstated, making them be presented unfairly and fail to conform with the applicable financial reporting framework. To this extent, this paper aims at identifying the possible audit risks as presented in the case of Cupcake Co and the possible actions that the auditor is likely to take in each case. It will also discuss the benefits that accrue from conducting a risk assessment at the planning stage of the audit. According to this paper’s analysis, Cupcake Co is likely to suffer the loss of cash through theft. As presented in the case, the company keeps a sufficiently large amount of cash for the purposes of giving back change. The internal control of Cupcake Co has failed in its control over the cash, making it susceptible to improper diversions, as well as being misused. From the case, there was no separation of duties in cash handling. When such a case subsists such that a single department or individual is entrusted with both asset custody and their record keeping, there is a potential risk of frauds, in that, such assets can be stolen. In addition, accounting records falsifications to hide events can be done. In such a scenario, the management would have difficulties in holding a specific employee accountable in case errors or fraud is detected. To respond to this audit risk, the auditor can ask the management of Cupcake Co to state the internal controls they use to control their cash. The auditor will seek clarification on whether duties are segregated in the handling of cash. The auditor can also perform some analytical procedures such as the prevailing trend in the cash balance relative to the previous year’s balances. There could be an audit risk arising from the

Peoples behavior Essay Example for Free

Peoples behavior Essay Whenever I encounter any person from another culture, I am often struck by how much that person represents and is different from the idea I have of that culture. Particularly if the idea I have of that culture’s person is seen from his perspective. A recent conversation with a student of Japanese ancestry highlighted to me this realization. When I first saw him, I assumed that he would speak English with an accent or with some difficulty. To my surprise, it turned out that he was a native English speaker having been born in the United States. Sharing the experience with a friend, she related to me that one of her acquaintances who was born in Hong Kong who had difficulty with being understood in English because of a difference in accent despite having English as a first language. These incidents are prime examples of how cultural stereotypes. Considering the number of foreign students alone, many universities and other social institutions should be developing the competencies to accommodate their communication and cultural assimilation needs. Like in the article written by Brink Lindsey in 2007 titled The Culture Gap for the Cato Institute, culture, statistically and in practice, is an issue that is asserting itself significantly. Without these measures, many people are liable to have negative experiences associated with cultural difference which can motivate them to be ashamed or defensive about their heritage. Having had my own positive and negative experience in being associated with my culture, I know first hand the need to understand culture on an individual level. It has been very helful too that my recent experience with other cultures has been positive and has allowed me to constructively learn from the experience. Had it been otehrwiese, I can easily see myself to develop negative concepts regarding Japanese or Chinese cultures since I believe in positive reinforcement. More than anything else, communication ad technology is creating new dimensions to cultural exposure and exchange. Many of the stereotypes we have of cultures is being challenged not so much because of changes in these cultures itself. Even more importantly, I realize that my culture influences what I see in other in the same way that other peoples cultural backgrounds influence what they see in me.

Fifteen Meditations on Masculinist Physico-Spiritual Experience :: Philosophical Philosophy essays

Fifteen Meditations on Masculinist Physico-Spiritual Experience I am not my body, I am not my mind, I am not my soul. I am the breath of life, I am the breath of God. A golden retriever was once abused by a man and rescued by a woman who had a daughter in an all-girls Catholic high school. I paid them a visit one day. The dog stood behind the clear plastic door, wagging her tail, but as I ascended the steps she suddenly soured, and by the time the door opened and I was inside, she was cowering under the dining room table where she stayed for the duration of my visit with intermittent miserable howls. "She won't have anything to do with men," my friend explained. Even the scent of testosterone has its spiritual message. Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. The founder of modern philosophy had a number of disciples who applied the master's theoretical teachings in the practical field of dog-torturing. They felt these experiments demonstrated the superiority of man as a spiritual creature. Rene Descartes wanted to rewrite the philosophical canon by asserting only what he knew to be true or could logically derive. Sequestered in a stove-heated room, he realized he could doubt that his body, or even the whole world, existed, but he could not doubt was that he was thinking. I think, therefore I am. Descartes is a spiritual, immaterial, thinking thing; the rest is mere body, a separate substance. Continuing in this vein, he determined that human beings are the only animals who have souls. Therefore humans are the only animals who can think, feel, experience, or matter to God. I am going to drive nails through this dog's paws. I am going to vivisect its chest and show you its beating heart-such awesome machinery, praise the Architect on high! Its howls, this deafening din of a universe shattering-a purely mechanistic response! I am taking over this operation. If you cringe, you may leave, and don't come back. The serious student of philosophy thinks with his mind, not his body; his soul, not his flesh. Air my breath and fire my spirit, earth my body, water my blood. Tertullian, who lived in the Roman city of Carthage in the third century, was a sensual man who loved spectacles. After seeing how bravely Christian prisoners endured public torture, humiliation, and death, he became intrigued with the persecuted religion and eventually converted.

Communication Worksheet Essay

Compose responses to each of the following questions. 1. Which of the images demonstrates an interpersonal communication exchange? How can you tell? The third image indicates a healthy interpersonal communication exchange whereas the first picture shows an unhealthy interpersonal communication exchange. The first picture has two individuals who are communicating – unwillingly with each other and non-verbally whereas the third picture has the same thing – only voluntary. Each picture is the same communication exchange only with different and varied consequences and results. 2. What types of interpersonal communication are being displayed in the images? Why? The first picture is a display of interpersonal communication using a varied technique. The female is attempting to verbally and non-verbally persuade the male to communicate, even though he is using the same techniques in the polar opposite way. While she is attempting to persuade him to talk both verbally and non-verbally – he is attempting to persuade her that he doesn’t want to talk non-verbally. It can be assumed that at  some point, he will verbally tell her no. Part 3 Textual communication, or content that is read or viewed, also plays a role in communicating with others. Textual information may gain deeper meaning when the text is spoken or viewed in a specific context versus when it is read. Read the following quotes and write a 50- to 100-word interpretation of what you think is being expressed. Support your responses. If you wish to include references, please format your responses consistent with APA guidelines. †¢ â€Å"Maybe all one can do is hope to end up with the right regrets.† (The Ride down Mount Morgan, Act I) — Arthur Miller †¢ â€Å"Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe.† (The Outline of History, Ch. 41) —H. G. Wells †¢ â€Å"The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe—the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God. We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans—born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world. Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose  any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty.† — John F. Kennedy (1961 Inaugural Address) †¢ â€Å"In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the ‘unalienable Rights’ of ‘Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.’ It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds.’ But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.† — Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963 â€Å"I have a dream† speech) Resources Kennedy, J. F. (1961, January 20). Inaugural address. Presidential inauguration, Washington, DC. Retrieved from: http://www.historystudycenter.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/search/displaySuitemAsciiItemById.do?QueryName=suitem&fromPage=studyunit&ItemID=28545&resource=prd. King, M. L., Jr. (1963, August 28). â€Å"I have a dream† speech. Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://www.historystudycenter.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/search/displayReferenceItemById.do?QueryName=reference&fromPage=studyunit&ItemID=phs00159&fromPage=studyunit&resource=ref WikiQuote. Retrieved from http://www.wikiquote.org. The above quotes are from Democratic individuals whom have all been identified as political at some point in their professional careers. Seeing that the general theme revolves around sociology, psychology and politics – it can reasonably be assumed that the generally intention of expression here is that taking on a more liberal/socialist mindset will result in the utmost patriotism through education, aspirations and helping to provide for a better future – ultimately utopia, however false that may be. In essence, the quotes are a progression of thought starting with Wells and ending with King Jr. Individually, the quotes could represent a much narrower scope of expression. H.G. Wells is expressing a morose attitude toward World War I as it was (at that time) known to be â€Å"the war to end all wars.† At that time, we were isolationists and even President Wilson running on an isolationist platform pushed us into WWI. Wells wrote this text in a time when he was thoroughly dissatisfied with modern history books – at the end of WWI. During this time period, man’s inhumanity to man manifest on the blood soaked battlefields of Europe and the medical wings with the mustard gas victims, the amputees, the blind – all evidence of man’s technological prowess only promising to grow exponentially. This quote then expresses a deep gloom whereas he’s saying that at that time, men could only hope for enlightenment. He realized that with our technological abilities – we were either going to destroy our world or improve it, and in the wake of WWI – it wasn’t looking very bright as far as our future was conc erned – globally. Miller was a perpetual victim. His stance on society as whole was masochistic in nature, although flowered with politically correct subtleties that allowed for his readers to elude the actual realities of the world at that time. Due to the nature of the world at the time of his writing that play – and the events that surrounded his life as he was writing it, it is reasonable to assume that he is simply stating that we all have regrets and will continue to have regrets – but upon our deathbeds, we should hope that those regrets were really worth it. In essence – we only live life once. Kennedy’s quote was similar to Wells – insofar as that we as a nation (and world) have the ability to (with technology and education) either destroy ourselves or improve our world, and expanded upon it. According to Kennedy’s speech – he thinks that the ability to abolish all forms of poverty is what our country was created to do, but is swearing to uphold our abilities to do just the opposite through a series of actions put forth by his entire administration. Because the quote was during his first inaugural speech, Vietnam was however, a later development which forced him to live up to his words – much like Obama will have to do if Iran breaks out today. So looking at this quote pretending to not know what his future administration held, I would say that he is attempting to express an identification of himself through the Democratic Party by calling our founders revolutionaries (which they weren’t – as they were attempting to sustain the status quo by protecting the Magna Carta, but that is a discussion for another time – which I fully anticipate being challenged on that assertion!). In doing this he is hoping to portray his administration as being â€Å"revolutionaries† like the founding fathers in order to get a public approval for his massive expansion of social programs (much like FDR – boo hiss boo hiss). Martin Luther King Jr. expressed a total lack of understanding that the Declaration of Independence was not the law of the land. (Perhaps I should say Stanley Levison since Levison wrote much of King’s speeches even though he was under heavy investigation by the FBI for being associated with communist individuals and ideals) Specifically I am stating that the â€Å"pursuit of happiness,† was not actually â€Å"to be happy,† rather – to live a virtuous life. King’s failing was that he was anticipating that the Constitution guaranteed equality in outcome rather than equality in opportunity. Perhaps it wasn’t his failing, rather – the failing of the education system that prevails to this day. However, in the quote above, King/Levison was attempting to express – or was attempting to get the public to perceive – that socialism or â€Å"equality† through the means of race – could be achieved in this country so long as public pressure via the speech would be placed as a lien against the racism happening during that time.

Social Studies Interview and Standards Investigation

Running Head: INTERVIEW AND STANDARDS INVESTIGATION Interview and Standards Investigation Sarah Woods Grand Canyon University EED 465 Curriculum, Methods, and Assessment: Social Studies Leah Barley December 8, 2011 Interview and Standards Investigation Social studies is a complicated subject for teachers to teach and for students to learn because it encompasses so many different disciplines. On top of that, society is characterized by increasingly rapid social and technological changes that affect what social studies content is being taught to students (NCSS, 1988). For many years students have been forced to learn low cognitive level information that lacks meaning and fails to transfer to real life situations. For these reasons Social Studies is the subject that students love to hate (Hope, 1996). Rather than dwelling on what has gone wrong in the past, it is best to look to the future and learn from past pedagogic mistakes to determine what can be done to energize social studies instruction in order to restore respect by students and teachers alike for such an important field (Hope, 1996). The implementation of state and national standards has been an important step in making this happen. This assessment will evaluate the state of Arizona’s Social Studies Standards for sixth grade for thoroughness, clarity, user friendliness, and comprehensiveness. It will go on to provide a well-supported, objective, academic response to the interview conducted with Ms. Traci Smith, a sixth grade social studies teacher at Will Rogers Junior High in Claremore, OK, and the standards investigation by analyzing how social studies is taught today. The Arizona Department of Education website contains five sixth grade history strands that emphasize World history from its earliest cultures through Enlightenment, including the early cultures of the Americas. The Arizona State Standards for sixth grade are extremely thorough containing strands for American History, World History, Civics/Government, Geography, and Economics each with well-defined concepts and performance objectives for students at the sixth grade level. According to the NCSS definition of Social studies, each of these topics plays a vital role in social studies education. The thoroughness of these standards helps guide lesson planning and learning because teachers know exactly what they are supposed to teach and students know exactly what they are supposed to learn in order to achieve mastery. The Arizona State Standards for Social Studies are very clearly defined by topic. This makes them easy to read and understand. This reduces confusion and frustration and promotes integration with other subject areas. Each strand is broken down further into concepts that explicitly say, where applicable, which other strand(s) they connect with in order to further student understanding. This characteristic makes the Arizona State Standards for Social Studies extremely user friendly. Finally, the Arizona State Standards for Social studies are very comprehensive. They cover a large scope of information in order to help Arizona students develop the ability to make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world (NCSS, 1993). According to Ms. Smith, social studies instruction has come a long way since she began teaching fifteen years ago. When she started it was common practice for students to read the sections in the social studies textbook, answer the questions at the end, and then take a test to demonstrate what they learned. This seemingly meaningless busy work compounded by the implementation of NCLB led to a dramatic reduction in social studies content as teachers became more concerned with high stakes testing in the primary subject areas. High stakes testing has contributed to the trend of moving away from constructivist learning and student centered teaching approaches such as discussions, role-playing, research papers, and cooperative learning (Vogler & Virtue, 2007). This is in dramatic contrast to what new teacher education programs are teaching which may be setting new teachers up for failure once they reach the classroom. In spite of the demands of high stakes testing, when Ms. Smith realized that social studies was beginning to slowly disappear from the curriculum altogether she decided to take a stand. Ms. Smith is now the sixth grade English and World History Department Head at Claremore Public Schools. Although she does teach from a textbook, Ms. Smith employs numerous hands on activities to convey subject matter to the students. For each section the students must create a project that coincides with the lesson. Her favorite section is on the Middle Ages in Europe. During this lesson the entire sixth grade participates in meaningful learning activities such as making head gear and shields, memorizing poems from this era that they must recite to their classmates, and learning the requirements for becoming a knight or a lady. Students earn certificates for acts of chivalry and the individuals who have the most certificates at the end of the unit are awarded a crown as 6th grade King and Queen. The unit culminates with a field trip to the Renaissance Festival and the Castle of Muskogee, a landmark in Oklahoma, which is where the Renaissance Festival is held (Personal Communication, T. Smith, December 12, 2011). These activities are much more meaningful than simply reading the text and completing the section review. This allows students to practice their literacy and public speaking skills which, according to Wineburg (2005), are crucially relevant for schools because it provides a way of thinking about text that allows students to find truth in the cacophony of voices that confront them in the social world. Social studies instruction is heavily influenced by teacher preparation programs. These programs are meant to teach future teachers how to teach social studies effectively. Historically these programs have had to respond quickly to social issues and events by developing courses in social sciences and education that address the concerns of minority groups. For example, a recent increase in the numbers of English Language Learners in the nation’s schools has led to added pressure to prepare teachers to work effectively with students from diverse backgrounds. For the most part these influences have had a positive impact on the preparation of social studies teachers; however in some cases the creation of new classes and requirements for pre-service teachers has led to a bloated curricula and programs that lack clear purpose (Adler, Dougan, & Garcia, 2006). The NCATE standards embolden pre-service teachers to refine their focus to prevent overlap and redundancy. Most teacher preparation programs are aligned to professional teacher standards such as this. This helps to adequately prepare teachers to facilitate learning for today’s students so that they are informed, knowledgeable, and eventually able to compete in a global society. Standards based instruction has been a double edged sword for social studies instruction. On the one hand it has led to the reduction in social studies content as a result of high stakes testing since social studies is not one of the subjects covered under NCLB, but on the other hand social studies standards have revitalized social studies instruction to help make learning fun, meaningful, and relevant for students increasing the chances that they will be able to transfer the concepts learned in the classroom to real world scenarios. If social studies teachers can continue to resist the urge to teach to the test and do everything they can to employ effective teaching strategies then hopefully everyone will realize how important social studies content is for students at all grade levels. This will ultimately result in civic minded individuals who are understanding, knowledgeable, and tolerant of other cultures which will serve them well into adulthood. References: NCSS. (1988, June). Social studies for early childhood and elementary school children: Preparing for the 21st Century. Retrieved from http://www. ncss. org/positions/elementary. Hope, W. 1996). It’s time to transform social studies teaching. The Social Studies. Washington: Jul/Aug 1996. 87, 4. Retrieved from http://proquest. umi. com. library. gcu. edu:2048/pqdweb? index=7&did=10101635&SrchMode=3&sid=1&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1323634607&clientId=48377&aid=1. Arizona Department of Education Standards Based Teaching and Learn ing. (2006). Social Studies Standards Articulated By Grade Level Sixth Grade. Retrieved from http://www. azed. gov/wp-content/uploads/PDF/SSGrade6. pdf. National Council for the Social Studies. (1993, September). A vision of powerful teaching and learning in the social studies: Building social understanding and civic efficacy. Social Education. 57, 213-223. Vogler, K. & Virtue, D. (2007, May). â€Å"Just the facts ma’am†: Teaching Social Studies in the era of Standards and high stakes testing. The Social Studies. Retrieved from http://web. ebscohost. com. library. gcu. edu:2048/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer? sid=f1d20017-f490-4fd4-833e-c04d40d45566%40sessionmgr111&vid=2&hid=113. Wineburg, S. (2005, May). What does NCATE have to say to future history teachers? Phi Delta Kappan. Retrieved from http://web. ebscohost. com. ibrary. gcu. edu:2048/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer? sid=8a089d33-cc0e-40df-aaee-cdf4091de420%40sessionmgr112&vid=2&hid=113. Adler, S. , Dougan, A. , & Garcia, J. (2006, January). NCATE has a lot to say to future social studies teachers: A response to Sam Wineburg. Phi Delta Kappan. Retrieved from http://vnweb. hwwilsonweb. com. library. gcu. edu:2048/hww/results/external _link_maincontentframe. jhtml? _DARGS=/hww/results/results_common. jhtml. 44. Interview Notes Traci Smith, a 6th Grade Social Studies Teacher and 6th grade English and World History Department Head, has 15 years of experience in the classroom. Social Studies Interview Questions: 1. Do you use a textbook? If so, do you like the content? Do the students have workbooks or activity sheets to accompany the textbook? Yes, we use Glencoe’s textbook, World History: Journey Across Time – The Early Ages The students have 2 workbooks: A note-taking guide which we use from time to time, and a Guided Reading book which we do not use very often. There are teacher resources for each of the units which include vocabulary practice and guided reading activities. There are also other resources for mapping, cause-and-effect, and comparing the past to the present. . What is your favorite Social Studies lesson to teach? What sort of hands on, meaningful activities or innovative teaching methods do you use when teaching this lesson? My favorite unit to teach is the Middle Ages of Europe. The entire 6th grade participates in making head gear, shields, memorizing and reciting poems, and learning about the requirements for becoming a knight or a lady. This unit culminates with a field trip to The Castle of Muskogee where they hold the Renaissance Festival. This unit is taught at the end of the year and is a highlight for the 6th grade. We award those who have shown chivalry and crown a 6th grade King and Queen. 3. In 1992 the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) adopted the following definition of the field of social studies: Social studies is the integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic competence. Within the school program, social studies provides coordinated, systematic study drawing upon such disciplines as anthropology, archaeology, economics, geography, history, law, philosophy, political science, psychology, religion, and sociology, as well as appropriate ontent from the humanities, mathematics, and natural sciences. The primary purpose of social studies is to help young people develop the ability to make informed and reasoned decisions for for the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world. How does social studies instruction at Will Rogers Junior High relate to this definition of social studies? At the junior high, we not only teach how our ancestors affected future generations and the things we have learned from them, but we also have an Advisory hour for 6th grade. During this advisory hour we teacher character development and teach the students how to apply what they learn in their everyday lives. 4. Do you believe that values should be part of the social studies curriculum? If so, what values do you feel are most important for today’s students? Yes, I do. The values of integrity, compassion, and respect; these values can be taught throughout the social studies curriculum. When I teach the religions of the world, I talk to the students about having respect for others and their beliefs. We talk about how some of the heroes of ancient history showed integrity and compassion. This is also carried over into our Advisory hour. 5. Does the State of Oklahoma have state standards for social studies? If so, what is your reaction to Oklahoma State’s Social Studies Standards? If not, do you think that Oklahoma could benefit from a set of state standards? Yes. I believe they should be more detailed. 6. What do you feel are important benchmarks for students at the 6th grade level? English and Math; the reading skills learned in social studies and science trickle over into the English curriculum. The same goes for Math and Science. . How much time per day does each student spend on Social Studies content? 2 hours per day – World History and Advisory 8. How do you rank the importance of social studies in the elementary curriculum? Please rank the following subjects in the elementary curriculum in order of importance to you. 4 Physical Education (P. E. ) 2 Mathematics 3 Science 3 Social Studies 1 Reading/Language Arts 9. How do you integrate technology i nto the Social Studies curriculum? I use power points. 10. Do you believe that the social studies curriculum should be narrowed

The heights vs the grange essays

The heights vs the grange essays Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange represent, respectively, uncivilized and civilized, or turbulent and serene. Accordingly, so are the residents of these houses and consequently, the attitudes of the places reflect the people. Emily Brontes Wuthering Heights, is a novel of duality, of opposites unable to overcome their differences. Bronte describes Wuthering Heights as a harsh, cold house, with grotesque carvings (10) and she depicts it as having a pervading spirit of neglect (10). Not surprisingly name of the residence is symbolic of its nature, Wuthering being a significant provincial adjective, descriptive of the atmospheric tumult to which its station is exposed in stormy weather (10), which is a foreshadowing of evil to come. Even the vegetation is lifeless and bleak, a few stunted firs at the end of the house (10), and a range of gaunt thorns all stretching their limbs one way, as if craving alms of the sun (10), vividly conjuring images of the darkness and wildness of the house. Accordingly, the people who inhabit the house tend to be brutal and turbulent as well. Pointedly, Heathcliff, who spends his entire existence plotting revenge on other people. Heathcliff is described as a dirty, ragged, black haired child (41) when Mr. Earnshaw brings him home for the first time, and even Mr. Lockwood describes him as a dark-skinned gypsy in aspect (11), which fits with the darkness of the house It is fitting to say that Heathcliff influences the negativity of the Heights to a great extent. The early generation Earnshaws are relatively happy before the arrival of Heathcliff whose presence is favoured over that of the true Earnshaw children by old Mr Earnshaw. A jealousy arises in Hindley who inflicts intense abuse on Heathcliff when he inherits the role of head of the Heights. Such treatment leads to conflicts in the home and...

How to Get the Most Out of ACT Math Practice Questions

How to Get the Most Out of ACT Math Practice Questions SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Now that you’ve gathered together all your ACT math study materials, it’s time to put together a plan of attack. Having the right study materials is key, but understanding how to use them to their best effect is just as important. (What good is a tool wielded improperly, after all?) We’ve put together a comprehensive plan on how to make use of your ACT math study materials and boost your math score. We’ll walk you through how to best use your math practice problems and how to make the best study plan possible to prepare yourself for test day. Importance of Using Proper ACT Study Materials Before we talk about how to use your study material, it’s important to make sure you have the best material possible from which to work. Unfortunately, the internet is teeming with â€Å"ACT study materials† of questionable quality, and using this material as a resource is more likely to hinder you than help you. Using poorly designed study material will give you a false sense of how you’ll do on the real ACT (whether better or worse), which is not helpful for your study time and test prep. The most accurate and highest quality study material will come from ACT, Inc. itself. After that, only prep programs that use and truly base their questions off this material are worth your time. We have gathered together all the best free ACT study material and practice problems, so definitely start there for all your ACT math practice problem needs. Ready, set, let's go! How to Begin - Identifying Your Current Strengths and Weaknesses Before you tailor your study plan to your needs, you must first find your current strengths and weaknesses by running a diagnostic on your current performance. Step 1: Take a Practice Test If you haven’t taken one already, start by taking a full practice test. This will give you the best sense of your current projected score and percentile rank. Though you may be more focused on improving your math score right now, you will still need to take a full test so that you can best replicate a real testing environment. Not only will taking a full test show you your current strengths and weaknesses, but it will also show you how your math scores fit into your larger test-taking picture. The ACT is a marathon, and your scores will fluctuate depending on your energy and concentration levels over the course of the entire test. So you’ll only get a full picture of your current levels per topic if you take the complete test all together. This is a baseline, so be honest. Only then will you be able to tell where you’re starting and how far you have to go. So take it as you would the real test, adhere to the timing rules and don’t stop and look things up. As you go through, make sure to also mark your test- put a mark any time you feel unsure about a question and cross out any eliminated answer options. This will help you to identify patterns in your overall test-taking later. Step 2: Examine Your Test-Taking Patterns Once you’ve corrected your practice test, look at your spread of right and wrong answers. Are there any patterns to the distribution? There are two general ways to categorize your mistakes: by location on the test and by content. If you can organize your errors accordingly, it will help you understand why you're missing questions and make a study plan to address your weaknesses. The ACT math section is 60 questions, and they are arranged in ascending order of difficulty, which means that location-specific errors are generally errors due to difficulty. To spot patterns of location-based errors, ask yourself whether you are: Missing questions over the entire math section, seemingly evenly throughout? Missing several questions in the 1-20 range? (Though it is normal to miss some or even several questions on the overall ACT math section, try to carefully analyze and improve upon your mistakes in this range. The earlier questions will be the quickest and "simplest" to solve and so will net you a nice cushion of points if you can grab them.) Missing questions in a cluster around the 30-40 marker? (This is where the test transitions from "easy" to "medium-level" difficulty and that transition can trip many students up.) Missing questions mostly in the 40-60 range? (This is the transition from "medium" to "medium-high" difficulty.) Missing questions mostly in the 50-60 range? (This is the "highest" difficulty range and so is tough for the vast majority of students.) You may also be getting questions wrong by topic. Though math topics on the ACT tend to cluster in certain locations (for example, more algebra questions appear at the beginning of the test than they do at the end), you will also find each topic scattered throughout the test (more on this in our ACT Math question distribution guide). As such, you must look at each of your errors closely in order to see if there is a topic-specific pattern to your errors. To spot trends in content errors, ask yourself whether you are: Getting all or most questions wrong in a particular topic, no matter where the questions are located in the test? (E.g., are you missing all triangle questions, whether they are appear as question 5 or question 50?) Getting questions wrong by topic only in the medium or high level difficulty? (For instance, can you solve "easy" slope questions, but miss all the "difficult" slope questions?) Having a seemingly even spread of right and wrong answers by topic throughout the test? (If you answered questions 12 and 48 on functions correctly, but missed question 20, it may have less to do with your understanding of functions as a topic and more to do with the phrasing of the question or the speed at which you were taking the test. Take a careful look at each problem to see if you can spot the pattern.) The less familiar you are with a particular math topic, the harder it will be to answer the variety of problems on it that you’ll see on the ACT. Take a look at our individual math guides for topic-specific help and practice questions for any of your ACT math topic problem areas. Most people will start out their ACT practice by missing a combination of location-specific and topic-specific questions, so don’t worry if your pattern starts out this way too. As you get more and more used to both the material and the way the ACT tests this material, you’ll narrow your range of wrong answers and increase your accuracy in both fields. Step 3: Make a List of Your ACT Math Strengths and Weaknesses Now that you’ve looked at your test-taking patterns, make a list on a separate piece of paper of all the math topics in which you missed questions. (For reference, we have put together a complete list of ACT math topics.) In addition to the topics missed, make a list of the types of errors you made. Why do this? There is a big difference between types of errors on the ACT math test- not knowing how to approach a question at all is very different than misreading a question. You’ll need to examine exactly what kinds of errors you’ve made so that you can learn to avoid them in the future. Finding the wrong variable or final value This is one of the most common errors, especially on problems where you must find an "unusual" final answer. For instance, the problem may ask you to find the value of x + y for your final solution, when your natural instinct is to find the value of x or y alone. Misreading the question This can include misreading any value or variable in the overall question or simply misreading what the question is asking you to do. For example, in a word problem, did you mix up "Andy" and "Amelia"? Did you read "subtract" as "square"? It is easy to make assumptions or to mix up similar words if you're going too quickly through your problems. Stopping your solve too early or too late In a problem that requires multiple steps, you may accidentally find yourself stopping a step or two too early or going a step or two too far. For instance, if you need to find the 10th number in a sequence and you're counting by hand, you might accidentally find the 9th or th number in the sequence instead. Many answer choices are generated by this type of error, so be extra cautious in only taking the exact number of steps necessary. Running out of time If you run out of time in the math section, you will likely start making several errors either because you didn't have time enough to solve the question properly or you didn't even have time to look at the question. Not knowing how to approach the question at all Whether it's the wording of the question or the math topic involved, sometimes you'll find yourself completely flummoxed. You may not know how to set up the solve to the problem in the slightest, or you may try and fail to set up the solve. Either way, this is a problem that you simply don't know how to approach. Mixing up or forgetting your formulas You will NOT be given any formulas, so it can be easy to misremember or mix up your formulas in your head if you aren't vigilant. If you need to find the area of a circle, make sure you're using the area formula and not the circumference formula. Note: don’t take â€Å"careless errors† like misreading the question lightly! It is easy to think that you wouldn’t make such an obvious mistake next time, but don’t underestimate the effects of adrenaline and exhaustion on your thinking patterns. With practice and diligence, you can avoid making these kinds of mistakes, but you must dedicate yourself to being very careful. Always double check to make sure your answer matches exactly what the test is asking you to find. Got all your ducks in a row? Excellent! How to Proceed - Using ACT Math Practice Questions to Raise Your Score Now that you’ve got your baseline, how do you use your practice material to raise your score? Let’s take a look. #1: Take a look at your list of strengths and weaknesses and brush up on those math topics that lie in your weak zone. If you’re simply unfamiliar with a particular math topic, then practicing problem after problem isn’t going to help all that much. You would never walk into French 4 without taking French 1, and math is exactly the same. So don’t dive off the deep end of polygon problems if you’re unfamiliar with their basic principles. For every topic on the ACT, you must first understand both the ins and outs of the particular math topic as well as how you’ll see it tested on the ACT. Our ACT math guides are tailored to reflect and demonstrate how each topic is presented on the ACT, so you won’t have to waste time reading and memorizing more strategies and facts than you absolutely need to. By studying the topic first (before diving right into all your practice problems), you’ll also keep your practice problems â€Å"fresh.† It’s no use throwing yourself against a wall of function problems if you’ve never studied functions in school- it will only leave you with no new material to study from once you’ve brushed up on how to actually solve function problems. Once you’ve refreshed your understanding of a math topic and learned what you need to learn, you can use your practice problems solidify the knowledge in your head and get you to where you need to be by test day. #2: When you do find practice questions, always try to solve them yourself first without looking to the answer. If you look at a problem and then look straight to the answer, you are not really solving the problem. The answer explanation might make sense to you and even make you feel as though you would have been able to solve the problem on your own, but this feeling can be deceiving. Solving a puzzle yourself and understanding how a puzzle was solved require two entirely different parts of your brain. Always (always!) try to solve a problem yourself first and commit to an answer choice, before you look up the final answer. Remember- you can only improve if you have an accurate picture of your current skill level. #3: Once you’ve brushed up on the topic, take practice problems in multiples at a time, as if you were truly working on the test. As you go through your practice questions, don’t solve questions one at a time and stop to look up the answer after each one (e.g., solve, stop to look up answer, solve, stop to look up answer, solve, stop, etc.). This kind of pacing does NOT give you an accurate picture of how you’ll do on test day and can hamper your progress. (Remember: you won’t be able to verify whether your answers are correct or not on test-day- you simply have to do your best and move forward on multiple questions at a time.) Even if you don’t always sit down to take a full test or a full math section at once, it is still better to answer two or three questions at a time and look up your answers at the very end than it is to simply answer one. #4: If you can use multiple solving methods on a problem, try all the different ways so that you can find the one most comfortable for you. Many ACT math questions can be solved in a variety of ways. Plugging in answers and plugging in numbers are strategies that work for many different types of math questions, but there are others as well. For instance, systems of equations questions can be solved by graphing, subtraction, or substitution, while sequence, polygon, and distance questions can be solved via formulas or by working them out by hand. These are just a few examples and each of our guides will go into further detail. The point remains that most every ACT question is purposefully designed to be solved in multiple ways and different methods work best for different people. Once you’ve finished solving your set of problems, go back and solve them again using a different strategy. Compare this to the first time- which method did you like better? Which was faster? Which made you feel the most confident in your answer? #5: Pace yourself (and your practice questions) Though it may be tempting to get your studying out of the way, do NOT cram all your studying in one go! Improvement happens over time, and you must pace yourself to get the most out of your prep time. In addition, if you blow through all your practice problems at once, you will not have anything else to work with fresh. Again, solving a puzzle yourself and understanding how a puzzle was solved are two very different concepts, so try to pace out your fresh material and your review material so that you can use both parts of your brain in your study prep. #6: Sign up for a test-prep program if you feel you need more material than the free practice questions available. If you feel you’ve exhausted your free study material, then definitely sign up for a test-prep program or buy one of the official study guides available, like the Real ACT Red Book. Not only can a prep program provide you with additional material, but can also help you make the most out of your study time. Our ACT study program at PrepScholar automatically targets your areas of strength and weakness and tailors your studying to you and your needs. No need to assess your patterns yourself- we’ll do all the work for you! And don't underestimate the power of a good nap after you're done studying. The Take-Aways The ACT is unlike most tests you’ll ever come across- it is long, comprehensive, and very specifically designed. Going into it blind (or poorly prepared) is difficult and rarely goes well. The more you can prepare, and the higher quality that preparation is, the better you’ll do. So make sure your study material always comes from the best sources and that you use this material to its absolute best effect while studying. Your goal is to train your brain to look at and solve puzzles in the way that the ACT wants you to, and most people can only do so with focused effort and practice. But always keep in mind too that the ACT is designed to be an achievable and trainable test. With the right practice, it is absolutely possible to succeed and get the scores you want. Once you know how to hone your focus and target specific areas to study, you’ll be mastering ACT math questions in no time. What’s Next? Now that you've looked at your ACT test-taking patterns, check out our individual ACT math guides to help you brush up on any topic that was less familiar to you. Running out of time on the ACT math section? If you found that you didn't have enough time to finish your ACT math section, check out our guide for how to beat the clock and maximize your ACT math score. Unsure about your ACT math formulas? Make sure you've memorized your most important formulas and then check out how to use that knowledge to its best effect. Looking to get a perfect score? Our guide to getting a perfect 36 on ACT math will help get you to where you need to be. Want to improve your ACT score by 4 points? Check out our best-in-class online ACT prep program. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your ACT score by 4 points or more. Our program is entirely online, and it customizes what you study to your strengths and weaknesses. If you liked this Math lesson, you'll love our program. 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