Formula oriented approach Vs
theoretical approach
Lively responses on my Facebook post
validated the fact that the subject topic is of interest to many. I appreciate the
responses received, however, some of them are slightly off the topic. Well,
they have focused on ways to prepare for campus screening tests, but my post is
primarily focused on clearing the tests (Meaning – the psychology at the time
of test). Of course, how to prepare is a point of discussion, but, not right
now.
I would be trying to classify
various approaches to solve problems and then substantiate each type by giving
an example.
Many, rather most, are of the
opinion that one should solve problems logically. But, I really do not know what exactly they
mean by logical approach. There seldom exists any logical approach to a
problem. Prasanna
seconds by view by rightly mentioning the term ‘smart’ in his post, which is more
appropriate. Some, if not all, problems can be solved by rejecting the
inappropriate answers. Most of the times, this works.
Extending the point further, I would
rather mention the term ‘sensible approach’ or ‘obvious approach’, where one is
expected to apply his common sense. This again works for some, if not all, of
the problems.
Coming to the theoretical approach,
many argue that this is a more preferably approach. I do not disagree, but when
it comes to clearing the test, time available for the test plays a very
important role. From my experience, one cannot think of using theoretical approach
for more than 10% of the total problems.
Formula oriented approach, seems to
be a good choice, when it comes to attempting the test in the given time. I
personally prefer this approach the most but would like to make a claim here. Chances
of getting a problem correct by theoretical approach is slightly more than by
the formula oriented approach. This is possibly because most formulae have few
exceptions, which we tend to ignore while solving a problem. On the contrary, in
case of theoretical approach, we go low, step by step, in detail, and we rarely
end up missing the exceptions.
Giving some examples to substantiate
my approaches:
1.
What
is the remainder if 4536453663 is divided by 45?
A) 18 B) 48 C)
63 D) 3
From the right theory given to me by
Prasanna , if the sum
of digits (successive sum) of the dividend and divisor both are 9, the
remainder has to be a multiple of 9. Clearly, the correct option is 18
Approach:
Some may confuse this with theoretical
approach, but I wouldn’t call it so. I was not knowing the background or
derivation of this property, neither had the time to validate that. What I used
was an obvious and rejecting options approach.
2.
xy + yx = 46, What is the value of x and y ?
Answer: 1 and 45
Approach:
No doubt this is nothing else than an
obvious answer using obvious approach.
3.
In
how many ways can we distribute 10 pencils to 4 students, so that each student
gets at least pencil?
Answer: 9C3
Approach:
One possibility is that the student may
actually derive something by mentioning various possibilities and counting
them. Though time consuming, this may give a correct answer.
However, for the ones, who already
know the background, will give the answer in matter of seconds, which I would
call a formula oriented approach.
4. There are five distinct
integers a, b, c, d, e in ascending order such that
(68-a)(68-b)(68-c)(68-d)(68-e)=725. What is a + b + c + d?
Answer:
Here, I would say we use and prefer theoretical
approach as we need to find the prime factors of 725 and then arrange them according
to the question. Factorization of the given number is the only way of coming
down to a solution, at least for me, which is nothing but pure theory.
All in all, in case of an aptitude test,
important is clearing the test and in the given time. Though we cannot
generalise one particular approach for all the questions, we can claim to use
one particular approach for majority of the questions. Considering the upsides
and downsides of the approaches mentioned so far, I would prefer to use a
formula oriented approach for clearing an aptitude test. However, I do not
debate that this approach will be helpful only if the student has used a theoretical
approach while preparation.
For my final verdict, I would like to
take reference of a theoretical approach J. Below are the theoretical claims:
1.
Voter
A wins 41 votes, Voter B wins 40 votes, others in total win 19 votes.
Voter A wins,
because he is in the majority.
2.
People
claim India to be a Hindu country from the fact that 79.8% of India’s population
is Hindu
This theory explains us the ‘rule of
majority’!
Similarly, if we are solving more
than 50% problems from a particular test by the formula oriented approach, we
can safely claim that this approach has the thumbs up than all other approaches.
Note: In case you observed, I have used
‘theoretical’ approach for preparing my verdict J
