Pat-cube counting:how keep track of what you're counting?

[katiyalooca]

oK, so i'm having major trouble with cube counting. how do you know what cube you are counting when you have to look down onto your paper to make a mark, and then to look back up to the computer......

my trick is to move the mouse on the cube that i'm counting WITH MY LEFT HAND, and then mark the numbers with my right hand. when i look back up, i would know which cube it is by having the mouse on it right cube.

also, on the real dat how many questions per figure? is there any use in counting the sides for every single cube, or is it better to look at the question first, and go thru each cube to see if it the number asked in the question?

thanks for your answers, i hope i wasn't too confusing!

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[Philippines03j]

On the DAT you should get 100% on the cube counting. The figures on my dat only had 12-16 or so cubes per figure and about 3 questions per figure. It is easy enough to count all the cubes and all the sides. That almost garuntees you will get them all right.

to your first delema. Develop a pattern of counting. I generally looked at the bottom row starting on the left counted all the number of sides for all of them. You should be able to glance at it and know so you would say in your mind for example 3,2,2,1,3 and then mark your tallies on the paper in that order. Then move on from there. The key is to be consistant in the way you count them. Hope that helps, even a little.

 

[katiyalooca]

thanks for your response. i suppose my problem is that i don't yet recognize a cube is 3 or 2 sides painted until i physically count it out, and by then i will lose track of what i had counted the cube before! so therefore i need to write everything down immediately after i count it....

 

[hausee]

I count by layer. different layer seperated by a line. something like

2,3,1,4,2,5,
------------
2,1,3,4,2,3,5
------------
..........ETC.

 

[ZzZzSleepyhead]

I start with the bottom most cubes and then work my way up(if there are any). I also try to maintain a left to right pattern (sometimes its hard with cubes going away from you) so I don't stuff mix up my cubes.

 

[bennijai]

One strat is to count from a certain order (left to right, bottom to top) and use your fingers to tally. ie. question asks for cube with 3 sides, u will count from left to right and tally the ones with 3 sides with your finger.

Another strat is to count from a certain order once again. As you count write down the number of sides exposed on the sheet. ie. 2, 3, 4, 2, 2, 1. Then when they ask you for the cube with an "x" number of sides you can count it up on your sheet.

I tested both methods and the time difference is very similar. It depends which one you're more comfortable with and how effective you are at the techniques.

 

[americanpierg]

I also start from bottom left, then i count all the cubes on the entire left column, then move on the the next column, untill i get to the end. I don't keep track of how many of each cubes there are, because if i screw up i can get 3 wrong easily, so i spend an extra 15 or so seconds on each question restarting my counting.

i do everything on the PAT, holepunch, TFE, etc, in my head, so i guess thats just me. If im looking for how many has 4 sides, I go... 1,2,3,4,5... 1,2... 1,2...1,2...1,2,3,4,1... 1,2,3... 1,2... 1,2,3,4,2... 1,2,3... 1,2,3,4,3... etc

 

[Extirpator]

Personally, I didn't write anything... that way you end up rechecking your work every question (for the same figure).

 

[minotaur9]

The first thing I do is count how many cubes there are, like 17, that way I make sure to identify every cube, I write it down at the top of the chart, then I go from front to back, left to right, and chart them all out in the rows, 0..1...2..3...and so on
then i go back and count all the 1's, 2's etc, and make sure it adds up to 17 or whatever, i usually get 100% on cube counting, hope this helps 🙂

 

[hausee]

how is ur timing?