Difficulty in studying

[cat]

I are now reading the materials. But I found the materials are very beief and abstract. I even don't know what is their meaning.

For example like the concept of beta distribution approach and kernel modeling in credit risk topic. There is no example and clear elaboration of how the approachs are working. I found many concepts have this problem. Does it mean I need to memorize the concept by heart without understanding. Or I need to find other reference to study. Pls help.

 

[PrixG]

Good question. I saw the first video, but only understood when I did the exercises. But it took me a long time to get through all of them. Now I saw the second video and couldn't understand most of the subjects again. If I go in this speed, the test will be over and I won't even got halfway.

 

[Aleksander Hansen]

My recommendation:

You should reference the core readings for in-depth treatment of certain topics. Keep in mind that it is impossible for David to provide the same detail of information about every single thing unless he writes material the size of a couple of books - which defeats the whole purpose of the notes.

I would say:

1. Watch the videos to get a general idea of the topics that are covered, as well as some tips;
2. read the notes to elaborate on the material and try to follow the examples and understand the key concepts.
3. Then if it is still unclear, pick up the core-reading, or e.g. a statistics book, to get more information on a topic you don't have a strong background in.
4. Do exercises until you drop. I would normally put this one ahead of 3. , but if you really want to know the details of, e.g. a beta function you have to reference a stats book.

To use a very, very silly analogy, think of it as looking at earth from space: you see everything, but in general terms (videos) ; then you can zoom in to get more details (notes) and then you can keep zooming in until you reach the level of granularity you desire (core readings or reference books). But to really comprehend what you're looking at, just staring at it will not suffice, you have to actually get your hands dirty and do some exercises to see whether your observations and intuition correspond to reality.

 

[Jas]

I second what Aleksander says. Do not presume that just watching videos or reading brief notes is enough for you to understand the detailed aspects of Risk Management. Try to alternate between watching videos and reading in detail about the topic to get a hold onto the basics. If you are facing trouble with absolute basics, it might be a good idea to refer to David's free videos on youtube as a capsule for the particular topic.
http://www.youtube.com/user/bionicturtledotcom

Then pick up the exercises and go crazy with them. Try to make use of the excel sheets given by David to construct your own examples and see if you are on the right path. Do problems at the end of chapter etc etc.

Watching the videos will set you on the correct path, you have to tread that path with detailed reading.

 

[Hend Abuenein]

Hi,
I had to go back to basic statistics books various times, I also checked Investopedia.com on several concepts.
But, to memorize through many of the conceptual topics (especially in part II) I used cognitive exercises of feed-in feed back, and a whole lot of mind mapping. Ultimately, like Aleksander said, doing PQs is the best exercise.

Good luck

 

[PrixG]

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[cat]

Thanks all of you.