All through my life, I was a "plug and try" type of student when it came to things like algebra and quadratic equations etc. My rate (and accuracy) at solving

All through my life, I was a "plug and try" type of student when it came to things like algebra and quadratic equations etc. My rate (and accuracy) at solving those problems was roughly equivalent to my peers who did it the 'proper' way. Even in more fiendishly difficult maths like calculus, I found the 'shortcut' methods much easier to understand, digest and use than the longer, verbose first principles method. As a corollary to that, I absolutely hated spelling bees at school because while I was excellent at spelling, I simply could not do it by visualising a series of letters in my head in order. I always had to write a word down, then correct the spelling (or not) depending on whether it 'looked' right to me. I had to see the full word before beginning the process of analysis and correction. I could not build the word (accurately) letter by letter in consecutive order. I presume that my brain is just wired differently and processes information differently. Which is why nowadays I object to standardised methods of teaching and testing young people. Not everyone fits in the same thinking box IMO.