The Benefits of Having Multiple Strategies for Getting the Right Answer

When practice has low variability, we often adopt shortcuts that won't necessarily generalize to the broader conditions of a task. This is one reason I caution students when using flashcards for subjects like mathematics. Having multiple strategies for solving a problem is especially important when you aren't yet at the level of mastery. It ensures not only that you have backups that you can fall upon when more difficult methods fail but also gives you different reasoning paths to reach the right answer in a pinch.