How Do I Get Help?
Tips for Success: First, here's some
advice for improving
your chances of doing well in this course:
- Read the textbook. This is your primary source of
instruction in this course.
- WORK PROBLEMS!!! The best way to learn mathematics is to do
mathematics. Work through the list of recommended problems for each
section until you understand the material. Do even more problems if you
are having trouble with a particular section.
- Get help. If you have made an honest effort to understand
a concept or to do a problem and are still struggling, get help. Make
use of the resources listed below. However, before you consult one of
the class tutors, make sure you have first read the material and tried
some of the homework problems. The best way for tutors to help you will
be for them to first look at your homework attempts to see where you
are having trouble.
- Keep up with the class schedule: Try to keep up with the
homework and reading, and get questions answered promptly. If you fall
behind by a week or more, it will be very hard to catch up. If you have
problems with a particular section, spend extra time and do extra
problems from that section, and get help as soon as possible from some
of resources listed below.
- Put in the time. This may be a very challenging course for
some of you. You should plan to spend about 15
hours of work per week on this course.
This is a big time commitment. It is imperative that you plan your
social life around your courses, not the other way around.
- Find a friend or group to work with. Mathematics is more
fun to learn, and can be better understood if you work with others.
Swapping ideas with others when you are all stuck on a hard problem,
quizzing each other before a test, or critically reading each other's
solutions to homework problems are all valuable ways to enhance your
(and others') understanding of the material. However, it is important
that all members contribute in such a group environment, and that each
student takes responsibility for her or his own learning and
understanding of the material.
- Don't wait until the deadline date to take a unit exam. If
you don't happen to feel well that day, or you get a flat tire, etc.,
then you're out of luck. Plan to take the exam on an earlier day when
you feel good. Also, if you take the exam on an earlier day and you do
poorly, you are allowed to repeat the exam on a later day if you wish.
Important Guidelines:
Here are three important guidelines that I expect
you to follow,
and which will help you do well in this course:
- Check the course website at least three times per week for recent announcements
and updated pages.
Since there are no class meetings, the course website is only way that
I can communicate with the class. Checking the website three times per
week is analogous to attending class in a normal class, and it just
takes a few minutes each time. As with all classes, sometimes
circumstances require minor changes to the class schedule and
structure. I also include important exam hints on the website, and you
don't want to miss them. Announcements and reminders are frequent, and
I expect you to read them.
- Read the unit exam
description before you take each unit exam. I often give
reminders and announcements about syntax, and other information about
exam questions. I expect you to read this information.
- Take several pretests before you take the proctored exam.
Past classes have found the pretests and practice exams extremely
useful study tools for the proctored exams. Sometimes the textbook is
rather thin in certain types of problems that I feel are important. In
addition, due to the limitations of computer-graded exams, some
questions have to be asked in a different manner than in the textbook.
Thus, taking the pretests and practice exams will alert you to the
types and formats of questions that I expect you to know in each
section.
Help Resources: Since this is a self-paced
course, you
cannot ask questions in class. Instead, you can use the many resources
given below
to help you understand the material in this course.
- Textbook answers: The answers to the odd-numbered
exercises are in the back of the book.
- Solutions manual: Solutions to the odd-numbered exercises
(except Appendix A) are available in the Student
Solutions Manual.
- CD Lecture Series: Your Student Study Pack comes with the
CD Lecture Series, which includes a large number of videos of worked
out examples of all the topics covered in the textbook. I highly
recommend that you view the examples from each section as you proceed
through the course.
- Unit Pretests: Take several Pretests on each unit
(preferably on different days) before you try the actual Unit Exam.
Organize your work in a notebook, with the pretest dated and each
problem numbered. After you take the pretest, you can print it out,
check over each problem, and get help with the problems that you
missed. This is one of the best methods for preparing for the exams.
- Algebra Review booklet: Your Student Study Pack comes
with an Algebra Review booklet. This course starts with a review of
some elementary and intermedicate material, and other topics are
reviewed at other points in the course. However, if you feel you need a
more extensive review of some topics, this Algebra Review booklet may
be a useful resource for you.
- Tutors: At the Prentice Hall Math Tutor
Center, you can receive tutoring on examples, exercises, and
problems in the texbook by phone, fax, or e-mail.
- Instructor: You can usually get
answers to questions about the course within one day by sending email
to math141x@math.iastate.edu
or math142x@math.iastate.edu.
If you need help with the mathematics course material, it is better to
first try the Prentice
Hall Math Tutor Center, or the Iowa State
University tutors listed below, but you can also send questions via
email or fax to the instructor.
- Private and group tutors: If you are really struggling,
and you need more individual help than the above resourses can provide,
you might consider hiring a personal tutor.
- Iowa State University resources:
Students who live near Iowa State University may also take advantage of
the following resources:
- Math Help Room: You can get help with the course
material in the Math Help Room in 385 Carver. The Help Room is open
9am-4pm, Monday-Friday.
- Mathematics Computer Lab: You can
get help with the course material in 250 Carver
Hall, one of the Mathematics
Computer Labs. Open hours for the
lab are posted outside the lab and also on the web at the following
link:
Occasionally the lab is reserved for a class or workshop. The
reservation schedule is also posted outside the lab and on the web at
the link above.
- Academic Success Center: The Academic
Success Center has programs to help you with any academic problems.
Programs include the Academic Learning Lab, Supplemental
Instruction, and Tutoring Services.
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