Responsibilities

Thanks go to many for helping compile these ideas, especially Deanna Murphy, Mary Stinnett, and Don McNair.

For Students

Ask questions! The instructor does not know what is confusing to you unless you ask questions.

Be aware of the current topic and work towards mastering it. Avoid being "sort of" proficient at important topics. Be aware of how a new topic relates to old topics.

Never be content not understanding a class topic you are expected to understand. Ask questions! Learn it promptly. Visit office hours, schedule special office hours, or get help from the MRC or friends.

The MRC offers excellent and free tutoring. The MRC also has videos and step-by-step answer keys that go with our textbook, and can provide access to a website that goes with our textbook.

Do not fall behind. It is expected that students might be very confused about the current topic -- after all, if students already understood it we would not need to teach it. But students should not be confused about past topics. If this is your situation do not despair, but prioritize getting the help you need. Use office hours, the MRC, the textbook, help from friends, or other resources to catch up if you notice yourself falling behind.

Do not rely on extra credit to help your grade. There are no extra credit assignments. The final exam will have a few extra problems you can choose which to skip; doing all the problems allows you to earn a few extra points.

Plan your term wisely, and budget your time carefully. Keep aware of deadlines. Know when you will have quizzes, midterms, and the final exam. If you are in the wrong class, change by the end of the second week. If you wish to change your grading option, do so by the end of the eighth week.

Attend classes. You are paying for an education; if you choose not to show up that's your business, but it's about as smart as ordering a pizza to go and then never picking it up.

Keep in touch when absent. You will not be able to "make up" a late assignment or missed midterm unless you notify me about the absence or missed work before the start of the next class.

Be aware of your dominant learning styles. Ask for instruction that fits how you learn. For example, if you are primarily an auditory learner then after the instructor does something during lecture ask if he or she can explain it out loud a second way. If you are a visual learner, read textbook sections thoroughly before we get to them in class.

Write neatly and organize your written work. For every problem, show at least one step or write an explanatory comment. Developing your ability to communicate mathematically in writing is incredibly important for future success in math classes.

Be polite. Be helpful to classmates who do not "get" something you understand. Talking during lecture should be at most a quick and quiet whisper to help a confused neighbor (but it usually would be better if the neighbor asked a question!). Wait to pack up your materials until the class is dismissed. Keep all your papers. No phones or headphones during any kind of test.

An "Incomplete" grade is reserved for special situations when a student, otherwise passing, needs to finish the course during the first few days of the next term. An NC ("No Basis for Credit") grade is given to students who do not complete enough work (70% of the work) to earn a justifiable grade; this means that a student who is otherwise failing can avoid the final exam to choose a grade of NC instead of a failing letter grade, which may be important for financial aid reasons.

Textbook Use

Taking full advantage of a math textbook deserves a section of its own. Many students find these techniques very helpful. Thanks go to Cathy Miner and Dan Hodges for first writing up some of these ideas.

Skim the section before it is discussed in class. (As mentioned before, read it carefully if you are a visual learner.) Also skim the section in your notes for the previous lecture. This will provide the best mental framework to help your brain process new information, as well as give you a "heads up" for what you might need to ask questions about.

Bring the textbook to all classes!

Reread the section carefully before you start your homework. Then go back to an example problem, cover its last step, and try to solve that lest step yourself. Do this for an example problem of each type. Also, if you have a learning style that needs a lot of repetition, cycle through these key example problems trying more than once to solve the last step or two (or three) of each problem.

Put an easy, medium, and hard problem from each textbook section on an index card to make math flashcards. Also include any problems from the homework that are especially troublesome. Use these flashcards every week or two: not too often or you will memorize the particular problems.

Do the textbook's practice tests and cumulative review tests. When doing practice tests, pretend they are real tests: find a place to work without distractions, do not use notes, and save hard problems for last. When taking the test, if you cannot do a problem skip over it: finish the practice test first and later on investigate how to do the problems that stumped you (and add them to your flashcards).

Homework

Helpful Habits

Do homework, if possible with others.

Notice that homework is not worth a lot of points because it is not intended to be done by yourself. Homework is more fun, efficient, and helpful if done with other students.

A typical Math 20 to Math 70 student spends 1-2 hours each day on homework.

When doing homework, build the habit of asking yourself if each answer you get is reasonable. Check your odd answers every few problems so you do not practice bad habits.

If you are having trouble, reread the section and/or your notes. Work forward from the concepts, not backwards from the answer key.

Note that most homework has only odd answers in the back of the book, but the textbook's review pages (chapter and cumulative) and chapter tests have both odd and even answers in the back of the book.

Levels of Math Understanding

Thanks go to Cathy Miner for this material.

There are three levels of math understanding.

At the first, you can follow what the instructor does on the board and be helped by lecture.
At the second, you can do "open book" work and so most of your homework problems are correct.
At the third, you can do "closed book" work and succeed on a test without notes and with the pressure of a time limit.

It is completely normal to have different levels of math understanding for the different math topics in different chapters. And it is completely normal for the differences between levels of understanding to seem surprisingly dramatic.

The levels of understanding are why homework is so important! Homework is what differentiates students who only understand others' work from students who can do the work themselves; as Tom Foster says, "Homework is the foundation of civilization."

Try prompt homework problems within 24 hours of seeing new math topics, to find your level of understanding for each new topic. This often takes about half an hour: two or three problems for each new topic is usually enough.

Do enough homework problems to master the topic within 3 days of seeing new math topics. Don't fall behind!

Math 20 does not include weekly quizzes. It is your responsibility to do both "prompt" and "enough" homework problems, so you can budget your study time and keep track of how well you understand each topic. Make a checklist of math topics as the term progresses!

For the Instructor

I stop and ask for questions. During lecture and after doing any problem on the board I stop and ask if anyone has questions. I may even call on students, especially if a few students are dominating the discussion while others are not participating at all.

I am aware of student learning styles. At the start of the term I use two colors of chalk to denote "board work" and "commentary". To help teach students to be effective note takers in later math classes I will transition to including less written commentary on the board. This does not mean I wish to be insensitive to visual learners, and I remain happy to write commentary as requested. The class also includes a few hands-on projects for kinesthetic learning.

I have organized lectures. Before each class I'll write on the board what we will be doing that day. When introducing a topic I have examples selected beforehand. I sometimes prepare step-by-step answers to problems as handouts or board work. (Usually I do not prepare all the steps of problems we do, to slow me down to note-taking speed and to demonstrate that success in math is about understanding concepts rather than perfection in mental arithmetic.)

I do short-term review each class. For the sake of smooth continuity, each class should start with some review of the previous lecture. In case the questions from students do not cover the "core" of what was covered during the previous lecture, I will have ready a problem from the material that does this.

I provide practice exams and time in class to partly go over them together. This is the most efficient way I know to do long-term review as a group. Although students are responsible for asking questions, I sometimes help by providing obvious choices of what to ask questions about.

I plan unscheduled hours. The term includes a couple days during which no new material will be presented. These are initially scheduled during the last week of class time as review days. During the term, if it becomes apparent we need to spend extra time on a topic, I will move one of the "extra" days to avoid rushing through material.

I plan less-scheduled time. A few classes will deliberately have lecture end early to give students some time to get started on homework in groups during class time. Please do not abandon class early! The topics for which I do this are ones for which the homework generates worthwhile questions. During these times of group work I will pause working to share things on the board.

I help students learn note-taking. Learning about note-taking during a math lecture is not an official part of the curriculum, but it is something many students need to work on. Note-taking for math is different than note-taking for other subjects.

I help students share notes. I do not give out many notes. However, I will be happy to post student notes in one of the departmental glass-fronted display cases. Please let me know if you are willing to share your notes.

I welcome ideas from students. Sometimes it is appropriate to take a tangent from the lecture to pursue a student's "what if?" type of idea. I also welcome comments, especially during office hours, about how the curriculum or my teaching can be improved.

I share logic puzzles and critical thinking problems. Although these may not be directly related to the curriculum they help keep your brain "in shape" so your problem solving has good form, the way a runner also does arm exercises to be in shape and have good form while running.

I have consistent expectations for "good" answers to math problems. My standards are the same for problems I do at the board, homework solutions, and answers on quizzes and tests.

I grade no stricter than 100% - 97% = A+, 96% - 93% = A, 92% - 90% = A-, 89% - 87% = B+, 86% - 83% = B, 82% - 80% = B-, 79% - 77% = C+, 76% - 73% = C, 72% - 70% = C-, < 70% = D. The letter grade F is only used to indicate a student punished for behavioral issues such as cheating or verbally attacking a classmate.

I am prohibited by College policy from sharing grade information by phone or e-mail.