Students have many resources available to use in learning the course material in addition to the text, posted videos, and the assigned problem sets. These include

  • Interaction with the Instructor- Your instructor has office hours. These are times set aside for the purpose of answering questions from students. Make sure to use this time. If you cannot meet in person, you can always email.
  • Interaction with Other Students- You are encouraged to form study groups and/or ask questions of your peers. It is a great way to be accountable and keep up with the material.
  • Math & Stat Center (MSC)- Free drop-in tutoring online. For complete information, please visit the MSC website.  [Formally known as the Math Learning Center or MLC.]
  • Smarty Cats- This is a MSU resource for any class on campus. It offers low cost tutoring by undergraduates. For more info, please visit the Smarty Cats Website.
  • Computer Algebra Systems- While Wolfram Alpha, Symbolab, or Maxima can be useful for very lengthy calculations or can check many of your hand calculations, you will be be expected to demonstrate the ability to perform some computations by hand on exams and quizzes. Don’t let this be a crutch for you will not be allowed to use this on exams or quizzes.
  • Posted Online Videos- There are many posted videos available on this website. It includes videos from Montana State University as well as other websites. They have all been verified to be accurate.
  • Anything Else- There are many free resources available on the web that may be helpful. Beware, however, that the quality and accuracy of these resources vary. If you find a helpful website or video, feel free to share it with the other students.

Keys to Success: To be successful in this course, a student must be an active participant in their own learning. This requires motivation, time management, and discipline. Here are some strategies that will be effective:

  • Get Started Early- Get started learning the material early. You will retain and understand the material better if you do a small amount of work each day for a few days than if you try to cram the week’s material into one day. Plus, starting early gives you plenty of time to get questions answered in the math learning center or by your instructor. Set aside specific times each week that you will devote to the course work. If you work a job during the day or are more of a night owl, pretend that the homework is due the day before it actually is; that way, you will be sure to get it done in time, and you will have the next day to get any remaining questions answered. Do not wait until the last minute!
  • Work Examples- A math textbook is not good bedtime reading. You should be actively working while you are reading. Get out paper and pencil and read through the text and examples, working through each step on your paper. If you do not understand a step, go back and work through it again. Progress may be quite slow, but your time will be rewarded by a better understanding of the material.
  • Print Out Homework- Print out the WebWork problems and do them first carefully with paper and pencil. Remember that, although WebWork only requires an answer, exams will be taken with paper and pencil. On exams and quizzes, it will be important that you show your work and that your work is clear and legible. Your method is as important as your final answer! Practice this on your WebWork assignments.
  • Don’t overuse your Calculator- Do your WebWork assignments without a calculator. There are a few WebWork problems that do expect numerical answers, but most problems do not require a calculator. For example, suppose you find that an answer to a problem is: √ (5)/ 3 + sin(π/4) You could get out your calculator and find that this equals 1.45246 . . ., then input 1.4525 into the WebWork blank. However, it is better to input the whole expression and let WebWork handle the calculation. In this example, you would input: sqrt(5)/3+sin(pi/4) or if asked to evaluate the trig function exactly: sqrt(5)/3+sqrt(2)/2 These are better for three reasons. If you need to use this answer in another part of the problem, you can simply cut and paste and/or modify your entry appropriately in the new blank. This eliminates any rounding errors that might cause your second answer to be counted as incorrect if the rounded decimal form is used. Secondly, if you enter decimal answers, it is virtually impossible for the instructor to understand what you are doing to arrive at that answer. This makes it difficult for the instructor to diagnose the problem by looking at your previous answers. Finally, you will not be allowed calculators on your exams, so you should not become dependent on it. Kick the calculator habit!
  • Use Webwork Homework as a Tool-You should view the WebWork homework as a tool for accessing and evaluating your understanding of the course material. Getting a high homework score is desirable, of course. However, that should not be your only goal. WebWork questions vary in difficulty and relevance, but they will often follow an example in the book quite closely. All you are required to input is the answer, and it may be possible to get that answer by shortcut methods (guessing, finding a pattern in previous answers, etc). It is not in your best interest to take shortcuts; any additional points you get by these methods will be negated by points you miss on an exam or quiz where the problems may be different and you will be expected to show all of your work. There is nobody looking over your shoulder to make sure you are doing the WebWork problems honestly, so you need to police yourself. If you get a correct answer but are not totally confident of the method, go back and work it again.
  • Seek Help if Needed- If you are having difficulty with a concept or question, it is up to you to seek help from your instructor, other students, log on to the Math Learning Center or ask a tutor. You should attempt to be an honest evaluator of your own understanding. Constantly ask yourself, ‘How well do I understand this concept?’ One way to evaluate this is to pick a problem from the end of the section in the book. If you can’t get started or keep getting stuck, then you clearly are lacking some necessary component of understanding. So seek out help. There is no shame in getting assistance. Learning mathematics alone is difficult for everyone and often you just need a nudge back in the right direction. Make sure the help you are getting is directed at your conceptual understanding and not just how to get the final answer. Whether or not you get a particular answer correct or not on your homework will have a negligible effect on your course grade, but whether or not you understand the underlying concept will ultimately have an effect on your course grade through higher exam scores.