The final review sheet and final exam formula sheet are on
the course
web page.
A televised review session:
(with live call-in questions from
students) on the Rutgers TV network: check the course web page for
info.
Homework assignments:
Each Tuesday in recitation the homework due is from the sections
discussed
in the lectures of Monday and Thursday of the week before.
You need to work all the problems pertaining to these sections and
listed in Homework
Problems.
The solutions
of the even-numbered problems need to be written up and turned in
recitation --- this is the written paper
homework;
(To write up solutions
start with the number and text of the problem, then write the solution
showing all your work, and box the final answer. An answer alone may
not
receive full credit!).
At the end of the recitation period you may have a quiz.
Quiz problems will be very similar to the homework problems.
Also, each week
WebWorK
is due before recitation (the deadline for
these
sections is 3 a.m. on Tuesdays). The two lowest grades will be dropped
for the final WebWork grade.
No late homeworks will be
accepted!
Final grade:
will take into account the following
First midterm exam ...
100 points
Second midterm exam ... 100 points
Final
exam
... 200 points
Quizzes
... 40 points
Written paper homework 40 points
WeBWork
... 40 points
...............................................................
Maximum total number of points ...
520 points
Frequently asked
question:
Q: How can I get the good grade
that I want?
A:
Learning mathematics is much like training to perform well in
a sport. If your goal in lifting weights is, say lift 50 lbs. by
December 15, and now you can lift only 30 lbs., what do you need to
do? Well, going to the gym on December 13 and 14 and training as much
as you can is very unlikely to help. But if you start training now, a
few times a week, gradually building muscle and lifting larger and
larger weights, by mid December you will get amazing results.
In the same way, the way to learn mathematics is by studying every
week. You need to study the new ideas, way of thinking, and techniques
presented in the textbook and during lecture. Study the examples
provided and make sure that you see how every step follows logically
from the assumptions of the problem and the definitions, theorems and
rules of calculations provided in the text. A test for a good
understanding is to ask yourself if this is how you would solve the
problem yourself. (However, many problems can be solved in more than
one way: if you think you found another way, ask your recitation or
lecture instructor if it is correct --- you will learn a great deal!)
Then start working on the suggested homework problems. Start with the
easy problems (labeled A). Check you answer. If it is correct, go to
the next problem. If it is not correct, then first check your
calculations, then check your logic, by comparing your solution with
the examples provided in the text or lecture. You must find where the
error was: try yourself, ask a friend, go to office hours of your
instructor or TA, ask during recitation (this is what recitations are
for!). Then pinpoint and remember what precisely was your mistake ---
this is part of learning math.
The best time for reading (or re-reading) the material in the textbook
and start practicing the homework problems is right after each lecture
(or later, but during the same day). This way you can take advantage
of the short-term memory to fix it for longer term. You will save a
lot of time by studying this way!
And last, but not least, make sure your study keeps the pace of the
lecture. Do not fall behind, since every section builds on the
preceding ones!
This is my advice for building your brain math muscle. It takes a bit
of discipline and will to work a bit and constantly, but the reward
is: achieving your goal!