13/08/2017
Learning Maths
• Many colleges know that some students will need extra help if they are to pass math and stay in school, so they try to make that extra help available. Take advantage of whatever is offered. If tutoring assistance isn’t available, there are plenty of math majors around who would love to earn a little bit of money each week.
• One of your best resources is your prof. They are required to keep office hours. Don’t be afraid to visit them and to ask for help with anything that you are having difficulty.
• There are multiple resources on the internet to help math students. Khan Academy is one that comes to mind, and it is free.
• There are also lots of supplemental workbooks that often explain concepts more clearly than do the textbooks, and offer lots of problem sets to work on (with solutions so that you can immediately check your work). Schaums outlines are tried and true, but there are others worth a look. Any college bookstore should have some of these.
• For some students, a study group MIGHT be helpful, but ONLY IF:
• the group is composed of serious students, not clowns that want to cut up;
• they meet in a place that is conducive to concentration and work; and
• they stay disciplined on task. Do be aware, however, that a study group runs the risk of being a case of the blind leading the blind.
One final note: The general rule of thumb is that for college-level courses you need to devote two hours of study for every hour of class time. That is an average for all courses, and for courses in which you are not having much trouble. For math courses, and especially if you find math a struggle, then you might very well need to devote as much as four hours of study for every hour of class time. That seems like a lot, but for many people that is what it takes.
