Q: What is the best way to study?

A: That is a very good question. Different things work for different people. Having said that, in this course, the book provides the focus. One reasonable strategy is simply to do all the exercises. If you solve them all without reading a single page of text, please come talk to me. I would still recommend reading the text afterwards, as well as watching the videos, just to compare notes, but you might also consider writing your own text. Most likely, though, you will find that in order to solve the exercises, you will need to read the text and watch the videos and perhaps ask some questions and that is perfectly fine and normal. Last year, many students commented that they found the Worked Examples section particularly rewarding, as well as the Review of the Key Ideas section. If you ever start doubting that linear algebra is the coolest thing in the world, you may want to take another glance at the applications section. Also, you should never feel like you are wasting time doing silly routine number crunching. Life is too short for that. For example, once you understand elimination to the point that you could easily write a computer program in the middle of the night in five minutes and once you can construct examples illustrating the various scenarios that can happen along the way, it is time to move on. And, by the way, the program has already been written, so feel free to use it. It saves time, encourages experimentation, builds intuition and sits well on your resume. Another idea is to try to make the material very relevant to you by thinking about a project as early as possible. Chances are nobody will ever ask you about your grade. Instead, life will ask you whether you can solve real world problems. The hardest part there is mathematical modeling, that is translating real world problems into mathematical language. Spending some time on applications early on will give you a head start and an early confidence that will return with interest.