FAQ
Questions about teaching, grades, studying etc...
How can I best succeed in your class?
I teach mathematics and computer science to undergraduate and graduate students. The following advice applies to undergrads. Presumably, graduate students know how to succeed or else they would not have reached this far.
Most elementary (100-300 level) mathematics classes at the undergraduate level, especially service courses (i.e. course for non-mathematics majors) are easy, dreadfully easy; yet most of these classes have 40% to 60% failure rates. This is true across classes, professors and universities all over the country. Why is that? I believe it is because students fresh out of high school have no clue how to work at mathematics. They seem used to classes where showing up, half awake, is enough to pass. Not in my class nor in any of my colleague's class. You have to be awake and you have to work. Specifically you have to do problems, then more problems, then some more problems. And when you think you have done enough, you do more problems.You have to do them intelligently (more on this later). Every textbook has thousands of problems. Do them all and you will succeed. I guarantee you that you will succeed. Do only a couple of problems per week and I can almost guarantee that you will fail. Is that not nice? You have a recipe that guarantees you will pass the course. Please apply it!
In computer science, essentially nobody fails. It may partly be because people who take CS are interested in the material and want to understand. People are rarely forced to take CS classes. But, if you want advice for a CS class here it is: pay attention to details and understand every algorithm presented and every language construct! The one type of mistake that I see with any regularity is in classes with a fair amount of programming. The mistake is what I would call cut-and-paste programming. This is when a student does not really understand the language or the algorithm but has found somewhere (usually on the 'net) a piece of code that seems to be doing almost what he wants. He then proceeds to cut-and-paste that piece of code on his homework and attempts to modify it. This leads to two things, usually: horrendous code and a deeper misunderstanding of the problem at hand. Usually a homework is meant to improve understanding but using this technique almost always leads to students getting deeper into an intellectual morass of incomprehension.
What is the best way to get in touch with the instructor?
The best ways are, in order:
No! Let me repeat: NO! Email is the only interruption of my work that I tolerate. You may think you only interrupt me for five minutes but I have hundreds of students. You do the math.
This question is frequent and highlights the poor preparation some students have for a university education. Here are some obvious mistakes and fixes:
Tests are not the best way we have of verifying that students have learned the material but, especially in elementary classes with a large number of students, I must resort to tests. This means that students must be ready to take tests. To be ready, it helps to have done problems under simulated test conditions: Whenever you think you are ready, that you have studied enough and have done enough problems. Pick up an old test of mine and try to do it under an hour, or whatever the time limit for the test is. I post old tests on my course page; there are copies floating around on campus. If you cannot find an old test, look at your textbook. Unless you have done all the problems already, you can certainly pick 10 or so at random and try to do them in an hour or less. (If you have done all the problems, you are ready; don't worry.)
During the semester, and at the end, you can compute your OU grade on the 0-4 scale from your current grade in percentages. Below is the graph of the function that does it. Find your current percentage grade on the x-axis and read your OU grade on the y-axis. Note that if you get below 50%, you get 0.0.
I spend a lot of time putting up your results for each homework, quiz, test on the web. Use this to gauge your progress throughout the semester. Grades, all through the semester, are posted on the course web page corresponding to the course you are taking, under "current grades"; By keeping an eye on that page, you can monitor your progress, compare yourself to the rest of the class, and tell me of any mistakes in my grade-book you may notice.
After the final exam is marked, I update the web page to show the
final grade sent to the registrar's office. Don't ask me "Are you
finished grading yet?". When I am done, I will post the grades.