PHYS341 Classical Mechanics is a hard class -- if you find yourself struggling a bit, that it is OK. If you're not struggling at all, you're either unusually brilliant or you're not working hard enough.
That said, you shouldn't feel completely overwhelmed. If you do, please set up a meeting with me so we can strategize about how to improve things for you. This document provides some advice about this class. Not all of the advice will be applicable to everyone, but most of it will be for most of you.
The following approaches have been employed by past PHYS341 students to successfully fail the course:
Attend lecture sporadically -- Students who attend class regularly very rarely fail, and almost every student who has failed only attended class occasionally, if at all. Remember that we work homework problems in class.
Don't turn in your homework -- Homework is worth the most of all assignments (40% of your grade), so consistently failing to turn in your homework can easily cause you to fail the course. Homeworks will also be graded fairly gently, so you should at least attempt all of the problems, even if you can't finish them.
Never contact Prof. Jackson -- If you start to struggle for whatever reason (life issues, the material is just too hard), please reach out. I can't guarantee I can accommodate you, but often there are tweaks I can implement to make things easier. Almost every past student who failed class essentially disappeared without a trace at some point during the semester.
There is a vast research literature on studying techniques. I've provided a short summary and my own suggestions below. For additional information, google "study skills", consult with the Boise State Advising And Academic Support Center, or talk to me. Much of the following advice comes from this website.
Schedule regular times during the week to study -- PHYS341 is a 4-credit hour class. That means the school expects you are working at least 8 hours a week outside of class. You should schedule about that much time each week for the class, and your study sessions should happen on the same days and at the same times, week to week. Studies show that scheduling your work time has tremendous academic and psychological benefits. If you do not have a calendar, get one!
Spread your studying out -- Schedule about two hours a day four or five days a week. But you should not study for two hours straight. Take a 10-minute break after about 60 minutes in to stretch, go for a short walk (but do NOT hop on the internet). Studies show that regular breaks significantly improve productivity.
Reward yourself for your work -- You can keep up motivation by rewarding yourself after a long study session. A little sugary snack can help since low blood sugar measurably depletes your mental faculties.
Form study groups -- Even if you don't work with your group mates, scheduling study sessions with others will impose peer pressure to keep to your study regimen.
Do not multi-task -- Don't leave "The Office" playing in the background while you study. Turn off Instagram notifications. Avoid all distractions during your study session. You cannot multi-task as effectively as you can single-task -- no one can.
Take notes by hand -- Again, studies show that writing notes by hand increases retention. Also, using your laptop or tablet to take notes will tempt you to check in on social media.
Read your textbook -- Read through each section, taking notes on the important points. Then, go back and work through the example problems. At your next study session, spend 10 minutes reviewing the previous session's notes. Write down any questions you have and bring them to class.
Work through the homework solutions -- After a homework assignment has been turned in, I will post detailed solutions. Review those solutions.
Use any available resource -- The internet is an excellent resource for studying, but just beware of the temptation to stray off task.