Success in this course:

A. General advice:

Success in this course depends largely on your attitude and effort. Attendance and participation in class is critical. It is not effective to sit and copy notes without following the thought processes involved in the lecture. For example, you should try to answer the questions posed by your lecturer. Students who do not actively participate have much more difficulty. However, be aware that much of the learning of mathematics at the university takes place outside of the classroom. You need to spend time reviewing the concepts of each lecture before you attempt homework problems.

As with most college courses, you should expect to spend a minimum of 2 hours working on your own for every hour of classroom instruction (at least 8 hours per week). It can also be very helpful to study with a group. This type of cooperative learning is encouraged, but be sure it leads to a better conceptual understanding. You must be able to work through the problems on your own. Even if you work together, each student must turn in his or her own work, not a copied solution, on any collected individual assignment. You also must list the names of everyone you have collaborated with. (This does not apply to WebAssign submissions.)

B. Advice specifically for this class:

To do well in this class, you must have done well in your calculus sequence. Of particular importance is your ability to work with infinite series and with integration of functions which may have one or several arguments. For that reason, Math 323 is a course prerequisite.

Each homework assignment will specify what course material you must be prepared for by which date. You will be asked to review the material before it is taught in class. This is not enforceable, but if you follow this suggestion, then you know when to pay close attention during lecture, because I am addressing a topic that you had problems understanding. You are encouraged to form a group. Note once more that you are allowed to work in groups on homework solutions.

It is your responsibility to keep informed of all announcements, syllabus adjustments, or policy changes, regardless of whether they were made by email, on MyCourses, or during class.

Avoid failure:

There is a substantial positive correlation between success in this course and success in "engineering math" classes such as your standard Math 223 - Math 227 calculus sequence or the 400 level statistics classes. Nevertheless, be mindful of the following which might lead to a substantially different grade than the one you expected.

Unless you are very certain that you will do sufficiently well in this or any other class, keep your options open! Be sure that you can withdraw without losing your financial support or, if you are an international student, your student status!