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Study Tips 10260 PDF

The document provides tips for students taking Business Calculus to help ensure their success in the course. It emphasizes the importance of consistent practice through completing homework problems and online quizzes regularly. Students should aim to fully understand the course material and be able to solve problems independently. The document offers specific suggestions for getting the most out of classroom instruction, completing homework, taking online quizzes, and preparing for exams through consistent review and practice.

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J Sales
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55 views3 pages

Study Tips 10260 PDF

The document provides tips for students taking Business Calculus to help ensure their success in the course. It emphasizes the importance of consistent practice through completing homework problems and online quizzes regularly. Students should aim to fully understand the course material and be able to solve problems independently. The document offers specific suggestions for getting the most out of classroom instruction, completing homework, taking online quizzes, and preparing for exams through consistent review and practice.

Uploaded by

J Sales
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Suggestions and Tips for Success in Business Calculus “By failing to prepare,

you are preparing to fail.”


~ Benjamin Franklin.

Learning mathematics takes consistent practice. Much of the opportunities for practice are
furnished by the homework problems and online quizzes that you need to turn in regularly. In
addition to homework problems, you should also honestly “test” yourself with extra problems in
the textbook, and exam reviews. Your performance in these “self-tests” could give you a good
gauge of your understanding of the material taught in class.

Aim to achieve ownership of mathematical knowledge.

By that we mean you could:

(1) Identify the tools needed to solve a given problem.

(2) Carry out the process of solution in a reasonable time frame without help from a tutor or peer.

(3) Give a reason for each step in the solution of the problem.

(4) Obtain insights from your computation besides giving a number.

Although we recognize that some individuals are more gifted in mathematics, consistency in
your learning is still required to improve your chance of success. Mathematics is a hard
subject; for many, much has to be done just to get by. However, the skills you gain and the
opportunities opened to you from your training in the subject will make the challenges you face
worthwhile. These skills are required in your future employment. For instance, see:

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_04/b3968006.htm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/6954666.stm

Meet with your instructor whenever you feel that you are falling behind or have trouble
understanding the material to the level listed above. In addition to your instructor, you could also
get help from Math department tutoring, and the LRC. For details look up:

http://www.nd.edu/~m10260/general/help.html

Ultimately, students need to be able to solve the problems by themselves. But you will be helped
by the guided experience provided by the course. Use the resources available to you to support
your learning. These resources include your instructor, tutoring services, and practice problems.

Many students in the past have been successful in Business Calculus.

With that said, we wish to give advice on how you should manage your time, and tips for
handling various learning activities of the course, including the examinations.
Getting the Most of Classroom Instruction
Be in class and be prepared to listen attentively and take notes. The handout for each class gives a
good idea of the material you need to understand.

Work out all examples in the handouts. You should be able to work these out on your own in a
reasonable time frame. Most problems should take no more than 20 minutes if you have grasped
the material. You should be able to reason out and explain each step of your work.

Identify the material in the handout that you do not understand, and examples that you have a
hard time working out or take a long time to complete.

Ask for help immediately. We highly encourage that you speak with your instructor about this
material before the next class or at least on the same day as the next class. The point is to
promptly resolve any confusion as soon as possible. You may still need to “test” yourself with
a few similar problems after meeting with your instructor.

Completing Your Homework


Start working on your homework by the end of each lesson since homework is collected every
class day. At least have an idea of how much time and help you need to complete your
homework.

Getting started early gives a good margin of time to complete on your homework.

Mark out those you have confidence doing and those you do not know how to start. Work on at
least a couple of them to know how much help you need. You are expected to complete about 5 to
8 problems every day.

Attempt those problems that you are confident in completing first. Work on those that you are
unsure of. Give yourself a full 20 minutes to seriously attempt these problems.

Ask for help promptly if you still cannot do your homework. Bring along your scratch work.

File your homework immediately when it is returned. You will need it for reviewing.

Taking the Online Quiz


Know when the online quizzes are available. Their schedule is posted at:

http://www.nd.edu/~m10260/homework/concourse.html

Print out a copy of the quiz from CONCOURSE and work out the quiz with paper and pencil as
you would for your homework. Keep your work for review later.

Log in and get acquainted with Concourse. Do a browser check and Java check before you start
your quiz. We highly recommend that you use Firefox as your browser.

Save your work when you enter your answer.

Be aware that all online activities on Concourse are recorded and could be tracked. If you report
any technical problems you faced on Concourse, your record will first be tracked and report
verified before any actions are taken. You are expected to uphold the Honor Code.
Taking the Online Quiz (continue…)

Many students like to submit a blank quiz to get the numerical answers for each problem. They
work on the submitted quiz to ensure that their concepts and methods are correct. Then they start
a new quiz for submission of their work.

Do not wait till the last minute to complete and submit your quiz.

Preparing for Exams


Give yourself a week to prepare for each midterm (or final) exam. Get all the material you need
to go through:

Review sheet
Online quiz
Past year exams
Class handout
Homework

There is obviously a lot of material to be covered. However, learning the course material
should be a consistently on-going process and should NOT take place merely the week before
the exam.

Start with the review sheet. Mark out all the problems that you are confident of solving, those
for which you need to refresh your memory, and those you totally do not know how to attack.

Attempt as many problems on the review sheet as possible before review sessions.

Ask for help promptly from tutors and instructors. Bring along your attempts and scratch work;
they help us see how to best facilitate your learning.

Attend review sessions. Please note that going to reviews session alone does not mean that you
are ready for the test.

Test yourself with an exam from a previous year and with the online quizzes. You need to be
able to solve a problem by reasoning out each step of the solution.

Look for more practice problems in topics that you are still uncomfortable with. It is a good idea
to work out those problems in the class handout for these topics. See your instructor.

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