It has been shown that when students set up their schedule and start online math courses on time, they are 90% more likely to succeed. Students who wait until the second week to start an online math course are only 60% likely to succeed, and those who begin in the third week succeed in the class only 6% of the time.
Set up a weekly schedule, designating specific times to work on this course. This will help ensure there is time to complete the assignments and get help as needed. A course schedule is available in Canvas to help you track your progress and outline what you should be working on daily.
As this course is based on showing an understanding of the content, completing assignments, and taking advantage of opportunities to show improvement on the concepts are crucial to success. The Written Practice (WP) and the quiz practice are there as tools to aid in the learning process. While actively working and learning in this class, additional exposure and practice of the material will help in asking questions and learning the material.
While it is possible that the goal for you is to get an A and master everything, do not be afraid to make mistakes. It is easy to think about the grade, but the focus should be on what parts of the concepts you understand and what you don’t. If you are not fully ready for a quiz or an assessment, THAT IS OKAY as long as you attempt, review any feedback, ask questions, and try again. The worst thing that you can do in this course is not to try. As mentioned, everyone learns at a different pace. Don’t judge your progress based on what others are doing. Find out what you need to work on, and use retakes and reassessments when you have areas that require further review.
Math, like most things in life, can be hard. And like most things, we will make mistakes. The key is to learn from those mistakes. This may mean stepping outside of our comfort zones and asking for help. Questioning is a part of learning, and if everything were understood, then there would be no need to learn. Sometimes, we may not always know what we need help with or where to start. The tutors are there to support your learning and review foundational concepts. Your instructor is there to help guide you and help you understand how to problem-solve. The TAs are there to help clarify concepts and make connections. Your peers are there to collaborate and discuss ideas. In addition, there are many resources available to help this class succeed.
As part of the course, students will be asked to work regularly with tutors. In addition, as we work through the course material, you may have difficulty with some concepts. Ask questions as they come up and seek help to get them answered
UAF’s academic catalog states that one credit hour is equivalent to 1 hour of classroom instruction (or 1.5 hours of laboratory/active learning) and a minimum of 2 hours outside of class per week. This is a 12-week 4-credit asynchronous course, which means that you should expect to work on this course a MINIMUM of 2.5-3 hours per day, five days a week (or equivalent to 15 hours a week--remember this is a short semester) to go through the reading material, practice, and graded assignments. Some students may need to spend more time than this to go through all the materials and fully understand the concepts, but students should not spend less than this. Students who have difficulty with the material or do not have the prerequisite facility may find they spend more time than this. In these cases, set up regular times with the tutors and schedule a meeting with the instructor.
