Example-Based Courses
MAT100, 103, 104, 175, 201, 202, 203, 204
Work Load: Most of the learning in any university course takes place outside of class and requires sustained independent effort throughout the semester. Unlike many high school courses, attending class attentively and doing the homework assignments is not enough to prepare for exams. The expected work load outside of class for these courses is at least 10 hours per week spent reading the textbook, solving homework problems, discussing questions with other students and/or the instructional staff, attending review sessions and studying for quizzes and exams.
The main tool for exam preparation is the archive of old quizzes and exams posted on the course web pages. Independently working through problems from past exams (under exam conditions) and following up to clarify key points with the instructional staff or a study group is absolutely necessary to achieve the level of understanding and technical facility required by the exams and the demands of future courses for which this material is prerequisite.
Schedule & Organization: These classes typically meet in 80-minute lecture sessions two times per week on a MW schedule in 3 or 4 different time slots. Students register separately for a 50-minute Friday precept, also offered at several different times. Both lecture and precept classes are taught in small sections (15-30 students) that are closely coordinated by an experienced course head. Exams and homework are common to all sections. The bulk of the grade is based on several exams and quizzes (~50%) during the semester and a final exam (~35%) scheduled by the registrar during the official final examination period. Work done in precept, weekly homework assignments from the textbook and class-participation comprise the remainder of the course grade.
Teaching Style: In a typical class session, the instructor introduces a new concept briefly, giving motivation and developing intuition behind the formal definitions through a sequence of carefully chosen examples of increasing complexity. Skimming the textbook before class and asking questions in class is strongly encouraged and will help students get more out of this time with the instructor. For most classes attendance is not a requirement, but it is strongly recommended.
Classes are supplemented with a textbook where the formal definitions along with simple illustrating examples are given. Routine exercises are assigned from the textbook each week to help students grasp the basic definitions and computational techniques. Collaboration is welcome on these assignments and homework averages tend to be about 90% or higher.
Grading: Because these classes emphasize the development of independent problem-solving skills and not simple memorization of formulas, the grading system is quite different from that used in most high school and community college classes. The average score on both smaller and final exam tends to be about 65%, which usually translates to a letter grade somewhere in the B range.