Help!

So you're working your hardest and reading the book. You're doing the assignments and studying every night. But it's just not enough! Here are some suggestions to read and think about:

1. Attend all lectures, and all recitation and lab sessions. Staying home and just reading the book or looking at a friend's notes is a recipe for disaster.
2. Read the book. Really really read it. Sit down and read it. Carefully. Rework the examples in the book for yourself. It's a good book.
3. Do lots of homework. Do every problem assigned, at the time the material is covered in lecture. Then do a few more problems for good measure. Do not wait until the last minute to do the homework.
4. Be wary of group study situations. While it may seem to make the work go easier when you are studying or doing homework problems in a group, in the end it is you who has to take the exams alone.
5. Do some extra web homework. This can be done by logging into the web homework server with the user name practice1 and password practice1 (practice2 through practice5 also work, and offer different problem sets). The instant-feedback feature of the web homework system is an advantage not to be overlooked.
6. Recopy your lecture notes. It is important to be able to refer back to these when you are preparing for exams, and recopying them will force you to think about what your instructor said in lecture.
7. Seek help immediately if you are having problems understanding the material. Attend your lecture instructor's office hours and your recitation instructor's office hours.
8. Talk to your instructors. If you try to explain the problems that you are having, they may be able to improve things.

Other sources of help:

1. Visit the Math Lab. There is a Math Lab in the basement of East Hall where you can get free tutoring on specific problems. Follow the web link in the menu on the left for more information.
2. Find a personal tutor. There is a tutor list maintained by the mathematics department. Follow the web link in the menu on the left for more information. You can also ask about updated tutor information in the Undergraduate Office in 2084 East Hall.
3. Make use of the additional resources provided by the publisher of the textbook. Follow the web link given in the textbook description on the main page of this website. Prentice Hall makes a student solutions manual freely available from that website, as well as real-time demonstrations of solutions of differential equations.
4. Try other web resources:
   • This site presents many of the topics covered in Math 216 in a clear way and has lots of examples.
   • This site has an excellent Maple tutorial designed at Seattle Central Community College.
   • Mark S. Gockenbach maintains an excellent Matlab reference. See the Text Supplements page on this website for more information.