Note from Dr. Eugene Belogay:
These are the original, unedited student opinions -- misspellings, bad grammar, and all -- except that the student names are abbreviated to initials. Every student who submitted an opinion got full extra credit for this assignment.
Students entering this course from Calculus 1 or high school Calculus AP will find it to be a big change in pace. This course is all about word problems and using calculus to set them up. You should be prepared to do a significant amount of homework each night to keep up with the lectures. If you are not good at using computer programs, then you had better learn fast because the course involves using Maple 8, a PC math software, to complete some projects. You will have the option (and it is recommended) to work in groups for the projects. Choose your partner(s) carefully so you dont' end up doing all the work yourself. Take your time on homework problems and at least attempt every one of them. If you have some problems that you just don't understand, contact the professor during his office hours (sometimes even off hours) or the math tutors. The tests will be difficult but only excessively so if you didn't study the right problems. The math problems that you decided to skip in the homework will come back to haunt you in the tests. There will be pop quizes given throughout the length of the course at semi-frequent intervals. These quizes are your incentive to keep up with the homework and lectures. Last but not least, ask questions in class because it is important to understand the lecture because you will need it to do the homework. And with that in mind, good luck!
LH
Success in Dr. Belogay's class can be achieved in 5 easy steps.
1) DO THE HOMEWORK - the tests are primarily formulated using questions that either are HW problems or are directly based off of them ( even if you dont do the HW in a timely fashion make sure you do the problems as review)
2) ASK QUESTIONS - Dr. Belogay may seem to move slightly fast in class at times but he is also open to questions. Ask them either in class or EMAIL them to him. And if he is not avaliable...
3) MATH TUTORS - They are a wonderful free service avaliable to you - use them! They will answer your HW questions and it helps them review for there upper level math classes too, so they dont mind.
4) DO THE PROJECTS - simply put they can save your grade as well as teaching you a useful skill and giving you practical experience in mathematics
5) WORK IN GROUPS - not only is it allowed, its encouraged! The benefits of group work our clear, and there is no reason not to participate.
BC
This course is very interesting. However, it is not a High school math class. You get to use Maple, a great program, which was hard to use at the beginning. I certainly enjoy using it now.
Here is my advice: Doing homework is the key for success, so read the chapters and periodically, if a concept seems unclear, check other sources. Read the chapters before you go to class. Do the homework on time, even if it is not collected. Homework problems might make you go back and reread parts of chapters. It is interesting how solving problems allows you to see your flaws and helps you understand concepts. I would normally try to solve problems from what I have learned in class without looking at my notes or at the book. If I find a problem, I will reread the chapter and look at my notes. If I can’t solve it, I would wait for class. Usually during the lecture we will review some homework problems.
Make use of the resources available. Take advantage of tutors and of the instructor’s office hours. Talk to your professors, they are waiting inside their offices for us to come. They are here to help us. Finally, don’t get scared if you don’t understand something, just take a break for at least an hour. Go to sleep if you are tired. Don’t stay up all night studying, you wont get anything done. Use your time properly and you will indeed succeed.
TS
the most important thing to remember in order to be sucessful in this class is to keep up with the homework. it really dose matter whiter you do it or not.
just because the profesore dose not collect it dose not mean that you should not do it. the homework problems aleays have a habit of reapering on a test or quiz. and make sure to go see the tutors now and then,
i appritiate it if my name was left off of the web page.
JT
The advice I give to the student that will be taking calculus 2 in the future, is first to be aware of the schedule, pace and progression of the class. It might take a while for you to get the hang of things, but be aware that in college, calculus 2 is only for a semester and you only have class three days a week. And you will cover a lot of material in that time period. For this reason you might think the class to be hurried. But just realize that you're covering a lot of material and adjust your schedule accordingly so as to get enough practice in order to master the material.
Succeeding in this course requires a productive and maintained homework schedule. Doing the homework problems will help you on quizzes and on tests because that's where you'll see them again. My advice is to set a specific time apart for Calculus homework and make sure you spend that time on Calculus.
Again, being successful at completing the homework, which is given so frequently because the material is covered so quickly, required a little help from outside sources. For help, go to classmates first and then the teacher if classmates were not of any help.
I myself was discourage to go to tutors because my problems and questions were usually not general math questions but ones relating to specifics in whatever section that was being covered. Tutors are more for general help in what I call "foundation concepts" in Calculus. But tutors do give help and more help, in whatever form it might come, is always good and will help in your success.
One last thing, quizzes are given periodically and often sporadically. Be aware of this, and make sure that your knowledge of the material and material covered in past weeks are in tact and refreshed periodically.
Best wishes in your studies,
WJ
First of all, go to class. If you miss one class, there's so much more studying you have to do at home, and the book is good for reviewing, but not learning. If you do miss a class, buddy up with someone who attended and do problems with them.
Once you know the material, use the book to study. The tests and quizzes are problems straight out of the book with the values changed, so if you know how to do the book problems, you know how to make an A in the class.
WIth respect to the projects: as much as it seems like the book doesn't make sense, use it for reference in all the projects. It's very helpful. The book often has the concepts of the projects in them, but they're well-hidden, so it can be hard to find them. But I found that skimming through the book helped me immensely with understanding what the projects were asking for.
DK
My advice:
To those who go into Calculus II, realize that it will require a lot of your mind and time. From my experience, you will have a better chance of succeeding if you do the required homework as well as other practice problems. Listen to your professor, and utilize any opportunities of asking him questions. If you are struggling, the math tutors are always there to explain, help and comfort. If you are not a "team player" become one quickly, the course requires you to work with partners and you will benefit from your communication with other Calc. II students. Lastly, study from the homework, you will find it very helpful. Good luck.
Post tenebras, lux.
LO
The most important thing for Dr. Belogay's students to know is to do the homework. Doing the homework regularly, on time will help anyone learn the material better. You will know where your weaknesses are and then you can correct them and better understanding leads to better grades. Also, Dr. Belogay often takes quiz questions from the homework.
Second, learn how to use Maple early on. This ability is invaluable for projects. Your grade will be hurt if you don't know the program. On projects, work with people who have an idea of what they are doing. That always helps.
Lastly, study the chapter reviews for tests. Doing this, you can be sure you understand all the material and once again Dr. Belogay uses chapter review questions on the tests. Make your cheat sheet (It's allowed) of formulas and concepts you find it hard to readily remember. Using your memory for complex formulas is a waste of time.
AW
Calculus is a hard subject, whether it is Calculus 1, 2, or 3, the only difference is that it gets harder as you go through each course. In high school everything was taught at a slow steady pace, where each day the teacher had a nice long review. In high school the teacher never continued with a lesson unless everyone understood what was going on. College, on the other hand, is different. It is taught at a fast pace and whether you understand what is going on or not, it doesn’t matter, because the course has to continue, there is no time to make sure everyone understands. Another thing about this course that is difficult is maple, it is hard to understand, and even harder to remember all of the commands. It is a nice useful tool, but very complicated.
You can use math in other courses, like biology or chemistry, even though they do not use much calculus. In physics though, calculus is very useful, I took it in high school and there were many times that I used it. I spent about three hours every other night on my calculus homework, about nine hours a week. Even three hours is not enough, because I read the section first, then I started the problems and then I usually had to go back and re-read some of the section so that I understand the questions better. This takes time. But it is worth it, especially since all of the quizzes and tests are homework problems.
When we did our projects I would do some of it and my partner would do some of it, then we’d look over what we have each done so that we understood it all. I believe that this is teamwork; I would never ask my partner to do all of the work for me. We also answered all the questions and summary and we worked through everything that we didn’t understand together. When I had a question from my homework or from anything else I would ask another student for help. The best way to learn something is by doing it with another student. It is easier to understand it that way. The tutors are also very helpful, because they are students who have taken the class before. I never had time to ask anyone else, because I worked and did my homework late at night. I would though, recommended going to a tutor, if you can, whenever you need help. The lecture and examples we did in class also help with the homework. Taking notes in class is beneficial for when you are doing your homework. If you take coherent notes then you can look over them when you do your homework. I believe class time is used effectively.
I always checked the web page almost everyday to see if anything new was added or changed. It was always up to date and helpful, especially when I needed to know what I should be doing for homework. I looked through some of the resources and found them informative. The tests and quizzes are definitely relevant to the class discussions and homework, since they are all homework problems.
I believe that I did fairly well in this course, not the best but okay. The most important thing to me isn’t what grade I get in the course as much as understanding the course and what is going on. A plus to understanding the material is that you get good grades, because you understand it.
CB