<p>So I've never been good at math, and I've never been a good student. I'm currently trying to turn things around.</p>
<p>I've failed Intermediate Algebra, and I'm going to fail it for a second time this semester. I have one more shot, and I'm afraid I won't pass it and that's it for me. If it's any help, the first two professors were horrible. Very unnaproachable. This one was the worst, taking an hour and a half class and jamming as much info as fast as possible, not even answering questions and barely having enough time to take notes.</p>
<p>At my university, it is heavely computer based. The homework, some quizzes, and grades are all online. We have not only homework to do in one week, but a test and a quiz as well sometimes.</p>
<p>You basically have to have the online program teach you, which I don't like.</p>
<p>Any tips for passing, hopefully with an A the third time? Tutoring? Repetition?</p>
<p>Well being bad at math doesn’t make you stupid since that puts you in a very large group. What exactly was horrible about the professors? Are they the ones teaching you or is it the online program? I don’t think that the fact that the homework or quizzes are online would necessarily make the class much more difficult. It’s possible that learning online is rough for you because it makes it harder to get in questions (I’m not sure how it works for your place). If the professor is the one teaching online then it’s also possible it could just be the professor. </p>
<p>Are their math tutoring centers for your college/university? My university has multiple places on campus that provide free math and science tutoring for the introductory courses for all students (funded in your tuition). You can also look into going into professor’s office hours.</p>
<p>Where in the course did you struggle the most? The homeworks? The quizzes? Or the exams? Or all? Part of math exams test how well you understand concepts and part of the exams test problems solving skills. Well, it’s pretty much supposed to be that way but sometimes students try to memorize certain things without understanding what they mean or how they work but still know how to use them. For exam preparation I make sure 1) I know all of the concepts and how they work first. I then have to be able to 2) solve pretty much every problem type (but not necessarily problem difficulty). After I can solve all problem types, I will 3) spend remaining time working out more difficult versions of each. If there’s a random extremely hard problem that isn’t similar to class then I just send prayers that it’s not going to be on the exam and I don’t waste my time. I’d recommend getting an early start on exam preparation and go through everything early enough such that after the step 2) that you see above, you still have time to go to your professor’s office hours to ask questions over every bit of material you need clarification on. I will typically prefer to ask step 2) type questions in office hours and I don’t ask step 3) type questions unless I’m really in try-hard mode and already completed the second step.</p>
<p>For homeworks I recommend you get help from office hours or math tutoring centers if available. It is supposed to be true that doing good on homeworks means you’ll likely do well on your exam but that’s not always the case.</p>