Let me start by saying I have been out of school for 3 years. I was placed in college algebra based on my exit exams from 3 years ago, before I dropped out and got my GED. I did not take anything past Algebra II in high school, so needless to say I am a tad rusty and behind.
Classes started on the 19th. I had a quiz in College Algebra (online class) and I tried so hard. I got a 98 on the homework, which I finished yesterday night, but only managed to get 65 on the quiz. I’m not going to lie… beyond the basics of this particular concept, I just don’t get it.
Now, I know the class isn’t out of my depth because I completely understood the next two sections and finished the homework. A lot of that was stuff I already knew, and I’ve completed all the other assignments going up to the first of February with no issue. Also, I got most of the problems right on this quiz- I just missed a few that were heavily weighted.
I am able to take the quiz one more time (all tests may be retaken once) but it’s due tomorrow night. Naturally I plan on studying even more now that I know which ones I could do and which ones I couldn’t.
But if I fail it again, what do you think? Will one bad quiz ruin my grade in this class if there are quizzes every week and they only account for 15% of my grade?
One or two bad quizzes won’t hurt your grade, but it seems like you need to study differently so that you understand the material better. Does your college offer tutoring or a “math center” where students can go for help?
With an online class there is usually a way to contact the teacher by e-mail or phone. You might try contacting the teacher to discuss the difficulties that you had on those weighted problems and ask for assistance.
Do all the hw problems at the back of the chapter.
Go on Khan Academy and watch videos related to the topic at hand.
Then do more problems. Your studying should mostly be doing problems.
Part of your algebra should be to figure out how many quizes you have and if they make 15% of your grade then how it will affect your final grade.
Bopper, I did do them but I have no idea how to find out if I came to the right answer… only a select few have the answers at the back of the book. My usual method would be to look up the answer before hand so I know what the answer is, and then I’d just figure out how to get there. The ones that did have answers in the back of the book were easier to figure out because it was like having a little hint if i got stuck. I will go to the Khan Academy website though, thanks!
Halcyonheather, the college does offer a tutoring center. Maybe I just misunderstood the schedule for the tutoring, but when I went there were no college algebra tutors- only someone from the writing center and an accounting tutor. However, I think there must be something wrong with that because two other people also showed up for college algebra tutoring and we all ended up leaving, so maybe the tutor was sick? On the bright side, I did get more information for online tutoring which I’m going to check out in the morning.
NorthernMom61, there is a way to contact the teacher by email. If I choose to email the teacher, should I send some example problems from the textbook that are like the ones I had trouble with so he can see which particular concepts I’m struggling with?
@Dariann I have some experience tutoring algebra, geometry, and calculus, and I wouldn’t recommend this method. First off, this won’t work on quizzes since you don’t know the answer beforehand, and second, you lose out on actually solving the problem. Only after you have thought about it for some time (this includes trying different approaches) would I recommend looking at the answer.
If there’s a new topic or theorem that you don’t fully understand, there are several things you can do. Solve lots of different problems involving the theorem so you know how and when to apply it. Try proving the theorem (note: some proofs may be too advanced). Ask yourself a bunch of “what-ifs” related to the theorem or topic. Try explaining the topic or theorem to someone else so that they get it. The last sentence might seem weird, but IMHO, it really determines if you understand it.
The answers are given to check after you’ve done the work and gotten your own answers. If your answers aren’t correct, you know you’ve done something wrong and go back through to figure out if there was a skipped step, negative sign forgotten or something else. If you can’t figure out what you did wrong, you’ll know you aren’t understanding a concept and then ask for help figuring it out.
There is a quiz every week- so there are 10 or 12 of them? And combined they count for 15 percent of the course grade? If I am understanding you correctly, then each quiz is worth 1.5 points of the overall course grade (assuming ten)?
Then no- one quiz will not tank you.
The problem is what got you on the quiz will likely get you on the tests.
