The discussion title is a bit weird I know but I will explain everything below.
So basically in order to get my degree I have to take three levels of math but there basically all algebra which isn’t so bad compared to other maths such as statistics, calculus etc. However my second math class that I’m taking is a bit strange. I feel like when the professor is teaching she is explaining everything clearly but when time comes to do my homework I feel like she assigned me something totally different and I just don’t understand how to do it. I look back at my notes nothing really seems to resemble anything on the homework it looks similar but I just can’t seem to understand how I’m doing things wrong. I can spend hours just staring at a problem that I did wrong and never figure out what tiny mistake that i did that made me get a completely different answer than the correct answer. Also I would mention that she told me that shes using a different system to assign homework whereas other math professors were using other platforms. She also mentioned that the system acts up and typing answers on the computer can be difficult which it is.
At this point i have gone to office hours to explain my concern but she just told me that the other website wasn’t good since students weren’t really learning from the other platform and her platform would be better. At this point I’m not really sure what to do since I feel highly unmotivated to do math homework since I don’t like math and the homework just feels completely different than what was taught in class. Sometimes as I’m doing the homework even if its going well at one point one question that I get wrong will not allow me to continue forward. Its really annoying and frustrating. Im not sure what to do. Should I send her an email letting her know about the issues Im having? I thought about that but I’m afraid what she will respond with won’t be too helpful.
Understanding in class but having trouble once home is very common in math. That’s because you understand the professor’s words but you don’t “integrate” them. You need to work with a tutor (there should be one at the MarhLab or Math center) so appropriate the concepts w reword them so that they make sense, etc.
It sounds to me like her instruction isn’t aligned with her homework assignments. Unfortunately this is all too common in both high school and college. Too many teachers/instructors/profs. take short cuts and use previous material or aren’t truly prepared for class rather than make sure all of their planning and preparation is truly instructional and “matching” to HW.
Because she hasn’t been helpful I think you need to find a tutor who can teach you the homework. This should not be the case but too often it is.
It’s possible that her teaching isn’t aligned with her homework assignments, but it’s ALSO possible that, as MYOS1634 says, the student isn’t integrating what they are hearing in class.
OP, are you studying this material other than just listening to the classroom lectures? Are you reading the relevant chapters ahead of time, practicing using the items that are in the textbook or wherever else you can find them, etc.? Are a large proportion of the students in your class struggling with the same problem, or is it just you or only a handful of you? (I’ve TAed for a class where the teacher’s teaching didn’t match up with the homework; usually, most or all of the class is feeling the pain.)
Hey everyone I apologize for getting back to all of you so late things have been super busy with classes homework and finals coming up but now I have some free time so i’m going to share everything below
So it looks for math things are starting to get a little bit better in terms of understanding the material more. I’m not having as much trouble with the homework now as before I have gone to office hours a few more times just to clarify some things in terms of doing the homework correctly. I’m pleased to say that for the most part it worked the professor also said that once the semester ends that she will drop my lowest test score which will help out big time. I also had a math test today which was my final unit test before the final exam next week the exam I just took today was probably the least troublesome out of all the math exams Ive taken in the semester so far. I just hope I can pass the class now. Thank you all so much for the advise and sharing your experiences! Really appreciate it.