<p>I am registered in fall 2013 for 9 am Calc 3 class held in the Armory and will be a freshman. I am assuming that this is an enormous class. Is there anyone out there who can provide helpful tips on how to do well in a class like this? Specific tips re: Calc 3 are appreciated as well as general comments on how to deal with large lecture hall classes. To me it does not seem like math would be taught well in large lectures.</p>
<p>Hope for a good discussion TA, but plan to learn calc 3 on your own (same goes for other large calc classes). Professors in those large style classes tend to ramble, derive rather than show how to solve and/or give you a basic example but test you with a complicated problem (and the love to use different terminology and notation to throw you off). That means practice any and all problems, in the book, those that you find in other books, MIT OCW, Khan Academy, etcetera. In terms of your weekly schedule, you should be looking to spend on average 6 hours per week just reading and doing practice problems (budget 8 to be safe and build in brain cool down/break time).</p>
<p>edit: also, see if you can find old tests/quizzes for your particular professor (though others are good for practice). Will give you taste of their testing style.</p>
<p>Would this be a good practice for any math course, or mostly the large lecture classes? Yeah, I should expect to do enough problems on my own to master the material, but should I expect that I would be better off learning on my own no matter the course?</p>
<p>In hindsight, would you have rather taken Calc 3 at a community college level or do you think that you needed the rigor provided by the U of Md Calc 3 class? Thanks for all the tips BTW. If I took the course at a comm. college this summer, I would be going to HCC at the Laurel campus.</p>
<p>A second question, are the Differential Equation classes as large as Calc 3 at U. of MD?</p>
<p>I took calc III last semester, so I can give u an accurate view of the calc III classes at UMD. You’re right, its hard to deal with large lecture classes at any school, but there are several ways to work around it. Go to discussion. There are usually 20-40 people per class and the TA’s break it down into more detail. If you don’t have a good TA this can be a problem, but you can ask around and find a good TA and go to their discussion even though you’re not registered (what I did). Also the Math department offers free tutoring every weekday (there is a calender online on the Math department’s website). Another option is going to office hours where you can interact one on one with your professor. Also, the first 4 chapters are easy, the last one isn’t, fyi. With the exception of the last chapter, it is pretty easy to learn the stuff on your own (I’m NOT saying don’t go to class!!!). The other thing with calc III, as almost every UMD student knows, is try to get Justin, or else…</p>
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<p>Yes technically self-learning is applicable for any math course, but it is especially important for large lecture classes as figuring out what a professor really wants you to know for an exam is much harder to do in such a format.</p>
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<p>It isn’t a question of rigor, it’s a question of format and grading styles. Most professors in large lecture formats prefer to fit the class to a distribution curve, so you’re competing against several dozen other students for your grade. I always recommend smaller class sizes, especially for foundation coursework where your focus should be on understanding the material, not figuring out ways to beat the curve. That said, I strongly recommend NOT taking any college math course over the summer unless it’s the second time you’re seeing the material (aka repeat). Even if you keep up with the pacing, the ability to practice and retain the information long term suffers from the compressed format. This is especially important since, depending on your major, it could be a year or more before you even need to use calc III concepts again. </p>
<p>Answer to second question, yes.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the thoughtful answers. Decided not to take Calc 3 at HCC over the summer due to your input.</p>
<p>Also forgot to add, the other valid reason to take math/physics/engineering course over the summer (aside from repeating) is if you really need/want to free up your schedule or you need it as a prereq for a fall course/graduation time table issue. Looking at your previous posts, that’s also something to consider. However, as you’re an incoming freshmen, I doubt you’re schedule is getting impinged already.</p>
<p>Depending on your professor, you may or may not learn in lecture. Discussion is more important. Lectures are skippable, discussion is not.</p>