Math Talk

Various discussions I've had over the past few months have touched on the idea of having some kind of seminar (formal or informal) on teaching and learning in Mathematics. This past week I brought the subject up with Warren Code, the department's newest CWSEI fellow, and we now have an action plan for getting this to happen.

This is another response to an email from a student, who was asking (not complaining) about the amount of work we instructors are requiring.

Dear Student,

Time spent actually doing mathematics (e.g. the homework) is perhaps the strongest indicator for success. I.e., if you do the work, you'll do well, if you don't, you'll probably fail.

Our expectation is that you'll be doing approximately 3-4 hours of study and homework for each hour of lectures, so about 9-11 hours per week. This is quite a bit more than is expected in high-school, where the average amount of time per week on homework for *all* class is approximately 5-6 hours. Of course, you're a better than average student, so I'm sure you put in more hours than that. The transition is still probably a shock :) This is one of the most difficult adjustments to make in coming to first year university math classes.

The expectation is likely the same for many of your other courses. If you're taking 5 courses in a term, you're expected to do around hours per week, outside of lectures, commuting to school, etc. Some parts of this will be easier than others, but still, that's a big sustained workload. Learning is a full time (and maybe then some) job.

I wish I knew of a better way to learn, but this seems to be how it works - practice, practice, practice. Whether it's golf or hockey, piano or poetry, mathematics or physics - its all about the hours spent working at it.

The good news is that in a few weeks you'll find that you're far better at basic mathematics skills than you've ever been, and that learning new material will come more easily. The start is often the hardest part. It does get easier, assignments will go faster, and we may even ease off a bit!

This is an excerpt from an email reply to a student, who was asking about the form of answers to assigned questions.