MATH141: Mathematics 1C Part 1

Frequently Asked Questions

This page contains answers to the some frequently asked questions regarding the course: MATH 141 Mathematics 1C Part 1.

Enrolment.
The Basic Skills Test.
Lectures.
Tutorials.
The exam.
Miscellaneous.

Enrolment

Q. The online handbook indicates that I require six contact hours per week. However, I am unsure as to what the breakdown is for these hours. Is it four hours of lectures and two hours of tutorials or just two hours of lectures and four hours of tutorials?

A. The six hours of contact are made up as follows:

Four hours of lectures (two two-hour lectures). You are required to attend all lectures. A sign-on sheet will be circulated in a number of lectures throughout the session to monitor attendance. Experience has shown that poor attendance at lectures leads to poor performance in this subject.
One hour of MATH141 tutorial. Attendance at the tutorial is compulsory. A record of tutorial attendance and your performance at those tutorials will be kept and may be taken into account in determining your final grade if you are on the borderline.
One hour of PASS tutorial. The PASS program is a peer assistance support program that will provide you with extra tuition for learning the material in MATH141. Participation in a PASS group is compulsory for Opportunity Students - and highly recommended for all other students.

Q. What tutorial should I enrol in? Some of them have an OT in front of them and others are just T?

A. Opportunity students can only attend opportunity tutorials (OT). A non-opportunity student can only enrol in a standard tutorial (T).

Q. Nothing was mentioned on enrolment day about the opportunity program. What is it?

A. The opportunity program is run by the engineering department. If you are not an engineering student it does not apply to you. If you are an engineering student and you are uncertain if the opportunity program applies to you please contact your degree co-ordinator.

Q. How do I find the PASS tutorial times?

A. You need to read the PASS web pages.

The Basic Skills Test

Q. Are there any textbooks or exercises that cover the questions covered in the Basic Skills Test.

A. The material covered in the basic skills test will be revised in the first four weeks of this course (the fundamentals section). Here are some sources of material:

You should purchase a copy of the course notebook from the bookshop: Notes for Mathematics 1C Part 1 MATH141. The fundamentals section is part I.
In the first lecture you were given a collection of worksheets. You should attempt all the questions on the worksheets. Answers to the worksheets are available.
In the first lecture you were given a set of lecture notes for the fundamentals section of this course. These notes contain additional exercises.
Chapters 1-3 of Essential Mathematical Skills (mentioned in the subject outline). These chapters have a succinct summary of basic mathematical techniques: Chapter 1, Algebra and Geometry; Chapter 2, Functions and Graphs; Chapter 3, Transcendental Functions. Each chapter contains worked examples and finishes with example questions (answers in the back of the book). You can download multiple choice questions and worked solutions from the book's web page.

Lectures

Lectures - Examples

Q. Is it possible to spend a bit more time on things?

A. One of the differences that characterises learning at university, as opposed to learning at school, is that you are expected to master the topics outside the classroom, i.e. in your own time. It is not possible to cover topics in the same detail that you are used to from high school. If you do not understand a topic and would like to spend more time on it you have the option of: seeing your lecturer in their consultation hours, going to a PASS class and going to an optional tutorial. If a number of students informed me that they were having problems with a particular topic I would consider revising it in class.

Q. Can you go through more examples in class so we can understand the method?

A. Examples are very important in mathematics. Unfortunately there isn't time to go through additional examples for every topic that we cover. If you would like to see additional examples for an additional topic you should

See me during my consultation hours. We can go through some examples one-on-one.
Send me an email and ask if I can do an additional example in the next lecture. If I don't have time to do this, I will put the example on the web page.

Don't forget that the solutions to the tutorial questions provides another source of examples.

Q. Is it possible to have more practice questions attached to the website?

A. I am working on this. Eventually I hope to have extra questions with worked solutions covering all the material that I teach. However, this will not happen overnight. If you would like extra questions on a particular topic then please email me and I will prioritise that area.

Q. Is it possible to have a booklet with worked examples?

A. There are no plans to produce a booklet. However, I hope to put additional worked examples on the web-page. See my answer to the previous question.

Q. Is it possible to have real life examples of the mathematics?

A. This is an excellent idea and I am working towards it. However, it will take time to provide examples covering all the topics covered in the course. If you would like to see a real-life example of a particular topic please email me and I endeavour to add an appropriate example.

Lectures - Technology

Q. The use of an overhead projector to convey information is ancient. Why don't you use a digital projector!: A. You need to convince me that there is an educational benefit to be gained from using a digital projector rather than overhead projector. Just because a technology is newer, it doesn't mean that it is better.
Q. Is it possible to leave the overheads up for longer so we can take more detailed notes?: A. If I did this the pace of the lecture would slow down to the speed of the slowest writer. All the overheads are available on the course web-page. In class you should not be trying to write down detailed notes. It is more important to understand the ideas. Concentrate on writing down the ideas. To get the detail, look at the overheads on the web page after the lecture.

Timing of Lectures

Q. There should be multiple lectures for part-time and full-time students because part-time students require either late or early starts which are inconvenient for full-time students working in Sydney.: Unfortunately it is not economical feasible for the university to run a set of lectures for full-time students and another for part-time students.
Q. Is it possible to have repeated lectures?: A. No. Although if you are a student on the Wollongong (Loftus) campus you could (in theory) repeat the lecture by attending the lectures at the Loftus (Wollongong) campus.
Q. I don't enjoy two hours of straight lectures.: A. Sorry, the school of mathematics is not responsible for the timetabling. At least you have a ten-minute break in the middle...

Lectures - Miscellaneous

Q. Is it possible to leave the overheads up for longer so we can take more detailed notes?: A. If you don't have time to take detailed notes during the lecture you can download the overheads from the web page either before or after the lecture.
Q. Is it possible to spend a bit more time on things? I sometimes think that you are moving at YOUR pace and not the CLASSES pace.: A. One of the features distinguishing university from school is that students are expected to learn on their own, outside the classroom. Unless you are an exceptional student you should not expect to grasp all the material from the lecture presentation: there is not time for all material to be presented and reinforced in lectures. You should anticipate spending time outside the lecture to attain the necessary level of understanding.
Q. A better explanation of the rules and proofs is needed, there is no point in giving the information d/dx(e^x)=e^x without an explanation of why this is the case.: A. An understanding of the rules and proofs is not required for this course. It is more useful for a typical student to learn how to use a rule, so that when a `real-life' example arises in their degree course they can apply the rule and solve their problem. If you would like to understand the rules by studying the proofs you should either read some of the suggested books or see your lecturer.
Q. Is is possible to make lecture notes available before the lecture?: A. The lecture notes are made available well-before the lecture! You obviously don't examine the course web-page!

Tutorials

Q. I am a part-time student and it would be very helpful if I could have a tutorial on the same day as a lecture. I realise this might be difficult to organise.

A. Lectures for MATH141 are currently Monday (16.30-18.30) and Friday (08.30-10.30). The tutorial in week n may include material that is covered in the Monday lecture of week n. A tutorial on Monday would therefore have to be after the lecture finishes. I doubt many students would enjoy a 18.30-19.30 tutorial. Additionally, a tutorial immediately following the lecture would not give you time to assimilate the new material before the tutorial.

It is possible to have a tutorial on a Friday (we had one in 2005) but I am against them. The reason for this is that Good Friday falls on a... Friday. In 2005 Good Friday was in week five. I am against Friday tutorials because:

Tutorials are an important part of the learning process in this course and students with a Friday tutorial are penalised by having one fewer tutorial than other students.
The Friday tutorial students missed the week five quiz. Consequently they had the quiz in week six. This means that they had less contact time in their week six tutorial than other students. The Friday tutorial students are therefore penalised.
These students did not receive the week five assignment. They received the week five assignment in week six and had to hand it in week seven. The other students received their assignment in week five and could do it over the mid-session recess. Thus the Friday tutorial students were again penalised.

Q. There should be more tutorials, not a limit of one per person.

A. The reason why students are limited to one tutorial is that there is a limit to the number of hours of tutorials that we can offer. Optional tutorial assistance is available. Check the course-outline for details.

Q. The tutorials should be more interactive instead of trying to complete a sheet.

A. The tutorials have been designed so that they are very interactive! You write your answers to each question on the white board. This has the following advantages.

You can see if another student has finished a question that you are stuck on. Ask the student for their help! (This is harder at the start of the session when you don't know the other students in your tutorial, but it should become easier with each passing week).
You can see if a student is stuck on a question you have finished. Ask if they need any help.
Your tutor can see how much progress each student is making. If everyone is stuck on the same question they can call you together and go over that question on the whiteboard. If your tutor notices that you are stuck on a particular question they can go straight to you and help you.

Q. Can you go through the tutorial examples in class?

A. The short answer is no. There isn't time to go through the tutorial examples in class. However, I might make an exception for a question that a large number of students had asked me about.

If you need help with the tutorial examples here are the options.

There's a time and a place to ask questions about the tutorial examples. The place is your tutorial room and the time is when you have your tutorial! Your tutor is getting paid to answer your questions!
If you've made an attempt at the question and are stuck, take your working to a PASS tutorial.
There are three extra assistance tutorials a week where you can turn up and ask the tutor present any questions you like.
You could ask me about the question either just before or just after my lecture.
You could look at the worked solutions on the web page. (These are usually made available on Friday afternoon).
You could make an appointment to see your lecturers during their consulting hours. Lecturers are also available by appointment outside these hours.

The Exam

Q. I have an exam for another subject at the same time as the MATH 141 exam. What should I do?: A. You should contact student administration as soon as possible.

Miscellaneous

Q. The recommended extra textbook (Barry & Davis) has not been available at the bookshop for the semester and all copies were permanently booked out of the library.

Q. Can you recommend a good textbook?

A. There are many textbooks that cover the material studied in MATH141. This course does not have a set textbook. Instead I recommend that you examine the books mentioned in the subject outline and find one that appeals to you. In addition to the books on the subject outline the following may be of interest.

J.E. Borzellino and P. Nelson. 2006. Student Outlines, Part One. Thomas' Calculus: Early Transcendentals, Eleventh Edition. Pearson. ISBN 0-321-41490-X.

This book is suited for students who are going to PASS MATH141 and progress to MATH142. Chapters 1, 2 & 10 are appropriate for MATH141.

A. If the book shop has run out of copies ask them to order a copy for you. They will be happy to do this!

Q. I am finding MATH 141 quite difficult. Could you recommend a personal tutor to help me?

A. If you send me an email I will see if any of the tutors are willing to give private tuition. If you get on well with your tutor (or your pass tutor) you could ask them yourself.

Q. I'd like more individual contact.

A. You should make an appointment with one of the lecturer's to see them during their consultation hours. In addition you should also attend an optional tutorial session. Usually, very few students attend these sessions so that you have an opportunity for individual contact with the tutor on duty.

Q. Is it possible to put all the notes on web-ct?

A. Technically it is, but it is considerably easier for me to make my teaching materials available from my web-page. There is a link from the MATH141 web-ct page to my home page, so you can quickly from web-ct here.

Q. I am taking MATH141 and MATH142 this year and MATH201 next year. The pre-requisites of MATH201 state that I need to obtain a credit in MATH142. If I obtained a distinction grade in MATH141 will I still need to obtain a credit in MATH142 to take MATH201?

A. Yes.

<< Return to my start page.
<< Return to my teaching home page.
<< Return to the MATH141 home page.

Page Created: 22nd February 2005.
Last Updated: 19th July 2007.