This course moves quickly. It is very important to stay abreast of the current topics and not to fall behind.

Particular emphasis is placed on students developing visualization and geometric intuition. Computations are present but are not the focus of the course. This is not a proof-based course, but students are expected to be able to justify their reasoning. Solving problems may require putting together multiple ideas from the course, sometimes in unexpected ways.

Students are encouraged to learn to use computer tools to carry out computations unless explicitly requested not to. Consider exploring the following tools:

You will be provided with a lot of material:

  • Dedicate significant independent study time to the material covered. Not everything will be covered explicitly in during lecture: we will let you know when you should read up on some topics on your own
  • The lesson-by-lesson syllabus will contain indications of topics, examples, and links to additional material. Carefully check the syllabus both after and before the lecture to make sure you do not miss anything.
  • Try to skim through the book or watch a youtube video (links and suggestions will be provided) on the topics of the coming week. It is much easier to learn if you already know what approximately is going on.

Attend office hours

Please attend office hours! Office hours gives you individual attention that you cannot get from reading the textbook or watching an explanatory YouTube video.

You are welcome to ask questions about the course material, about any other related topic, and about the assignments. We are glad to help you if you are stuck! Do not worry, we will not hold any questions you ask against you. If you are not able to attend regularly scheduled office hours, please reach out. Office hours by appointment will be considered.

Attending office hours is not a sign of weakness. If no one has specific questions we will take up the time by discussing the homework problems together!

Piazza

Help is available from your peers and instructors through Piazza, an online forum.

You can post publicly or privately, anonymously or under your own name. We will try to respond to your concerns or questions there even outside office hours. You, students, are also encouraged to share your thoughts and understanding there. Please familiarize yourself with the platform.

MCLC

There is FREE math help available on grounds from the Math Collaborative Learning Center.

Practice problems

Online HW problems are simpler and are meant to develop basic skills and familiarity with new concepts with run-of-the-mill problems.

Written HW assignments require you to put together what you have learned.

Work through the online HW first. If feel like you need more practice, additional problems (graded automatically by the system, with no weight on the course grade) are available.

Work together

Find a study buddy! Work together, discuss your understanding, check each other’s work. You are encouraged to work together on HW and study together.

Some homework assignments will require one submission per group students so get to know your pears.

You are not competing with each other. We have time-tested standards for course performance and are more than happy to award higher grades if everyone is successful. We do not have to meet specific grade distributions.

Try out asking a question there or attempting to answer someone else’s question on Piazza. Do not worry if your answer might be incomplete or wrong. We will help you out, clarify doubts. You can always post anonymously but do consider putting your name on your posts: it makes math a bit more human.

Ask questions

Ask questions! Raise your hand or if we do not notice, interrupt us! If we need to finish a concept before responding, we will respectfully tell you and address your concern as soon as we can. There are no bad questions. Let us know if you are lost trying to understand. Questions do not have to be specific to a step in the course material; examples of good questions are:

Why does this seemingly simpler approach not work here?

Maybe you are onto something: do not trust the instructor to be infallible

You are using words that you have not used before, what do these words even mean?

Math is a language and learning to do math is learning to speak a language. Gaining a good amount of lexicon is important!)

Can you draw a picture?

Pictures are important!

If I had to to solve this problem without having heard this explanation, how would I go about coming up with a solution?

This is ultimately what you need to learn. Knowing specific facts might not be useful for you in your future but problem-solving skills are!

As long as you ask because you actually want to learn and are respectful of everyone in attendance, you are in the clear.

Honor Code

The  University of Virginia Honor Code applies to this class and is taken seriously. Any honor code violations will be referred to the Honor Committee. Upon submission of each assignment in this class you pledge to abide by the rules of UVA, this course, and the specific assignment. If you have doubts, please ask on Piazza.

You MUST acknowledge any help you received on assignments, even if it is permitted e.g. you worked with a fellow student, looked up things online, etc. Not acknowledging external help is an Honor Code violation.

Well-being

This course progresses quickly and at times you might feel lost; this is normal. The instructor is available both to answer your doubts about the course material and suggest ways to approach studying and coursework. Math is hard: struggling is part of doing math, and it means you are pushing yourself to be your best.

UVA also provides resources if you are feeling overwhelmed, stressed, or isolated. The Student Health and Wellness Center offers Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) for its students; call 434-243-5150 to speak with an on-call counselor and/or schedule an appointment. If you prefer to speak anonymously, you can call Madison House’s HELP Line at any hour of any day: 434-295-TALK. Alternatively, you can call or text the Disaster Distress Helpline (1-800-985-5990, or text TalkWithUs to 66746) to connect with a trained crisis counselor; this is toll free, multilingual, and confidential, available to all residents in the US and its territories.

Accommodation

All students with special needs requiring accommodations should present the appropriate paperwork from the Student Disability Access Center (SDAC). It is the student’s responsibility to present this paperwork in a timely fashion and follow up with the instructor about the accommodations being offered.