I run a highly adaptive and interactive course:

Expect to be active in lectures, and outside of class. I will teach math study skills, not just material. There will be groupwork. Students will be expected to maintain a respectful and supportive classroom atmosphere. Material and examples will be in response to the students and the classroom. Together we can make this an excellent experience!

The course runs on a per-lecture cycle:

• Attend lecture
• Before the next lecture, view and perform tasks in the Daily Post (this website)

The Daily Post (on the front page of this site) is your guide to what needs doing now. Set aside 1 hour between every lecture for Daily Post tasks, and you’ll stay on track in the course.  This will make up a part of your grade.  Collaboration is encouraged.  Further studying is at your discretion (it will be required, but you can decide when).

Per-Module Assessment:

Our course will run on a series of 7 modules (each around 2 weeks).  The first (Paradigms, History and Applications) will be distributed throughout the course as time permits and tested in with other material.  The other six will each come with an assessment.  The assessment will be an in-class test (50 minutes).  The final exam will be half the final module assessment and half a review of the course.

Occasional Unexpected Modality Change:

Due to vestibular migraine, I may have to change modality for lecture at the last minute.  I hope this will not happen, but it may happen once or twice during semester, if I am too ill to attend class.  This paragraph describes the backup plan, if it does happen.  I have prepared several online “boxed lessons” (videos and activities) that I will post on the website if in-person class is cancelled.  You will be responsible for finding an hour to engage with the lesson, and there will be a regular daily post.  If a modality change is needed, I will announce this via email, this website, the course discord, and I will ask the mathematics department to write a note in the classroom.  In all cases, see the course website for further instructions.  I will try to announce this change with at least one or two hours’ notice.  You are encouraged to engage with the online lesson during the assigned lecture hour with your peers.

Discord:

We will use discord to collaborate and communicate in the course, as well as to hold office hours.  This is the single best way to contact me for timely questions because it pops up a message on my phone (although I don’t promise to have notifications on 24/7!).  You are encouraged to log into discord while doing your daily tasks to chat with others working on them too. 

Study Pods:

During the first week or two of class we will do some get-to-know each other activities that will allow for students to meet classmates.  After that, there will be an opportunity to divide the class into semester-long “study pods” which will serve as an additional classroom support system. These are not graded in any way, nor is participation mandatory. But doing daily posts in a group can be highly beneficial.