Teaching myself when the teacher can't...

Started by Joannavr
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Joannavr

Joannavr

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I just want some advice to know if the situation I am facing is doable or if I should just get out while I can.
I am currently taking Alg / Trig along with a few other core classes this semester and I am having a bit of trouble. The difficulty is not the issue as the information really isn't that hard. My problem is that this teacher teaches this class like a review session instead of new material. I never took geometry or regular algebra, just came straight into this class from pre algebra (I am 10 years out of highschool and remember NOthing).

I did excellent in prealgebra and that is the only prerequisite for this class, but the teacher constantly references other classes like geometry which I have made clear to him I have never taken (so have others in the class) and states he won't go over some things because we should have learned them there.

He goes over a concept very quickly, does one practive problem on the board, then changes to the next concept. If anyone asks a question, he says he'll do it very quickly but then we MUST move on. I have never been in a situation before where I am taking notes at such a frenzied pace that I cannot comprehend what I am writing down and write it at the same time, so I review my notes and don't understand what they're referencing, they are no hope at all. My other choice would be to just listen and take no notes, which would also be trouble. The homework assignments are 1 problem from each concept, and is not due to be turned in until after the first exam, 3 weeks of material.

I am falling behind, I dont know what he's talking about today because I didn't understand yesterday, and this scares me. I happen to be dating a private tutor which helps a lot but she is not always free and this is coming down to her teaching me, not tutoring. I have started doing nearly all the problems in the book instead of what he assigns, but I am 3 weeks behind to catch up on and this class runs 4 days a week. I don't have all day to work on these problems, I work full time and go to school 12 units, I get about an hour a day for math review. I don't want a W on my transcript or anything less than an A. Am I crazy to try to catch up 3 weeks and expect to do well? Advice??
 
Can you ask around to see if there is another (better) professor who teaches this class perhaps next semester and drop the class now (the semester has barely begun it seems) without anything appearing on your transcript? I don't know if this will put you at a disadvantage in your school timeline though. I'm not sure if you can still add a course at your school at this point - is there another offering with a different instructor this semester?

Otherwise, I suppose I would make a point of going to the professor's office hours and any departmental tutoring sessions and seeing if you can get more instruction then.
 
I actually checked into dropping it today as much as I'd hate to be set back another semester, but if I do that I will have a W. W's aren't the end of the world but I am working on some transcript repairing from some problems 8 years ago or so and don't need that 🙁
 
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Joannavr said:
I actually checked into dropping it today as much as I'd hate to be set back another semester, but if I do that I will have a W. W's aren't the end of the world but I am working on some transcript repairing from some problems 8 years ago or so and don't need that 🙁
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See if its possible to just sit in on another class with a better teacher, but still take your classes tests. If these are really big classes noone will notice you anyway.
 
My suggestion as a former math major: you'll learn the material by doing problems. Do every assigned problem and more if you can.

Physics and ochem will be the same story: gotta work the problems.

I only ever had maybe one good math prof, out of maybe 30 profs, fwiw.

Best of luck to you.
 
it's really not the teacher's job to teach the material...yeah I said it. Go to class to find out what (s)he considers important & socialize...but teach yourself the material on your own. (In other subjects if the slides are online and your classmates are boring...well 😀

It sounds like you don't learn well when other people are lecturing at you, so you need to change what's not working. No lecture can ever be as concise and easy to understand as a textbook, 'cause people in class ask weird questions that detract from the point. Learn the material on your own, think of class as an extended office hour to go over the hardest problems. Do as many problems as you can, from other sources if necessary-don't study formulas, just apply them. If a problem stumps you, change the numbers slightly after you figure it out and work it again to make sure you have it. Repetition repetition repetition. Good luck.
 
DrMidlife said:
My suggestion as a former math major: you'll learn the material by doing problems. Do every assigned problem and more if you can.

Physics and ochem will be the same story: gotta work the problems.

I only ever had maybe one good math prof, out of maybe 30 profs, fwiw.

Best of luck to you.
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👍👍👍 Excellent advice. Do every problem you can get your hands on. You gotta go beyond the assigned homework and complete every problem in the book. I did tons of them in my math classes, and certainly did every single last problem in my orgo books.

My school has a math learning center, where there are always math TAs/grad students on duty so you can show up there and get help when you need it. Does your school have something similar?

Feel free to drop me a PM as well if you're having trouble with any concepts.
 
ratemyprofessor.com is a good site for picking professors.

happy hunting.

JB
 
I few years back I found myself in a similar situation of having a trig class and feeling lost (I also was out of school for a bit), and my teacher wasn't stellar. While I can't remember any details, one thing that REALLY helped with the trig was repeatedly drawing out a circle and labeling all angles, sin, cos, fractions, etc., until I had everything memorized. Then I did it a lot more--so that it was second nature. At one point, everything made sense. It was one of those "ah ha!" moments, and then I couldn't believe that I hadn't gotten it before, and everything the professor talked about made sense. I don't know if it'll help, but if you're having problems with any of those parts of trig you should give it a try. It sounds silly, but it worked--and I got an B+ in the class (I completely bombed the first midterm and was heading for a D--which led me to do the circle drawing). Give it a try. It won't hurt and you can see how you do on the midterm. If you still can't get it, you can still withdraw from the course and get a W--which is what you'd get if you didn't give it a shot anyway. Good luck.

Also, perhaps they have a book Trig for Dummies? They seem to have one about every subject out there. I don't know if it'd help, and you may have to heavy of a class load to do additional reading. But maybe the Dummies folk can explain it better.
 
tutor, tutor, tutor. That is the BEST way to go in my opinion! I know sometimes they are expensive, but sometimes you can find someone on campus willing to do it cheaper, say another student or something. Also, if you know someone else who needs help, getting two people together is a way to reduce cost. I know math is hard when you fall behind, but keep on plugging away at it!
 
I was math/science tutor all through college and it was paid for free of charge by student support services. Might give them a call on campus to see if they offer free tutoring on campus. We were typically there for at least 3 hours a day and many times we just did out own homework as no one stopped by. Those who did would just sit there and do their work and have us check to make sure they got it correct.
Get on top of the problem now and you can turn a weakness "math" into your strength by the end of the semester don't wait.
 
Things to do:
  • Professor's Office Hours - they have to have office hours so use every one of them if you have to. If they see you often enough, they will provide what you need.
  • Tutoring Services - These are often free and available on campus.
  • Summary books- Schaum's is a good series but since you are far behind, you don't have much time to go to outside resources.

Since you are so far behind, you may have difficulty catching up. If you wind up dropping the class, stay around and listen to the material. When you take the course again, you will be that much further ahead.
 
I know exactly how you feel...
Tuesday was the 1st day of class for my Gen Chem course and as I sat in my lecture of 150+ students I was lost from the get-go. The prof did a very quick review of the 1st 2 chapters, touching on the basics of coversions, but I was like..huh??!!! It was simple algebra for everyone else, but to me, not having any algebra-related math in oh...12 years...I was confused. Last night, I attempted to do some of the exercises in the textbook, and ended up spending 45 min on one problem! Needless to say, I was very frustrated and discouraged. My boyfriend suggested I get a tutor or talk to a TA. I will probably do that, because, ugh, trying to learn even the most basic of concepts on my own..really stinks!
 
BacardiGirl said:
Tuesday was the 1st day of class for my Gen Chem course and as I sat in my lecture of 150+ students I was lost from the get-go.
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Get a tutor NOW. I can't stress this enough--you don't want to fall behind, because then you'll never be able to catch up to the rest of the class. But if you do get a tutor and plug away at the work, you will have a fighting chance.

I got a tutor (private) in orgo after I got a horrible grade on the first exam, and it was the best thing I ever did. The guy was a lifesaver, as well as a great human being. (He was a retired chemistry professor who loved students, so tutoring was a natural for him.) I met with him every week for at least 3 hours, and some weeks (like right before an exam) it was as much as 12 hours.

Even if you just use the free tutoring services at your school, believe me, it's more than worth it.
 
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student1799 said:
Get a tutor NOW. I can't stress this enough--you don't want to fall behind, because then you'll never be able to catch up to the rest of the class. But if you do get a tutor and plug away at the work, you will have a fighting chance.

I got a tutor (private) in orgo after I got a horrible grade on the first exam, and it was the best thing I ever did. The guy was a lifesaver, as well as a great human being. (He was a retired chemistry professor who loved students, so tutoring was a natural for him.) I met with him every week for at least 3 hours, and some weeks (like right before an exam) it was as much as 12 hours.

Even if you just use the free tutoring services at your school, believe me, it's more than worth it.
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I will be seeking out tutor help at school...I recently accepted an on-campus job that starts in a week, so it will be nice to have resources available to me within walking distance! 🙂
 
I've been in situations where the professors can't teach for crap..... I had this issue with Gen chem I and II.... what used to work for me was reading the material and trying out the examples before each lecture.... that way when the professor started talking and solving problems in a fast and confusing way, i actually underestood what he was doing

Another thing I did (aside from reading the material before class) is I spend ALOT of time on the weekends going over all the material of the week that just passed by... this method re-inforces EVERYTHING.... so when test review comes along, u'd have a much easier time reviewing....

this strategy worked very well in EVERY science course that I took, only problem is it requires ALOT of time and effort... expect to spend anywhere from 5 to 15 hrs every weekend studying (of course Im assuming your taking more than 1 science course per semester)
 
Thank you everyone for your responses. Most people said I should get a tutor but like I mentioned in the first post, my girlfriend is actually a professional tutor so I have that covered. I have changed my study methods with this teacher so that I am taking NO notes in class and just watching him. I went from getting everything written down and not understanding to understanding and having no notes to reference. This is a huge change for me but I think it will be okay. I spent 4 hours in Borders Books yesterday with my girlfriend going over the math review and I feel much more confident now. I will continue doing far more problems than he is assigning but I am glad I didn't drop it.

Turns out I was right to feel confused, this class should have had geometry, algebra and algebra 2 preceeding it and I have never taken a math class after pre-algebra. The concepts aren't that hard, but I just don't have the foundations. She's going to help me with that. Thank you everyone!
 
Is it bad to learn how to solve problems in ways that aren't taught in class or in the book? I notice with some math problems, I can get to the correct answer, but not the way it is taught...are shortcuts not a good idea??
 
BacardiGirl said:
Is it bad to learn how to solve problems in ways that aren't taught in class or in the book? I notice with some math problems, I can get to the correct answer, but not the way it is taught...are shortcuts not a good idea??
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Depends. For your own personal benefit its fine but you might have to do the problem on an exam in the way the professor wants in order to recieve full credit. Probably best to be able to do it they way they do it.
 
One thing to note is that we are all pre med in one way or another so putting in huge amounts of time studying shouldn't discourage us from sticking with a class. Heck think of it as a warm up "not as hard" as med school when we will be walking zombies sucking down coffee in the wee hours of the morning craming for _____________ class.
 
Well something worked, congratulate me on my A on our first exam!

Once I had functions explained to me, then explained then reworded then drawn in crayon, had a few shots and had it explained again.....everything else fell into place 🙂
 
Joannavr said:
Well something worked, congratulate me on my A on our first exam!

Once I had functions explained to me, then explained then reworded then drawn in crayon, had a few shots and had it explained again.....everything else fell into place 🙂
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Congrats! Alcohol is definitely the best way to study. What shots were they outta curiosity? I find scotch to be a good study drink.
 
This is how I do all my classes. I cannot pay attention in class so I go just to find out what the topic is then at home teach it to myself.
 
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