Advice from past Math 135 students taking this class online in 16-weeks

I am glad you have made it to math 135. After taking this course i feel confident in going into calculus. I only wish i had known that i should set aside EXTRA time for this math class. I thought that this online class would give me more time to spend on other areas of school, but it turns out that online classes require more time than actual classes on campus. I would have gotten a large binder for all of the homework and lecture notes i would be taking, over the course of the class i found that i blew through a ton of paper getting all of the information sorted out. For you the future student of this class, i suggest you complete all your homework assignments, and do practice problems to make sure you prepare for your tests. The tests make up a huge majority of the class, so prepare yourself for them well. Do not get behind in your class, stay on top of all the assignments, and even if you get ahead, check your math 135 home page to see if there were any assignments or notices that you may have forgotten about. Good luck to you!

Hello,

I had a lot of experience with online classes before I entered into this course, but there are things you should know.

The practice exams are really helpful!!! I probably would have done better if I took more time with them in the beginning. Math comes somewhat easily to me, so If I would have done the course again I probably would have been working out the problems in great detail along with the homework. The practice problems are great for practice, but I probably would have spent more time on the practice exams.

I wished I had brushed up on Trig. I have been out of school for years, and I took trig four years ago. I was bombarded with a lot of homework to finish in a little bit of time because it was the expectation that everyone had just finished Trig. I did poorly on that test even though I did well in Trig.

Future students should find out what works best for them, and change things if you think you can do better...This is a great learning tool and everyone learns in different ways. If practice is your thing, then the practice problems are for you...etc.

Future students should not take this as a easy 5 unit class, but as a normal 5 unit would be. It is time consuming.

Hope it Helps

Ok so you've decided to take the class online. i hope you don't think it's going to be easy!
First) set aside time for reading and note take on top of the time you plan to spend doing hw!
Second) buy a note book just for notes. i'd recommend writing formula's down and doing a few practice problems written in your own writing and done how you understand them so you can reference them during the hw.
Third) make sure in the notes to INCLUDE vocabulary
Last) make sure you understand all the above so when a question is asked your confident in knowing what they're asking for. vocab plays a big part here because as the class progresses you'll be able to do a lot of different things with the given data, so you want to make sure your giving the correct response not just a right answer. i hope this last part makes sense. if it doesn't know it will because if your anything like me this is hard!
Good luck and don't forget to set aside extra time for reading and note taking on top of your hw time!!! trust me this will make the difference between a C and an A!

Dear future online Math 135 Students,

Online math can work out well for you if your schedule is hectic and you can’t make it to class however it can also hurt you if your schedule is hectic and you can’t keep up with the online work. Online math class expects you to do more on your own. In the syllabus it does state that you need to devote 4-5hrs a day six days a week to this class and let me tell you that is correct. This is because you will need to learn much of the course on your own which can work out well if you have that kind of time. If you don’t you should take the class in a traditional setting. I am an older student who has a family and a full time job (50+ hours a week) so the on line class was a challenge for me this semester. I feel I would have done better if I was in class and have questions answered immediately.

I highly suggest going over what you learned in Trig and making sure you understand the fundamentals before taking this class since you will be using this in Pre-calc. I think this would have helped me better in this class. In order to succeed in this class you will need to stay on top of the homework if you fall behind and have to play catch up it will hurt you on time since this class moves really fast.

I want to stress again that it does take a good amount of discipline on your part to keep up with the class. The tests are taken in the Academic Proctoring Center which I felt was challenging since you can’t use any of your own things (pencils, calculators, etc.) to take the test; these are supplied by the center. That gave me a bit of a challenge when I took the first two tests since I wasn’t familiar with the scientific calculator they provided. You only get 1 ½ hrs to take the tests so struggling with how to use the calculator took time away from the test. It’s good if you go to the proctoring center and find out what they use and purchase that calculator so that you can be familiar with it.

Overall this class can benefit the right student and only you can know if this type of class setting will work out for you.

Hello Pre Calc Students,
We’ve all had those online classes that don’t take too much effort in order to do very well, this class does not fall in that category. Mrs. Apalatea puts together some great information on how to be successful in the course in the syllabus. I took trigonometry online a couple of years ago and I really wish I had taken some notes as opposed through rushing through the material as I could have really benefited from reviewing some of the material, especially for the later parts of the course.
I have a fulltime job that easily consumes 60 hours of my week which made it pretty difficult to balance this course and a chemistry course. It’s crucial to stay on task and on schedule or ahead of schedule, the weeks I managed to convince myself that I could catch up over the weekend were the toughest weeks for me. What I found helped me the most was to study the practice exam thoroughly as outlined by Mrs. Apalatea. My lowest exam score was on an exam that I did not have the opportunity to review the practice exam.

Good Luck

Dear future student,

         You have found yourself in the position of either being enrolled in online Math 135 or are thinking of taking it. I am in the position of having gone through what you yourself will possibly soon start. The first thing that must be known is that an online class is not a joke version of the on campus class. You must have a mind set as if you were going to class on campus. At times it may be even more challenging then an on campus class because you are responsible for your own work and due dates. Though this class was challenging at times I still had a fun learning experience.
         There was really nothing that, after the class started, I wish I had known before the class started. I should definitely had taken the syllabus more serious though. I read it and was forewarned of the amount of time that must go into this class to be successful but I did not take it serious until further along in the semester. As long as you read the syllabus and take it serious then you should be prepared for what to expect out of yourself.
         There was really only one thing that I wish I had done to prepare for the class before it started. That the one thing was going back and reviewing math a little bit. I had not taken a math class in a couple semesters and I found myself a little rusty in the beginning of the class. I should have gone back and found either old notes or old textbooks just for a quick reminder.
         As a future student there are a couple things you must remember to do to be successful in this class. The first thing is to go over the notes and possibly the practice exercises until the concepts from that certain chapter are familiar. The second thing is to do the homework until a hundred percent is attained. The homework is good practice on the concepts; that actually gets graded. The third and most important thing for future students to do to be successful are the practice tests. The practice tests are essential to getting desired grades on the tests. Though they may be time consuming it is completely worth it to take the practice tests.
         The most important thing you should not do to be successful in this class is procrastinate. In this class it is important to keep up with the schedule. Students that fall behind find themselves in holes too deep to climb out of. Everything that is done in this class is done on a schedule because it is a step for the next section or concept. Students who have fallen behind may find that they are having a hard time with concepts and material being covered.
         Though it was challenging and difficult at times I still had a good semester taking this class. I needed to take an online class due to my schedule and I am happy with the choice that I made. I hope you have a great semester.

Best wishes

I wish I knew how different this online math class would be from any of the others. Be prepared although this is a math course, some writing is involved and you have a limited amount of time to complete the tests. I wish I would have opted for this course on campus. Honestly, future student, the best advice is luck. Somehow in previous math courses I excelled, I didn't even have to study, in this course try your best on the assignments, take notes, and get some extra study time in.