Teaching Calculus Students How to Study

Short Description
The authors address the problem of poor study habits of calculus stu- … study of calculus. Our goal was to show students how to develop a general, …

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Content
Teaching Calculus Students How to Study
Matthew R. Boelkins
Syracuse University
Department of Mathematics
Syracuse, NY 13244
mrboelki@syr.edu
Thomas J. Pfaff
Syracuse University
Department of Mathematics
Syracuse, NY 13244
tjpfaff@syr.edu
August 28, 1997
Abstract
The authors address the problem of poor study habits of calculus students
and present techniques to teach students to study consistently and
effectively. The approach explicitly shows students how to spend their
time studying at least an hour a day, six days a week. It also helps them
improve both their learning of new material and retention of earlier concepts
in a highly organized fashion. Many students greatly appreciate
the added structure, work harder than in previous courses, and witness
newfound success as a consequence.
KEYWORDS: calculus, study skills, syllabi, review
INTRODUCTION
Most instructors agree that college students should spend at least two hours
studying outside class for each hour in class. Indeed, this standard is a reasonable
one, for such a time investment is necessary for the average student to be
successful, particularly in mathematics courses. Unfortunately, we have found
that few undergraduates spend this much time studying for calculus courses
and many seem to lack an understanding of how to…