Resources
There are many resources available to help you succeed in MAT 1302. These include the following:
- Office hours: See here for times. Additionally, (short) questions may be asked after class or by email.
- Mathematics and Statistics Help Centre: The help centre is staffed by consultants willing to provide one-on-one help with all first year math courses. Since the help centre serves a large number of students, please keep the following in mind when going to the help centre.
- While the staff is more than happy to clarify a concept or definition, they cannot explain an entire section in a book or set of lecture notes, especially when there are many students waiting for help. You should go for help with specific questions.
- If you are going for help with the assignments, you should attempt the questions before going for help.
- You should not wait until the last minute to start working on your assignment or studying for the midterm.
- Most of the time, there are two staff members helping students. On many occasions there is a waiting list and you are encouraged to be patient. At peak hours, there is a limited amount of time that staff members can spend with each student.
- The Peer Help Centre offers a tutor referral service for those students who would like to hire a private tutor.
- Khan Academy: This website offers many informative videos on most of the topics we will cover in the course.
- Online Row Reducer: You can practice row operations on matrices with this online tool.
- Wolfram CDF Player: This is free software you can install on your computer to run some of the demonstrations we'll see in class.
- Linear algebra close to earth: This page explains some practical applications of many of the ideas we will discuss in the course.
Succeeding in MAT 1302
You have a very good chance of succeeding in MAT 1302 if you follow these suggestions:
- Attend every class and DGD.
- Before each lecture, read the relevant section in the text (indicated on the syllabus).
- Do the recommended exercises for each lecture before the next lecture.
- If you find a particular topic difficult or confusing, take advantage of the resources mentioned above to resolve your problem right away. Each lecture will build on material covered in previous lectures. Therefore, if you leave your difficulties unresolved, they will compound.
- Use the old exams properly. Study before looking at them. Then set aside an amount of time equal to the duration of the test and attempt to answer the questions without any notes or other aids.
Students who do all the recommended exercises and attend all lectures and DGDs are unlikely to be surprised by questions on the tests.