Please read the following eight (8) steps very carefully.  Your success in the course may depend on it!

NOTE: ALL learning materials and graded and non-graded tasks are located in MyOpenMath! Click on the (brown) "myOpenMath" button on the Canvas Course Home Page.

Step 1: Access the weekly tasks folders, one by one. They all have dates. Start with "Tasks Folder 1" whose dates correspond with the first week of the semester. Most weekly tasks folders contain more than one sub-folder. Access each sub-folder separately. Each contains a “Learning Materials” link and a “Practice” link.

Step 2: Click on the "Learning Materials" link and study the "Primary Learning Materials". They consist of text-based lectures (concepts and examples) and sometimes videos recorded by various mathematics instructors around the country.  

As you study these learning materials, make your own notes in a paper notebook. You should also re-work all the instructor's examples to become more comfortable with the concepts.  This is where the very important AHA moment should take place! This will take AT LEAST 2 HOURS!  Depending on how your brain is wired, it may take A LOT longer.

Step 3: ONLY IF you are not satisfied with the primary learning materials should you consult the eTexts under the heading "Secondary Learning Materials". The instructor's lectures will tell you which eText concepts to concentrate on and which to ignore.

Step 4: Once you are done taking notes, RE-READ THEM IN PEACE AND QUIET. This will take AT LEAST 1 HOUR!

Step 5: Next, access the “Practice” link. BE MINDFUL OF THE SOFT AND HARD DUE DATES!  SEE COURSE CALENDAR! The "Practice" link contains practice problems. Work each problem NEATLY in your paper notebook. Then immediately input the solution into the answer window.  This will take AT LEAST 2 HOURS! Depending on how your brain is wired, it may take A LOT longer.

As you work the practice problems,

• make a "Formula & Procedures" sheet. It should be no longer than one side of an 8 x 11 piece of paper. This should become part of your major module quiz study tool. JUST UNDERSTAND THAT YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO USE IT ON THE MODULE QUIZZES.
• watch out for incorrect solution input! For example, you know that you did the work correctly, but MOM tells you the solution is incorrect. Check your input format! For instance, did you type a period instead of a comma? Did you forget a comma or parentheses? etc.
• understand that you might draw a blank when you first work a problem even after studying the concepts. This is quite normal. Keep your own notes next to you and refer to them while you work the problems. You might even have to re-examine the learning materials. Be aware that you have to "wrestle" with some of the problems to get the correct solution!!!

NOTE: Some students feel that the practice set problems must be just like the example problems. No, no, no! You are supposed to learn how to work ANY AND ALL problems given formulas and procedures. If you simply copy an example problem, you only know how to work this particular type of problem.

Step 6: After you have worked all of the practice sets in a module, complete the corresponding module review contained in the next to the last tasks folder of each module. Although it is not graded, it consists of problems from the practice sets and contains the module quiz problems! Work each problem NEATLY in your paper notebook. Then immediately input the solution into the answer window. This will take AT LEAST 2 HOURS!

NOTE: As you work the review problems, understand that you might draw a blank when you first work a problem even though you have already worked it once before in the practice sets. This is quite normal. Consult the "Formula & Procedures" sheets you created for each practice set to re-familiarize yourself with the concepts. At this time, you might want to add more information!  You might also check your paper notebook to find a similar problem you worked in the corresponding practice set.

Step 7: At the end of each module you must take a quiz. You can take it five (5) times and only the highest score counts toward your course grade. BE MINDFUL OF THE SOFT AND HARD DUE DATES! SEE COURSE CALENDAR! It is suggested that on the day before a quiz you access the associated module review one more time and rework all the problems. At that time, you should be able to do each problem correctly without any hesitation and without consulting your notes.

Step 8: Take the Final Exam during its availability period. BE MINDFUL OF THE SOFT AND HARD DUE DATES! SEE COURSE CALENDAR! The exam problems will be taken from the module quizzes.