++ What is Coming

If you or your student is starting on a university mathematics program, WELCOM! This could be one of the most rewarding experiences.

I am not going to delve deeply into what it takes to be prepared. Let me just say, “You are not in Kansas anymore.” For all but probably the top 5 percent of students, study habits, hours studying, and research skills will have to have changed. Maybe most importantly students need to make major shifts as to how they learn.

EVERY class will introduce probably 70% new material. This isn’t like what students are used to in their Algebra sequence. In a math program, probably every class will introduce some level of new material, new techniques and the development of new ways to thinking.

++ The TRUTH

If your student is truly wanting to excel, it is NOT their motivations that have to change. Truth be told, it is their habits that must undergo immediate change.

In fact, the first day of class, they will be behind. I am not speaking to the students who are used to getting by on talent alone, because that will not happen in a mathematic program. What I mean by the statement that they will be behind after the first day of class, is because, they need to prep for their classes.

My advisor my freshman year, told me I needed to review my math texts over the summer before the first day of class. These are the kinds of students that I work with. I have worked with student around the country. In fact, I expect to be teaching at least as an adjunct professor this semester (Fall 2023).

++ The Rewards

My freshman year at the University of Dayton, I was in a dorm on what was called an academic interest floor. The small rooms and 1-1 interactions lent itself to a wonderful learning experience. I wonder if the migration to “apartment dwelling” formats deprive the students of that academic environment.

My relationships with my fellow students was one of the most important elements of my freshman year. I developed life long friends that I am still in contact with.

++  Is All of This Really Necessary?

Only our students can answer this. What do they want? Most students are coming out of an educational system where the academic bar is, in many cases, just falling. “Doing hard things” isn’t valued. Many believe that students simply shouldn’t have to work as hard as perhaps their parents did in school.

Whatever the reasons, one thing that students DO GET, is that they know when they earn something as opposed to when “results” are handed to them.

++ What is Next?

The learning skills that students learn early on in pursuit of a mathematics degree will help in multiple ways. They will learn how to think. This will teach them how to succeed in a Chemistry, Physics, Electrical Engineering and other programs. I can not overestimate the importance of getting into the habit of learning as students move into more “applied math and science”.

This is why I do what I do.

Have a great semester and first semester if this your student’s first university semester.