Quoted from "Teaching at theUniversity Level" by Steven Zucker. The article was published in Noticesof the American Mathematical Society, August 1996 (Vol. 43, No. 8).

1. You are no longer in high school. Thegreat majority of you , not having done so already, will have to discardhigh school notions of teaching and learning and replace them by university-levelnotions. This may be difficult, but it must happen sooner or later, sosooner is better. Our goal is more than just getting you to reproduce whatwas told to you in the classroom.

2. Expect to have material covered at twoto three times the pace of high school. Above that, we aim for greatercommand of the material, especially the ability to apply what you havelearned to new situations (when relevant).

3. Lecture time is at a premium,so it must be used efficiently. You cannot be "taught" everythingin the classroom. It is your responsibility to learn the material.Most of this learning must take place outside the classroom. Youshould be willing to put in two hours outside the classroom for each hourof class.

4. The instructor's job is primarily toprovide a framework, with some of the particulars, to guide youin doing your learning of the concepts and methods that comprise the materialof the course. It is not to "program" you with isolated factsand problem types nor to monitor your progress.

5. You are expected to read the textbookfor comprehension. It gives the detailed account of the material of thecourse. It also contains many examples of problems worked out, and theseshould be used to supplement those you see in the lecture. The textbookis not a novel, so the reading must often be slow-going and careful. However,there is the clear advantage that you can read it at your own pace. Usepencil and paper to work through the material and to fill in omitted steps.

6. As for when you engage the textbook,you have the following dichotomy:

a. [recommended for most students] Readfor the first time the appropriate section(s) of the book before thematerial is presented in lecture. That is, come prepared for class. Thenthe faster-paced college-style lecture will make more sense.


b. If you haven't looked at the book beforehand,try to pick up what you can from the lecture (absorb the general idea andtake thorough notes) and count on sorting it out later while studying fromthe book outside of class.