Charles Buxton.

College is supposed to have more ambitious educational objectives than high school. To help you survive the change ... please take note of the following:

(Modified from the August 1996 issue of the Notices of the American Mathematical Society.)

• You are no longer in high school. The great majority of you, if you have not done so already, will have to discard high school notions of teaching and learning and replace them by university-level notions. This may be difficult; but it must happen sooner or later, so sooner is better! Our goal is more than just getting you to reproduce what was told to you in the classroom.

• Expect to have material covered somewhat faster than the pace at high school. In addition, we aim for greater command of the material, especially the ability to apply what you have learned to new situations.

• Class time is at a premium, so it must be used efficiently. You cannot be taught everything in the classroom. It is your responsibility to learn the material. Most of this learning must take place outside of the classroom. So, you should be willing to put in something like two hours outside the classroom for each hour of class.

• The instructor's job is primarily to provide you with a framework - and with some of the particulars - to guide you in doing your learning of the concepts and methods that comprise the material of the course. It is not to program you with isolated facts and problem types nor simply prepare you for exams.

• You should read the textbook for understanding. It gives the detailed account of the material of the course and contains examples of problems worked out, and these should be used to supplement those you see in the lecture and on the Web page for the course. The textbook is 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. Use pencil and paper to work through the material and to fill in omitted steps.

• As for when and how to use the textbook, you have the following dichotomy:
• [recommended for most students] Read the appropriate section(s) of the book before the material is presented in lecture. That is, come prepared for class. Then the faster paced college-style lecture will make more sense.
• If you haven't looked at the book beforehand, try to pick up what you can from the lecture - absorb the general idea and/or take thorough notes - and count on sorting it out later while studying from the book outside of class.