Welcome to my teaching page! This semester, I am teaching Math 2177, Mathematical Topics for Engineers. If you would like to contact me for private tutoring or anything else, feel free to shoot me an email at garrett.425@osu.edu. In Spring and Autumn 2016 and in Autumn 2018, I taught Math 2177 (Mathematical Topics for Engineers), in Spring 2017, I taught Math 2153 (Calculus III), and in Autumn 2017, I taught Math 1150 (Precalculus). While teaching those courses, I created several reference handouts for the course. You will find them by hovering over the arrow just to the right of the “Teaching” link on the left sidebar and selecting “Math 2177 Resources” (or by clicking here), “Math 2153 Resources” (or by clicking here), or “Math 1150 Resources” (or by clicking here). If you’re interested in the evaluations I’ve received from my students, you’ll find them at the bottom of this page. If you’re my student, you should check this page for any handouts I may have given in class if you couldn’t make it to class or if you lost any handouts I gave you. I have also included an assortment of helpful supplementary links I encourage each of my students to look at. If something is missing, please let me know by shooting me an email at garrett.425@osu.edu.
Resources relevant to the course:
Course syllabus for Math 2177 Spring 2019
Course Calendar for Math 2177 Spring 2019
Recitation syllabus for Spring 2019
Advice for doing well in your math courses:
Regular, punctual attendance is strongly advised but not required. Historically speaking, lack of attendance correlates greatly with poor performance in coursework. I do not interpret non-attendance as disrespect towards me, nor do I take disinterest in my class personally, but all students should regularly attend and participate in class because (1) homework and quiz questions are similar to what we go over in class and comprise a substantial part of the course grade and may model test questions at later dates, (2) the sessions often provide vital insight into the problem-solving process, and (3) you have the opportunity to ask questions. By not attending recitation, you are squandering a valuable resource and throwing away tuition money. Similarly, while attendance in lecture is not mandatory, it is strongly advised. Recitation is not a substitute for lecture, and I will rarely be lecturing or introducing material that was not covered in lecture. I will almost always be teaching with the assumption that students have some familiarity with all the concepts at hand (as discussed in lecture the previous day, unless we are working ahead); on the other hand, the lecturer will not.
When you are confused, don’t stay confused – get help! The pace of this course is extremely fast, and in mathematics especially, short term confusion can lead to even more confusion later on down the line and be disastrous if left uncorrected. As soon as you find something you’re having trouble with after thinking on it for a few hours, contact the lecturer or me, or come to office hours or the MSLC tutoring room to get things clarified. I am here to help you, and I want you to succeed. However, that said, I can’t do the work for you. Try the problems before contacting me, and when you contact me, be precise as to what you’re having trouble with and what you’ve tried. Doing this optimizes my helpfulness to you and your fellow students.
If you have trouble remembering important facts and formulas, you may find index cards helpful. However, that said, there can be a lot to memorize, and what can often happen is that once you know a more fundamental fact, it’s not hard to deduce another fact from it (this is especially true in trigonometry, for instance). You shouldn’t treat memorization in math class like cramming a random assortment of facts that are barely related – instead, you should think about the utility of the things you memorize, why they make sense, and how they’re all related. I can also assist in determining what you need to commit to memory in my office hours. We may also find mnemonic devices in recitation to aid your studying (another reason why regular attendance is a good idea!).
Additional web resources:
http://patrickjmt.com/ is a website with many video tutorials for a variety of courses: calculus, precalculus, differential equations, linear algebra, and probability.
https://www.khanacademy.org/ offers an enormous pool of supplemental lessons and problems. If you’re struggling and not finding me to be of enough assistance, this website is a great place to go. For their Calculus III resources, go here.
http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/Classes/CalcIII/CalcIII.aspx Paul’s Online Notes for Calc 3. These are generally pretty well-regarded, though I don’t have much experience using them myself.
http://blogs.ams.org/blogonmathblogs/2017/02/28/a-circular-approach-to-linear-algebra/#sthash.gzNyyMBU.dpbs Some resources to better understand linear algebra.
http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/mathematics/18-02-multivariable-calculus-fall-2007/video-lectures/ MIT’s Open Courseware video lectures.
https://www.reddit.com/r/cheatatmathhomework/ is a great resource for homework help. Despite the name, they actively discourage cheating – in fact, their philosophy is to guide the student to answer their own questions. They will not do your homework for you. Well-focused questions are more likely to get attention. Someone usually gets back to you within a couple hours.
https://www.math.stackexchange.com/ is also a great resource for homework help, similar to the above Reddit link, but broader in scope and with a larger userbase.
http://www.iflscience.com/brain/math-gifs-will-help-you-understand-these-concepts-better-your-teacher-ever-did Some cool visuals. The title is a lie! 😉
I’ll put up other helpful links as I find them and as others find them and suggest them to me – suggestions are much appreciated!
Past Teaching:
Cumulative SEI Report (just numerical data, current as of December 2017)
Math 1150: Precalculus, Autumn Semester 2017:
SEI Report for my 11:30 section (more specific numerical data than the cumulative report). This class was very quiet, and other than from a few students, it was difficult to elicit participation, even in the form of clarifying questions. I am reflecting on how to improve this kind of situation in the future.
SEI Report for my 12:40 section
Online SEI comment from my 11:30 section
Online SEI comments from my 12:40 section
Paper evaluations forthcoming.
Math 2153: Calculus III, Spring Semester 2017:
SEI Report for my 1:50 section (more specific numerical data than the cumulative report)
SEI Report for my 3:00 section
SEI Report for my 4:10 section
Online SEI comments from my 1:50 section
Online SEI comments from my 3:00 section
Online SEI comments from my 4:10 section
Paper evaluations forthcoming.
Math 2177: Mathematical Topics for Engineers, Autumn Semester 2016:
SEI Report for my 12:40 section
SEI Report for my 1:50 section
Online SEI comments from my 11:30 section
Online SEI comments from my 12:40 section
Online SEI comments from my 1:50 section
Paper evaluations for my 11:30 section (many more student comments in these than in the online SEIs)
Paper evaluations for my 12:40 section (many more student comments in these than in the online SEIs)
Paper evaluations for my 1:50 section (many more student comments in these than in the online SEIs)
Math 2177: Mathematical Topics for Engineers, Spring Semester 2016:
SEI Report for my 1:50 section
SEI Report for my 3:00 section
SEI Report for my 4:10 section
Online SEI comments for my 1:50 section
Online SEI comments for my 3:00 section
Online SEI comments for my 4:10 section
Paper evaluations for my 1:50 section (many more student comments in these than in the online SEIs)
Paper evaluations for my 3:00 section (many more student comments in these than in the online SEIs)
Paper evaluations for my 4:10 section (many more student comments in these than in the online SEIs)
Math 1172: Engineering Math A, Autumn Semester 2015:
SEI Report for my 9:10 section
SEI Report for my 10:20 section
Online SEI comments from my 9:10 section
Online SEI comments from my 10:20 section
Paper evaluations for my 9:10 section (many more student comments in these than in the online SEIs)
Paper evaluations from my 10:20 section (many more student comments in these than in the online SEIs)
Math 1151: Calculus I, Spring Semester 2015:
Online SEI comments from my 3:00 section
Online SEI comments from my 4:10 section
Paper evaluations for my 3:00 section (many more student comments in these than in the online SEIs)
Paper evaluations from my 4:10 section (many more student comments in these than in the online SEIs)
Math 1150: Precalculus, Autumn Semester 2014:
SEI report for 11:30 section (more specific numerical data)
SEI report for 12:40 section (more specific numerical data)
Online SEI comments from my 11:30 section
Online SEI comments from my 12:40 section
Paper evaluations for my 11:30 section (many more student comments in these than in the online SEIs)
Paper evaluations for my 12:40 section (many more student comments in these than in the online SEIs)