Hello Math Majors,
I hope you are doing well as we work through the sixth week of the Spring 2023 semester. The class schedule for the Summer 2023 semester was published on MyRed on February 20th, and you gained access to the Summer 2023 semester in the Enrollment Scheduler on the same day. Next Monday, March 6th, registration for the Summer 2023 semester will start, and the Fall 2023 semester schedule will be published on MyRed. You will also gain access to the Fall 2023 semester in the Enrollment Scheduler on Monday, March 6th.
Now is the time to start thinking about and making plans for the upcoming semesters. Additionally, it is has been brought to my attention that a significant number of you have advising holds on your summer 2023 and/or fall 2023 semester registration, and these advising holds cannot be removed without a meeting with me. The time is now to get on my schedule.
Four weeks ago, I wrote about four different things that I believe you need to do to help fully engage with your classes: 1) maximizing course attendance, 2) reading textbooks and other course materials, 3) completing weekly reviews of course materials, and 4) visiting course instructors during office hours. This week, I want to wrap up this series on course engagement by writing about weekly course reviews.
To be honest, completing weekly course reviews is a skills that I have never mastered. However, I strongly believe it is a study technique that you attempt to do as it should make studying for quizzes and exams much easier, and it should involve your ability to retain the information that you are learning.
Completing a weekly review in each of your courses is exactly what it sounds like. You set aside time at the end of each week to review what you learned and covered during the week and to review the previous weeks material since the last quiz or exam. This review does not need to take an extensive amount of time, but you need to review the materials that you feel is the most important or that could be on the next quiz or exam. You don't have to complete the weekly review of each course on the same day or over the weekend, but it is best to consider planning out when these days are as part of your overall weekly schedule.
Weekly reviews can help you more easily understand course material that you are having difficulty with. This will give you more time to seek help from your course instructors or other resources before your next quiz or exam. Additionally, this study method is designed to help improve your overall learning as well as your quiz and exam preparation. For example, this method should stop the need to cram right before quizzes and exams.
Again, this is a study method that I have never personally mastered, but I would strongly encourage you to try it. This method does rely on you having a time management plan that includes a weekly schedule. If time management is something that you are struggling with, I would be happy to help.
No Drop-in Advising on Monday, March 6th
There is an Academic Advising Conference on Monday, March 6th, so there won't be any drop-in advising on that day. There also won't be any academic advising appointments available on March 6th. Drop-ins and appointments will resume as normal on Tuesday, March 7th.
For the Spring 2023 semester, I am taking in-person, Zoom, and phone meetings in 45-minute blocks from 8:30 am to 12:15 pm and 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm every weekday outside of my drop-in advising hours, and I am taking drop-in meetings via Zoom only on Mondays and on Fridays from 1 pm to 3 pm.
You can schedule a meeting with me by using the Student Success Hub via this link, by calling the College of Arts and Sciences Academic and Career Advising Center at 402-472-4190, by calling me at 402-472-4319, or by emailing me at dpellatz@unl.edu. You can find instructions for how to access and schedule meetings in the Student Success Hub system here. You can also find information about my virtual only drop-in meetings at https://cas.unl.edu/drop-in-advising-schedule.
Best wishes, Doug
Math Department Events
The Math Department has many upcoming events that might be of interest to you along with a weekly (or almost weekly) colloquium series. A listing of all upcoming Math Department events can be found at https://events.unl.edu/math/upcoming/.
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