Best Practices

I list some practices which may maximize your chances to succeed in this course.

• Allocate some time (~an hour or two) every day for COSC 31 apart from class hours. Guard it zealously: don't let anything else creep into it. 
  
  
• Attend every class. Even if lecture notes and videos are available, use them for reviewing purposes. The fact that you can ask questions makes you more attentive, even if you don't end up asking questions.
  
  
• Start working on problems early. Read the questions as soon as they are out (they probably may not make sense). Then when the relevant material is being covered, keep asking yourself if you can start working on the questions. 
  
  
• Form a study group with 1 or 2 classmates who are in the same "wavelength" as you. Discuss, debate, and teach other the various concepts. Bang heads together on the problems. Understand practice problem solutions together. Critique writings of each other.
  
  
• Come to Problem Solving Sessions. This is where you can meet classmates at the same wavelength, and also may get to see how problems are solved.
  
  
• Ask questions. I know it is difficult to raise ones hand and "disrupt the flow of the class". If you feel uncomfortable asking questions in class, ask them on Ed Discussion. Ask them after class. Ask them in 1-1 office hours. But don't let them fester.
  
  
• Get email notifications for announcements both on Canvas & Ed Discussion. Don't miss out on them.
  
  
• Use office hours wisely. In particular, come prepared with (possibly a written list of) questions that you would want clarification on.  And don’t leave until they have been clarified. Don't come there to be a "passive observer".
  
  
• Invest in learning LaTeX. With overleaf, the learning curve is not that steep. The final document is “pretty”.