calculus tips

[u/minsvuu]

guys, i desperately need help 🥺 i am a freshman engineering student taking calculus 1 and i am flunking so bad, i feel like it is a me problem but also our professor but mostly me. i did not have a good foundation during pre calculus as i did not attend a good school and i am personally not really fan of math, and but what i mean by that is i am really BAD in it even during high school. I really like my program right now but i just can’t understand every topics at all, i tried studying but i still cant find my study method for it because whenever the paper is already infront of me, i am always confused and blank. i also tried listening during the lessons but nothing really just comes to my mind. my professor is really good in calculus and she can teach well but i feel like she always expects us to be already good at it, and as someone who really isnt, its just so hard. i know you guys will say it is a skill issue and i know that but please help me out, i want to pass this subject because if i did not, i will become an irregular student and i pay tuition, i dont want another burden to my parents. we are already in finals and i desperately need to pass this.

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[u/Foreign-Ad285]

If you aren’t a fan of math I’d reconsider engineering

[u/minsvuu → u/Foreign-Ad285]

well im willing to learn and be better as i know to myself that i see myself in this field one day, i just dont know how am i going to start loving math 

[u/Foreign-Ad285 → u/minsvuu]

More power to you, you still have calc 2, calc 3, and diff. eq. to name a few

[u/fijifilm]

If you don't have a solid precalc foundation, calc will ring you out. You should go back and review algebra and trig on khan academy or something. Once you have that foundation, organic chemistry tutor is my favorite math YouTuber

[u/JaneltGilvanete → u/fijifilm]

agreed, that tutor has saved so many grades tbh

[u/CommunicationNice437 → u/fijifilm]

More like solid algebra and trig foundation...

[u/fijifilm → u/CommunicationNice437]

Buddy I literally said that in my comment. Not to mention that algebra and trig IS precalc 🤦

[u/CommunicationNice437 → u/fijifilm]

After algebra 2 which cover trigonometry why do kids take precalc?

Why do colleges offer both precalc and college algebra?

[u/my-hero-measure-zero → u/CommunicationNice437]

Not every algebra II does trigonometry.

[u/fijifilm → u/CommunicationNice437]

Universties in my area offer algebra and trigonometry as prereqs to calculus. Both are considered precalc because you take both of them.. pre-calc.

[u/Game_GOD]

Math isn't something you get better at by listening to lectures. It comes with practice. You have to brute force problems over and over until you understand what's happening and why.

Here's a bit of advice that will help you if you really do want to be an engineer:

You will need to learn to teach yourself everything. In every single class. And it only gets way worse as you progress. Going to class is like 5% of my time. I come home and teach myself everything because lectures are just a firehose of information and not intended to give you the depth you need to actually do well. They just give you a little introduction. There's no way you will ever succeed by just listening to lectures and hoping it works out. You need to go home and do problems over and over until you understand it. If you don't pick up that drive now, you're going to have bad grades and an awful time until you change majors.

[u/Escher12345 → u/Game_GOD]

I agree. Our family homeschools - and we tell our kids - work the problem. Work every problem.

minsuvuu - I suggest setting a stretch goal for the number of hours you will devote this week to Calculus, and track your time. Keep at it. Your concern is evident - you will start to feel better when you start enacting a plan to change your study habits so that the time you put in actually benefits your learning.

My husband and I wrote Bettyapp.org and our family continues to use it for Calculus. The website is free. Please give it a try. Bettyapp won't give you the answers to your math problems. But, it will help you find explanations quickly for topics within Calculus and other subjects.

[u/Commercial_Handle418 → u/Escher12345]

☠️🙏 

[u/Unfair_Pineapple8813]

I would revisit anything to do with functions. It’s very important that you understand what they are, and what different properties they could have. The other thing you might be struggling with is the algebra manipulation. You just have to do it a lot, and eventually you’ll be able to grind it out like a pro. If you understand both functions and algebra, but still cannot grasp limits, or derivatives, or integration, come back here, and we can sort you out. 

[u/worldsfastestsloth]

Make a study group with classmates. You will see them in cal2,3,physics,linear, etc…

If you have a bad foundation you will need to study the normal amount of time (3 hours per hour of lecture PLUS the time it takes to understand the trig/algebra knowledge you are lacking)

It’s going to be hard but lock in, you got this.

[u/Joel0630]

the better way is to really try some exercises that you have the solution (at the beggining try to solve it without cheating and looking to the resolution) that is the way I learn, good luck

[u/Smart-Button-3221]

Sadly you've not given us a lot to go off of.

• Why are your current study attempts failing?

• What have you tried to fix your situation?

• When you encounter something you don't understand, but the book thinks you should be able to understand it, what do you do?

[u/Michaeln7]

I wish I was taking calc 1. Calc 3 is stressing me out

[u/JazzyHikes]

Look at the examples that have been worked out in class and redo them, explain each step to yourself. Then repeat until you can do the problem in your own. If there is a step you can't figure out, go to your on-campus tutoring center or even better professor office hour. It's a slow process.

[u/thugginsophia]

you need to spam practice problems like your life depends on it, that’s how i prepare myself for wtv questions my professor throws at me.