How to succeed in NJIT Math 222

Prof. Roy Goodman

Make sure you know calculus. If you were placed in this class but don’t know calculus well, it will be very hard.

In particular:
- Know the difference between derivatives and integrals
- Know integrals and derivatives of common functions: $\sin{x}$, $e^{ax}$, $\ln x$, etc.
- Know techniques including integration by parts and $u$-substitution.
Calculus review materials in Canvas.

There is a lot to learn! Don’t fall behind!

Start working in week one. 📆
Keep up day to day (or at least week to week). Friday’s lecture will be easier to follow if you have understood Thursday’s lecture.
Attending every lecture but doing no work is a poor strategy.
Read the book 📖, work through the examples, and try to understand the ideas. Then do the homework.
Spend 2-3 hours working for every hour of lecture.

Too many students take this class two or more times before passing. Put in enough time and work to pass it on the first attempt.

Your instructors put a lot of time into planning and teaching the class. We like to see positive results.

Nothing is optional. Skipping the MATLAB drops you two 2️⃣ letter grades.
Homework and quizzes are there to encourage you to keep up every week.
The homework is (relatively) easy. It can compensate (somewhat) for poor test performance.

MATLAB (and computing more generally) is a tool to help visualize the solutions to differntial equations, which helps you think about the meaning of solutions and not simply write down formulas.
Numerical methods (e.g. Euler’s method, sec. 2.7) are an essential tool for understanding ODE. It helps understanding if you work with the computer code.
You will use MATLAB in later courses.
When you see ODE after this semester, numerical solutions are likely to play an important role.

Professor’s office hour is your first option. We like helping, especially early. 🧑‍🏫
Ask questions in class. ❓
If you don’t understand why we cover something, ask. It’s all there for a reason.

Contact the coordinator! There are dozens of links, assignments, and due dates in Canvas. There are bound to be mistakes. Help me fix them .

Good luck this semester! 😄