Frequently Asked Questions

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Class Meetings and Structure

Does this class have any face-to-face meetings?

No. All the work, including homework, discussion, lectures, labs, group projects and testing is done online. You never have to come to BMCC in person or meet at a particular time. However, the work you complete online still has regular due dates, so you must be sure to pay attention to when work is due and to submit it by the deadline, just like in a regular face-to-face class.

Do I have to do the work online?

Yes. Because this is an online course, all of the work must be done online. However, the online course work can be done at any time of day, as long as you meet the deadlines that are posted on the class Assignments page.

Do I have to do work online at a particular time?

No. You can login any day or time that you like, as long as you complete the work before the deadlines that are posted on the class Assignments page.

How does the workload for this online course compare to a regular face-to-face class?

The work for this course should take the same amount of time as the work you would do in a regular face-to-face class. However, many students fail to take into account that this course when taken face-to-face has 6 class hours that you would usually spend at BMCC (4 in class and 2 in the lab); any homework and studying would be in addition to this, about another 4-8 hours worth of work at home on average, depending on how quickly you work. (A good rule of thumb for college classes generally is that for every hour you spend in class, you should spend about 2 hours at home on homework or studying; so, since this is a 4 hour class, not counting the lab, you would expect about 8 hours of work at home each week. Some students who are faster in completing the homework can get the work done more quickly, in about 4 hours per week.)

Since this is an online class with no face-to-face meetings, you should still plan on spending about 14 hours each week on work for this class: reading the book and the lectures, doing discussion questions, taking tests or quizzes, working on labs and group projects, and doing homework. Some students find it difficult to schedule this much time each week when they don't have a scheduled class meeting time. To succeed in this class, you should be sure that you are the kind of student who can motivate yourself to do about 14 hours of work each week even when you don't have scheduled class meetings. 

What work is due this week?

You can always see the deadlines for each week by going to the Assignments page. 

Do you have any special tips about what I should do to succeed in this course?

The biggest reason students fail this class is simply that they get behind in the work. Turn all your work in on time. I have never had a student who submitted all the course work on time and still failed the course. I recommend that you set aside specific times each week that add up to about 14 hours total during which you plan to work on this course.

Students who participate fully in the discussion board - reading all the other students' posts and responding repeatedly to my comments tend to do well in the course. The kind of problems they work out on the discussion board really help them on the tests.

If you have trouble understanding something in the lectures or the homework, discuss this problem on the discussion board or email me with a specific question about the problem you are having trouble with. For the best and fastest possible response, include the problem or the portion of the lecture itself in the email and explain exactly what you have tried and what has confused you about the problem or the example in the lecture. Most students who struggle with the material don't ask questions about the math.

 

Problems/Difficulties

I'm having technical problems. What should I do?

You can find the answer to this question on the syllabus.

I'm having trouble understanding the math. What should I do?

You can find the answer to this question on the syllabus.

I need an extension for this week's work. Can I turn this week's work in late, and what steps do I need to follow to ask for an extension?

You can find the answer to this question on the syllabus.

I've emailed you and I never heard back from you. Why haven't you responded? 

I will always respond to emails within about one business day; on weekends and school holidays I may also respond quickly, but my response is only guaranteed on weekdays when classes are in session. To see which days are holidays at the college, click here.

If it has already been more than one business day and you have not heard from me, there are several possible things that may have happened.

1. I may have responded to you, but my email may have been filtered into your spam filter. Check your spam email to see if there is a message from me, and if you find my message there, change your email settings to allow messages from profwladis@gmail.com. (This should not be a problem if you are only using your BMCC email.)

2. Your message may have been filtered out as spam from my inbox. To prevent this happening, be sure to put something in the subject line that clearly states the purpose of your email. If you email me from a BMCC address, this should not be a problem.

3. There may be a problem with your return address; in this case if I email you back, the message will get bounced back to me. Check to be sure that the "Reply to:" address given in your email settings is a working address. You might try sending a test message to a friend or to your own BMCC email account and then try replying to your own message. If you get an error message, you should check your "Reply to" settings. If you are emailing from a BMCC email address, this should not be a problem.

Announcements:

no announcements at this time

Contact Information

Email: cwladis@bmcc.cuny.edu, profwladis@gmail.com
(Please send any large attachments to the gmail address, not to the bmcc address!)

Office: N598E

Office hours:
(fall 2023) Tues 9am-12pm
These are virtual office hours. Text or call me on my office phone (212-220-1363) during this time.

Phone: (212) 220-1363 (email is always the fastest way to reach me)

Address: Claire Wladis, Mathematics Department, BMCC / CUNY, 199 Chambers Street, New York, NY 10007