My question probably isn’t really about college life but more about self-study. I watched some online lectures from MIT and every lecture is a new chapter in the textbook they use. But that’s just insane. While I was studying calculus on my own, It took me on average 2.5 days to fully understand a chapter and do some of the problems. At the school I went to, they used to go on a really slow pace, and it took two semesters of calculus to get to integration techniques. Is it just these top schools that expect their students to completely learn a chapter in 1.5 hours? Or is there something else I’m missing?
My major is computer science, so most of what I do is basically math. Is the learning pace generally different when it comes to more mathematical courses?
In a real world classroom, classes are usually either MWF or TTh so there is a day between lectures. Ideally you read over the chapter before the lecture, so you have a general idea of what it covers. Then the lecture helps you understand what you read. Then you do the problems or exercises, getting help from study group or teacher.
Then you read ahead again for the next chapter.
The MIT OCW course (18.01) is two semesters of calculus compressed into one. You should use double that amountb of time between videos, so go two days between lectures and it should be much easier.
Something also to keep in mind is that with most classes, you’re not really expected to “fully understand” anything within the class period. You’re expected to practice the material, read the chapter, and basically figure it out on your own time. Some classes will actually progress as one chapter per lecture period (or even more chapters per lecture). It all just depends on the class.
Today’s modern 10,000page 50lb textbooks are not meant to be read cover-cover like a novel. They’re really more of a reference and should be used as such.
In my humanities field, I recommend that students read the assigned reading before class, making note of anything confusing, because it often helps them make sense of what we cover in class. (I typically don’t repeat what’s in the book but rather use it as scaffolding for extended points, and things come together more easily if you have a sense of what the subtext is.) Then, I suggest that they reread the material soon after class to solidify their understanding. Using strategies like notetaking, highlighting, margin notes etc can be helpful for exam review.