How to do well

Here are some suggestions on how to do well - much inspired by Dr. Zellmer's document on the same topic.

Keep up with the course material. We cover so much material - and it requires such a diverse range of skills - that you must keep up or you will find it hard to catch up. If you read Dr. Pappas' class schedule posted on Carmen, you will find the words: "Reading from your text that is to be done PRIOR to lecture". This means that you probably should try and at least skim the text, have some sense of the equations and concepts that will be covered, and have an idea about the key words; that shouldn't take long at all, and you don't have to understand it fully. After the lecture, however, ensure that you "get" it by looking at the lecture notes from class and reconciling it with your understanding.
If, after reading the textbook, you do not understand something from lecture, please ask - you won't learn it better without help. You should feel free to shoot myself or Dr. Pappas an email, or consult us in office hours or by appointment, or see any TA in Celeste 160 (any of them should, in theory, be able to help you with lecture problems).
The next thing to do is to do the homework - you need to do your first pass at homework as you go along in the book - ideally before the next lecture, but certainly do not just "do all the homework that weekend" - you will not be able to absorb the subtleties. Do not count on being able to resolve those problems in the pre-planned presentation in recitation, because

it is short (30 minutes for an entire chapter)
I try usually to give a balanced treatment of the lecture material, and some of it may not be covered
You may not be able to absorb it fast enough for it to help

That said, recitation is a good time to ask questions - please interrupt or ask me at the start of a recitation if you want me to discuss something from the quiz topics that week.
Again, if you have trouble with the homework - you should be able to do all of the assigned problems without consulting the homework key on Carmen or your textbook. I know that most people don't do all the homework without reading the text (I am a student after all, and understand that that is just an ideal situation), but you should know if you are using the text as a crutch, or if it is just "jogging your memory". Make sure you do some of the problems without looking at the book - remember that quiz questions often are taken straight from homework.

Do the homework and reading one section at a time - the homework sets are far too long and the topics covered in each chapter build up so much, if you try and do the reading or homework for the entire chapter in one block, you will be (1) overwhelmed, (2) confused, and (3) not absorb it as well as you can.
If you are stuck on homework - again - ASK me, Dr. Pappas or another TA in Celeste 160.
Need additional explanations or answers to another couple of problems? I suggest trying Dr. Zellmer's homework set.

I also recommend using his homework set if you have the 8th or 9th* edition of the book.

Try and answer questions fully - you may think you answered what is wanted, but make sure you cover every point that was addressed in the homework key. If you do not, you will lose marks.in a quiz.
This is not a course that you can read the material the night before and do well on the quizzes and exams. Like in Mathematics class or when you learnt how to play an instrument - you must try and spend time every day or so on this subject
Do not spend too much time on producing perfectly presented lab reports - although you should turn these in on time and keep up. Assuming you understand your homework, you shouldn't spend more than three hours on lab each week - or you are really wasting your time. You should count on spending 10-12 hours of self-study time each week - spread out over the entire week - on homework and reading and making sure you understand what has been lectured and will be covered in quizzes and exams - these will clinch the grade for you.

Monday - Spend time prereading the material for class on Tuesday, and do the prelab/notebook
Tuesday - Read up on the sections Dr. Pappas has lectured on, and try and do as much of the homework as possible. If unclear on what happened in lecture, be sure to ask Dr. Pappas in her office hours.
Wednesday - lab - I know you will be tired. Ask Yu Kay or Nick questions on things that you still don't understand for your homework on Tuesday. Complete homework from topics lectured on Tuesday. Skim topics to be lectured on Thursday.
Thursday - Read up on the sections Dr. Pappas has lectured on, and try and do as much of the homework as possible. If unclear on what happened in lecture, be sure to ask Dr. Pappas in her office hours.
Friday - Complete lab report - ask in Celeste 160 if you need help on this, especially with report questions, since those can recur in quizzes and exams.
Saturday - Be sure to have completed all the homework in preparation for your quiz on Monday. If Dr. Pappas is ahead of where the quiz would be, try and be up to date with lecture, and not just your quiz.
Sunday - be sure to know all the key concepts for a given quiz. Reread your lecture notes and textbook, and do a few additional homework problems.

*Those using the 9th edition may wish to photocopy chapter 15 of the book.