Tutorial Guide: Mathematics and Computer Science

You will in your first year normally have between two and four tutorials or classes each week. You will, almost always, be expected to do written work in advance for each of these. The assignments will usually be problem sheets, given out a week ahead.

In Mathematics (and Computer Science) there is a structured programme of lectures (10 per week in the first year). These lectures are not, in a strict sense, compulsory, but you are very strongly advised to attend them all. They cover all the core material and provide a starting point for your own work. However they are only a starting point and you are expected also to read on your own.

In addition those reading Mathematics must in the first year follow a course run by the Mathematics Sub-faculty on the Maple computer algebra package, and submit two projects by specified dates in the second term. Those reading Mathematics & Computer Science, Computer Science, or Mathematics & Philosophy are not required to take the Maple course, but may do so, for no examination credit. Many Computer Science courses have a practical component which is compulsory.

• You must attend pre-term meetings with tutors (customarily these are held on Thursday afternoon of week 0, from 2pm, or in some cases on Friday week 0).
• You must do the work that is prescribed, to the deadlines set.
• You must attend the tutorials and classes that are arranged for you.
• You must see your moral tutor [academic adviser] at the end of term for your reports for the term to be read to you and discussed with you.
• You must take the Collections [internal College examinations, not contributing to final degree] that are set for you.

Failure to comply with these requirements is a breach of College Regulations, and, except where there are extenuating circumstances, repeated non-compliance constitutes `persistently unsatisfactory work' and may result in you being put on probation or being required to withdraw from your course. The College Regulations lay down the procedures that are followed in such cases.

Your moral tutor has formal responsibility for your academic welfare, but your tutors within the College operate as a team, and will work collectively to help you and to monitor your progress. You have the right to expect that those who teach you

• make it clear to you what work you are required to do, and the deadlines for submitting it;
• do their best to make your tutorials worthwhile and respect your endeavours as those of someone engaged in the same enterprise as themselves;
• give you regular feedback on your progress, either orally in tutorials, through written comments marked on your work, or both, and make constructive suggestions for improvement should this be necessary;
• give you prompt warning if your work or conduct is considered unsatisfactory.

In return, we expect you

• to engage with the spirit of your course, to be open to new perspectives and ideas, and to approach any difficulties you meet in a constructive way;
• to prepare thoroughly for your tutorials and to participate actively in them;
• to be considerate and supportive of your fellow students, and to participate in the life of St Anne's mathematics community of undergraduates, graduate students, tutors, and professors;

and also

• to take responsibility for ensuring that you know the time and place of beginning and end of term meetings with tutors (normally communicated by email);
• to be punctual for meetings and tutorials, and to make sure that you let those concerned know in advance if for any reason (such as illness or family emergency) you are unable to attend;
• not to waste tutors' time through having to be chased to do necessary tasks such as filling in forms for the College authorities.

A tutorial is not a personalised lecture by your tutor, nor a substitute for missed lectures. Tutorials may be used to help you to

• get newly learned material into perspective;
• resolve difficulties you have found with lecture material or with reading;
• discover the solution to that problem on the problem sheet that was bugging you all week;
• have mistakes in your written work explained;
• re-inforce your learning by defending your arguments to your tutor and fellow tutee(s);
• develop your analytical and presentational skills.

Good tutorials are highly interactive. The more you participate, the more you (and your tutor!) will enjoy the tutorial and the more you will gain from it. The better prepared you are, the more can be achieved in the time available. If you have really struggled with a problem yourself, then often just a few words from your tutor will be enough for you to see how to finish it off. In advance of the tutorial go through the material you have studied and identify points on which you want to seek clarification. Comparing notes with your tutorial partner may be helpful.

Different tutors will have different styles. Because of the individual attention that you receive, there is scope for some flexibility, to help you personally to get the best out of your tutorials. You will probably have different tutorial partners with different tutors or at different times; you may think that some groupings work better for you than others. You should feel free to discuss such issues with your tutor or moral tutor. You will be given the opportunity at the end of each term to complete a (confidential) feedback form for each set of tutorials you have attended. Please take the trouble to fill in these forms. They assist the College in monitoring the quality of its teaching, and constructive suggestions that you make will be carefully noted and acted upon where appropriate.

You should start work on each problem sheet well ahead of the deadline, allowing plenty of time to do the necessary reading and to think about the tougher problems. Don't expect to be able to answer all the questions instantly (if they were that easy, they wouldn't be worth setting). On the other hand, you should be able to make at least a good attempt at all the problems by the time your assignment is due in.

Do not expect that lecture notes will tell you everything you need to know about a topic. You will be given suggestions for reading by tutors, and will also find reading lists in the Lecture Synopses which form part of your Course Handbook. You have access to exceptionally good libraries, all within less than ten minutes walk of College and conveniently situated for your lecture rooms: use this resource to the full. `I couldn't get any of the books' is not an acceptable reason for failing to do the work set: start in good time, and remember that, if the copies in the College Library and the Hooke Library are out, the Radcliffe Science Library is not a lending library so that the books are always available there.

The Mathematical Institute Notes How do undergraduates do mathematics? by Professor Batty give lots of guidance and tips on problem-solving, and on developing a good written mathematical style. You should have read these Notes before starting your course, but will find that many of the points made carry more force once you are doing university mathematics for yourself. So take time to re-read the Notes and be alert to the advice when writing your own answers. Get into the habit of reading your answers back to yourself, critically. When doing so, ask yourself if what you have written would make sense to someone not yet familiar with the material (it should!).

It is good practice as far as you can to write out `proper' answers as you go along, rather than writing up a neat version at the end. The answers that you hand in should be carefully argued, with reasons given for your claims. For example, a question might ask you to identify which of a set of statements are true and which are false. Even if it does not explicitly say so, you are expected to give reasons: to prove the true statements and give counterexamples to the false ones.

Brainstorming with your friends can be productive, and fun---and will help you develop the teamwork skills that employers are so keen on! You will also find that trying to explain a mathematical point to someone else is an excellent way to improve your own understanding. However, copying is very different from collaboration and trying to conceal difficulties or ignorance this way will impede your progress. As should be obvious to you, copying out another person's answers will do nothing for your own understanding, and allowing someone else to copy your work does them no service.

Remember that tutors are experienced (and were students themselves once). They are unlikely to be taken in by weak excuses or cover-up efforts in lieu of work.

• Don't feel obliged to answer the questions in the order they appear on the problem sheet; they may not be in increasing order of difficulty. If you don't see how to complete a problem, move on and return to it later.
• Make sure that you know the meaning of all the terms appearing in a question. You certainly won't be able to do the problem if you don't know the requisite definitions.
• Make sure that you have used all the information given in the question.
• Any problem will have been included on a problem sheet for a reason. Try to work out what this is (to familarise you with new definitions, practice in using a technique, to fill in a proof omitted from lectures, to introduce you to a interesting result, ... ).
• The Examination Regulations in the `Grey Book' and the Lecture Synopses which amplify these summarise each course. Make yourself familiar with these: they highlight key theorems and techniques and will help you discover what is important.
• You learn mathematics by doing it. Fill in for yourself missing details in what you read.
• If one book doesn't help you, try another one.
• Use Maple as a tool to aid you in your work.
• The first-year course contains a lot of material which is put to use later on in the course. Don't panic if you don't see the relevance or significance of everything straightaway.

You should hand in an attempt to every question set. When you have not succeeded in completing a problem, write brief notes on what approaches you tried and why they didn't work. This will help your tutor see where your calculations have gone wrong or what misconceptions led you astray. Sometimes a sheet is really two half-sheets on different topics, so that important topics for discussion in the week's tutorial may appear in the second part, so you should not devote a disproportionate amount of your time on the early questions. If you are having severe difficulties with an assignment, contact your tutor and ask for guidance, in time to attempt the problems again before the hand-in deadline. You will get a more sympathetic response and will make faster progress by doing this than by coming to a tutorial with little or nothing to show for your week's efforts.

Your tutorial assignments and notes from tutorials will form an important part of the corpus of material you will need for revision. However the tutorial is conducted, you should always go through the work and the notes and solutions immediately afterwards and ensure that you have complete and correct solutions to all the problems---tutors' rough jottings may make sense at the time but are likely to look cryptic when you come to revise later. If there are points which still puzzle you, ask about them; it may be better to email your tutor than to wait until the next tutorial.

There will be discussion sessions on revision and on preparation for Mods [the University examinations at the end of the first-year]. You should expect to need to spend a substantial amount of time during vacations on vacation assignments and in preparation for Collections at the start of the following term, and you will need to balance this with other demands on your time, such as the need to earn some money and gaining worthwhile work experience. Very thorough revision and consolidation in the Christmas and Easter vacations of your first year are especially important.

It is very important to develop good study skills, so that you use your working time effectively. We shall help you by putting on discussion sessions to pool ideas on successful strategies. You may also find it helpful to read the booklet Study skills for mathematics by Bishop and Nicholas; there are copies in the College Library. [available from ... to be checked]

Much of Mathematics builds on what has gone before. It is hard to catch up with your course once you have fallen behind. Struggling with your work, for whatever reason, can be very demoralising. Seek help or advice early and don't feel that to do so is an admission of failure.

We hope that you will feel that your tutors will be sympathetic and constructive if you approach any of them with difficulties. Points to remember:

• You have access to the Principal and the Senior Tutor in situations where you do not wish to consult your moral tutor are another of your subject tutors.
• The JCR Counsellor and the University Counselling Service have professional expertise in dealing with the sort of academic, relationship, and family problems that students may encounter, and they give advice in confidence.
• Worries over money are bad for your work. The College Treasurer---and your Bank Manager---will be better able to help you if you consult them before you go deeply into debt.