MATH1055
Self-Paced Engineering Mathematics
In short:
• Self-paced module: NO lectures
• Module Booklet with instructions to guide self-study of
a textbook with recommended exercises + solutions
• Study 20 Units at own pace, about 1 unit/week
• Suitable for students arriving with mixed mathematical
backgrounds
• Take tests on each Unit to assess progress & prepare
final exam
Key Steps of self-paced study (1)
1.
Get familiar with MATH1055 Blackboard (BB) page asap:
All material is there!
2. List of 20 units to study & a recommended list of deadlines:
~ 1 unit / week
=> Must follow prescribed order of Units in Table of document
Organizational Data Sheet
[see BB folder ‘Module Information’]
3. Follow a main textbook; in short it’s James (5th edition or 6th edition):
Modern Engineering Mathematics by Glyn James, Pearson, 2015 or 2020 (5th or 6th edition).
Þ It is important that you get the 5th or 6th edition since the work scheme
(set of study instructions) of Module Booklet refer to sections and pages
of the 5th or 6th edition !
• Very Important Note about books that have similar titles but are different:
Do NOT get the book that starts with the word “Advanced” from the same author
James! That is, do NOT get the book “Advanced Modern Engineering Mathematics
by Glyn James & others”.
Indeed, this “Advanced” book covers topics that are not the ones you need to study in
MATH1055
• The textbook you need for MATH1055 is:
Modern Engineering Mathematics by Glyn James, Pearson, 2020 (6th edition).
Modern Engineering Mathematics by Glyn James, Pearson, 2015 (5th edition).
Key Steps of self-paced study (2)
4. Module Booklet: this is a booklet where we give a set of detailed instructions to
guide you in your self-paced study of each of the 20 Units.
For example, it tells you which sections/pages of the textbook you should
read/study, which exercises you should do & it ends with a specimen test.
Note 1: Units 1 and 2 in the Module Booklet are review units.
Note 2: in addition to the 2 review + 20 Units, the Module Booklet contains extra 5 Units that will not be
studied/examined in MATH1055 but that we leave there in case you find useful in year 2 or 3.
Note 3: the Unit numbers do not correspond to the chapter numbers of the textbook! You have
to read the Module booklet to find the chapter/section numbers of the textbook for each unit.
[ you download it at BB folder ‘Course Content’ ]
5. Solutions Booklet:
this is a booklet where, for each of 20 Units, we give the detailed solutions of:
i) the exercises that are proposed in the Module Booklet
ii) the specimen test
[ you download it at BB folder ‘Course Content’ ]
Key Steps of self-paced study (3)
6. 20 Revision Tests (formative; complete at home for revision):
Once you complete your self-paced study of one of the 20 Units (following
prescribed order) you will be confident that you can do well in a test!
So, we have a Revision Test (for each of the 20 Units): download & complete
at home during 20-30 min (with closed books & using Formula Sheet).
[ you download them at BB sub-folder ’20 Revision Tests / 20 Revision Tests’ ]
Solutions of 20 Revision Tests
We provide you a pdf with its detailed solutions.
[ download at BB sub-folder ’20 Revision Tests / Solutions of 20 Revision Tests’ ]
VIDEOS explaining Solutions of 20 Revision Tests [kind of “Lectures”] :
Also, we provide you a 45 min video explaining its detailed solutions.
This video uses the above solutions-pdf as slides.
[ watch videos at BB sub-folder ’20 Revision Tests / Videos explaining (…)’ ]
Self-assessment (be rigorous marking your own work!):
- Download the solution-pdf and compare it against your answers!
- Identify question(s)/material that you need to revisit & study better
Key Steps of self-paced study: assessment 1
7. 20 Unit (Module) Tests (on-campus assessment, count 20% to final mark):
l Once you complete your self-paced study of one of the 20 Units, you present
yourself for a Unit (Module) Test in the Testing room at the University.
It is a closed book test (with Formula Sheet; bring it) to be completed in 20-30 min.
l Then you have it marked by a Ph.D helper in the Marking Room:
1-to-1, face-to-face marking with prompt & valuable feedback!
l Tests are marked out of 4:
Ø 3 (i.e. 75%) or 4 (i.e. 100%) means “pass”
Ø 0, 1 or 2 means “fail”: you have one further attempt
l The marks count towards 20% of your final mark for the course (i.e. 1% each ).
l After registering your mark with Administrator (back in the Testing room),
take it home to use for revision later.
Hours & Testing/Marking Rooms
l Complete each of the 20 Unit (Module) Tests on
Mondays and/or Wednesday, 11.00-12.45
Kiddle A ie room 35/1001 (building 35)
See exact info @ Organizational Data Sheet
[ you download it at BB folder ‘Module Information’ ]
l You cannot begin a test after 12:15.
If you have not finished taking the test by 12:45, you can and must
leave it with the administrator, and complete it in the next session.
l Do not forget to register your mark with Administrator (back in
Testing Room) after it is marked.
People in Testing/Marking Rooms
l Students completing the 20 Unit (Module) Tests: you
l Self-Paced organisers: (contact by email if needed)
Ø Dr Oscar Dias & Dr Jim Renshaw
l Administrators: (in the Testing room)
Ø Mrs Anne Dee
l Academic supervisors: (in the Marking room; person in charge)
Ø Mathematics academic staff member
(see ‘Organisational Data sheet’)
For any issue contact this Academic Supervisor or the Admnistrator
l Markers (in the Marking room): Engineering & Maths PhD students
Key Steps of self-paced study: assessment 2
8. Online January Class Test (counts 5% to final mark):
l Online January Class Test (week Jan 8-12) completed in Blackboard:
50 min multiple choice test (to be completed probably on Jan 8; to be confirmed)
with 20 Questions covering the material of first 10 Units (2 questions per Unit)
l Before Xmas we provide a Mock test so that you get familiar with software used
and structure of test.
l Mark given immediately. Correct final solutions given after Test.
l Invites you to study regularly (no pile up!), namely the first 10 Units, which are
also needed to do well in the Semester 1 exams of Engineering modules.
Key Steps of self-paced study : assessment 3
9. Summary of all Assessments:
• 20%
20 Unit (Module) Tests [1% each]
• 5%
50 min Online January Class Test covering first 10 Units
• 75%
Final Exam in May/June covering all 20 Units
On-campus or online 2 hour closed book exam
(decision about the on-campus/online format will be taken in the middle of
Semester 2 and you will then be notified via a Blackboard announcement)
where you can use Formula Sheet only
(download it from BB folder `Course Content’ asap to get familiar with it).
See Past years exams & their solutions (see ”Past Exams” BB folder )
Key Steps of self-paced study (5)
10. MATH1061: Maths’ Workshop for Engineering students:
•
For all queries (short or long; not necessarily about the 20 Module Tests)
you should use the Engineering Mathematics Workshop (MATH1061):
One-to-one meeting with PhD helpers
•
[ kind of “Office Hours” ]
It is held on:
Mondays & Wednesdays 3pm-6pm (even if not in your Timetabling)
on the room indicated in Organizational Data Sheet document
during the 24 teaching weeks, (but not during vacations nor during the January
exam period) & it is also in place during the May exam period.
• Use these sessions as a kind of “Office Hours” to understand material you have
not yet understood during your self-study described in steps 4-6.
In particular, use it to understand questions of Module Test you did not do so well.
You appear whenever you want (15 min,1h or 3h): we encourage you to do it regularly!
Key Steps of self-paced study (6)
11. Ordering of 20 Units (& their tests) is fixed !
• Approximately 1 unit / week following a strict prescribed order:
The exact order of the 20 Units and the recommended week where you should
study them are given in the Table of ‘Organisational data sheet’ document that
you can download in the Blackboard folder “Module Information”.
• Of course, if you wish, you can study one Unit earlier than what we suggest
(as long as you follow the prescribed order).
• It is also ok if you study it later than the week we recommend (if e.g. you get
sick or need some time to complete assignments from other modules) but
you should not pill-up a list of non-studied units!
• We strictly ask you to follow the prescribed order is because in the following
week(s) you will need this maths’ material to better follow other (engineering)
modules.
• In Module Booklet, you also find the Review Units 1 & 2 with material you
already know but should revisit asap to be comfortable doing the 20 Units!
NOTE: what is Week 1,2,3,…?
• Week 1: Oct 2-6
• Then, Week 2 is the week of Oct 9-13, and so on until we reach
Week 11, which is the week of Dec 11-15.
• Finally, after the Xmas holidays, we return on what we call Week 12
(Jan 8-12, 2023) where Semester 1 ends.
• Week 1 of Semester 2 is then the week of Jan 29 - Feb 2
(MATH1055 is a year long, 2-semester, module unlike the others)
What you should do right away
• Get familiar with the MATH1055 Blackboard (BB) page:
it contains ALL material of this module (including Module Booklets, 20
Revision Tests, complementary Lecture Notes, video examples, past
exams/tests with solutions)
• Read carefully the document Unit 0 (Course Description)’
that you can download in BB folder `Module Information’.
In particular, read Section 1 ‘Introduction (…)’ that describes the key steps
of how MATH1055 self-paced study operates.
• Read carefully the document ‘Organisational data sheet’ and, in particular,
its Table with the order and recommended weeks for the 20 Units that you
can download in BB folder `Module Information’.
• The slides & a video of this Induction Lecture will soon be available in the
BB page: it is a very good idea to analyse/watch them again!
• Start following instructions of Module Booklet & Solutions Booklet
Final observation about textbook
• As pointed out in slide 2, the work scheme (set of instructions) of the
Module Booklet is based on the main textbook James (5th or 6th Edition),
namely:
Modern Engineering Mathematics by Glyn James, (5th or 6th Edition).
• However, we know that some of you arrive from different
countries/schools/programmes & thus you might have a less strong
mathematics background. If this is the case, the Module Booklet also
provides a warm-up work scheme based on the simpler book:
Engineering Mathematics by Stroud, 2007 (6th Edition).
( DO NOT buy newest, 7th Ed. Work scheme is only for 6th Ed. )
If you have a less strong maths background, as a warm-up, you might
want to start by following the work scheme based on Stroud’s textbook.
But, after you should complete the work scheme of James’ textbook
because in the end of the year you must all acquire the same level of
mathematics that is required to be a successful engineer!
(Moreover, Stroud’s textbook only covers some of the 20 Units!)
Complementary study material (besides textbook)
•
Sometimes, the textbook that suits most of the students (in our case James)
might not please a few students (because of its format, or because of the
lengthy/short way things are explained, or …)
•
If you are not totally comfortable with James, do not worry since we provide
some complementary sources of study.
•
These can be found in the BB folder ”Additional Lecture Notes”
•
There are 3 main subfolders:
Ø Lecture Notes. These lecture notes were not written specifically for
MATH1055. But they were written for other maths modules that cover the
same material so we collect them in this folder in case you want to
complement your study of James with this additional source.
Ø HELM workbooks. These are a series of Lecture Notes created by a
consortium of UK Universities to teach maths for engineering students
Ø Video Examples. These are a series of videos that explain how to solve
exercises of several units, showing all the working.
•
NOTE: these are complementary sources that cover most of the material but not all.
If you decide to use these, make sure that in the end you analyse again carefully the
Module Booklet to see if the work scheme tells you to study some material in James
that was not covered by the above Additional Lecture Notes. If it does, please use
James for this particular material. You should learn everything that is recommended in
the Module Booklet !
All the best for your studies !
You will do well if you study regularly
… in the last 20 years your older friends
completed this self-paced module with much success
So will you!
But you have to be responsible, study regularly,
follow the work schemes of the booklets,
complete the tests
…week after week, step by step
…in the end you will look back and feel rewarded