James Dean Mathias (Instructor)
Dept. of Computer Science
Utah State University

Office: Old Main 437
Phone:  (435) 797-2336
email: dean "dot" mathias (at) usu (dot) edu
Office Hours: MWF 1:00 p.m. to 2:20 p.m. (and whenever my door is open)

Homework & Study Habits:

Homework is the most important thing you can focus on, this is particularly true for my language classes (C++, C# and Java).  The programming assignments should absolutely not be something you gut out in a single 4 to 6 hour session on a Saturday or the day the assignment is due.  If you do so, you will not learn, you will only (maybe) get the assignment completed.  What do I suggest as an alternative?

Homework, or any study for that matter, should be something that is done over multiple days in a row.  When you are assigned a project, you should work on that project for 1 to 2 hours each day for 3 to 5 days, preferably in a row.  This let's several things happen...

1. You don't wait until it is too late to start.  I am a compassionate person, but what I don't have compassion for is work that is turned in late or incomplete because you waited too late to start working on the project.  I will bend over backwards (metaphorically speaking) to help you if you get started early and have questions.
2. If you have questions, you've started the project early enough to identify the questions and have time to get them resolved.  This gives you time to read the book in detail, go to the tutors and come to me for help.  If you've started the project 5 days before it is due, there is plenty of time to get help.  If you start late and you've planned a 6 hour monster session but you run into a problem you don't know how to resolve, the tutor and I might not be available to help at whatever crazy hour you've set up to do your work.  Alternatively, shorter sessions spaced out over a several day period give you a better chance to find help and not waste time if you get stuck.
3. You learn better when you are relaxed.  If you start a project well before it is due, you aren't under stressful conditions, you'll be relaxed and you'll retain the concepts better.
4. You learn better by working on the project repeatedly in 3 to 5 sessions versus working on the project in 1 crunch time period.  Between sessions, your mind has time to think about the various problems or issues you've run into, that conscious and subconscious work of the mind is helping you solve problems and/or better formulate the questions you might have.

I can't emphasize strongly enough how important it is to break all of your studies down like this.  I had terrible study habits when I was an undergraduate, I thought I knew what to do, I didn't; be honest and introspective with yourself, evaluate if you can improve the way you do things.  Study habits are learned, they are not an innate ability everyone has.  For my graduate work I had learned how to study.  As a result, I only did schoolwork and study from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at night, and some Saturday day sessions.  I suggest you utilize the resources available at USU to help you learn how to study and effectively utilize your time.  Many of you might find that if you are more efficient with your time, you'll do better in classes, have less stress in your life and actually have more leisure time to pursue anything else you might want.