Professor Stuart Urban

Khan Academy videos (for many topics, especially math/technical topics)

Khan Academy has so many great videos in short form for lots of topics, and they made their name with math and technical topics that can be pretty difficult. That said, they cover other topics as well. Simply type “khan academy <whatever your topic>” into your favorite search engine (replacing <whatever your topic> with the phrase that describes your topic), and you’ll likely find a fantastic video that explains the topic in a slightly different way than your Professor did. Oftentimes, seeing a topic presented just a bit differently is all you need to fill in the gaps that you didn’t understand.

Electronic books available from your university’s library

Textbooks can be expensive! Your university likely has tons of books available electronically, so if you want to save some cost, check to see whether the e-book is available through your school’s library before buying it. For instance, at my institution, Johns Hopkins, our Sheridan Libraries has an impressive array of books.

One tip: Make sure the edition of the e-book is okay for your class! You can email your professor prior to course start to ask if the edition available as an e-book is okay. Some professors will use questions and/or chapters from a book that may not align with previous editions, while others use textbooks only for the content, so as long as a previous version has the right chapters, your e- version will be just fine.

Office hours!

When I was a student, I wanted to go to class and then go home (for all my degrees) since I was working full-time. The few times that I had to do office hours with a Professor, though, I found it an extremely valuable experience. It enhanced my learning, stimulated my intellectual curiosity and made for a great rapport with my Professors. If you or your instructor can’t physically meet at a convenient time, Zoom is a great option these days as well.

Also, if you think you might eventually want a recommendation from a Professor, attending office hours at least a couple times is crucial to making for a good recommendation based on their interactions with you in addition to your performance in the course.