Taking a physics exam without first practicing problem solving is like pinch-hitting in a crucial game without having taken batting practice.

Preparing for an exam in physics has two parts. You must make sure that you know how to work problems given a list of formulae, and you must ensure that you can reproduce the formulae. These tasks are rather separate.

The first step in ensuring that you can work problems is to keep up with the assignments as they are due. There is simply too much to learn to postpone this work to the last minute. As you go along you should make sure that you have mastered each type of problem. You should review assigned problems that you got wrong and get help with those where you do not understand what you did wrong. Y ...

Tuition and textbook prices are still rising, but there are tactics out there to keep the educational bill low.

In today's less-than-ideal economy, college students aren't likely the immediate sufferers of crumbling stock, but the trickle-down effect is surely tightening your budgets.

You won't catch a break with tuition – as state budgets get tighter, public universities will receive less funding which leaves them little choice in the matter. Textbook companies won't find the answer in slashing prices, either.

What will be sacrificed in the educational space are supplemental resources such as one-on-one tutoring, private test-prep courses and classroom materials like solutions manuals.

For the cash-strapped student (aren't we all?) cost-effect ...

Advertisements are popping up in new places, including your next Calculus test.

I love flying.  Despite the crowded airport and stuffy cabin and overly talkative stranger sharing my armrest, I love flying.

Unfortunately, my affection for flight was recently put to the test.  You see, as much as I love flying, I love not being broke even more.

On a recent flight, I had to pay to check my luggage.  I'm sure you're not surprised.  I wasn't either.  I was surprised that I had to pay for an in-flight beverage.   The standard diet coke is no longer free, at least on the shall-remain-nameless airline that I chose.

So I shut my eyes as the bev cart rolled by, knowing that I didn't really need the caffeine.  Afterall, I wanted to sleep.

I have a very sp ...