Students angered by a hard-to-understand book, an allegedly ineffective teacher, and an excessively large class size walked out of their MATH 101 course the day before a test last week and started a petition outlining these problems, said Samantha Hellenga, a freshman student in the class.

“People were fed up (with the situation) and just got up and walked out,” Hellenga said. “I heard a lot of books slam, and when I turned around a lot of seats were empty.”

About 150 students are enrolled in the freshman level class that qualifies for university credit in mathematics. The course is geared toward students not planning on taking further math classes, said mathematics department Chairman John Selfridge.

The course is specifically designed to help students understand someone making a mathematic presentation. Problem solving is the key concept of the course.

Hellenga said students in the class find the book very hard to understand. It is published by NIU mathematics Professor Linda Sons. Hellenga said several classmates have asked for a different book or for answers to homework questions to help them figure out the problems but have not received a response from the courses’ teacher, Noca Ervin. Ervin said she is aware there is a problem but refused to comment on the matter.

Sons could not be reached for comment.

“Linda Sons is a very good teacher and won an ‘excellence in teaching’ award a few years ago,” Selfridge said. He said he believes students were premature in their judgment of the class and is pleased that some of the complaining students have told him the first exam was not as bad as they expected it to be.

Selfridge said he wants students to put a real effort into the MATH 101 class. “I stand ready to meet with students who have problems with the course,” he said, “but I’m hopeful it will all work out well.”

NIU Ombudsman Bertrand Simpson said students who have a complaint about a class should first talk to their teachers. If that does not work, they should contact the department chairman, the dean of the department, or, if that is not effective, the provost’s office. “I don’t think walking out is the best thing to do,” Simpson said.