Math is nearly impossible to learn by just reading a book. It requires rote style learning and constant repetition and correction, which can only be done in class.
Your comment is not correct - they are not learning time tables. You overlooked that this is university.
Not true. When I was in college I took all 3 of my algebra classes, beginning, intermediate and advanced, in ‘labs’. No professor. You had to do so many hours a week in the lab but it was actually just a place to do the work. There were aides available if you needed one. You could go as fast as you wanted but had to take a test a week in the lab. The books we used were great with oodles of examples and work pages. I wasn’t bored out of my mind and passed all 3 classes in about 3/4 of the semester.