How do flood victims dress? In sticky dresses? Perhaps reflex bands on their heads?Barbas said:
When Math suddenly makes sense
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True story. I've never been particularly good at math, especially in high school where I took university level math (where you have trig, functions, etc). Before high school I usually averaged in the Bs, but then I started to get in C and eventually Ds. I can't wrap my mind around it. In the later grades I've been nearly failing and really struggled to keep up. I narrowly passed and decided to take a college level math course, which was a lot more practical and the pace was more relaxed (mostly related to finances, like managing mortgages and such).
So long story short, I nearly failed one year earlier in university level math. However, that year I took college level math I got an A+, got nearly perfect in all of my tests and assignments, and ended up getting a regional award (big swanky party and everything) where I was among the students recognized for excellence in math. I'm not sure if I should be proud of that achievement since they're basically saying "Congrats for being too stupid for uni and excelling in a class meant for stupider people".
A similar thing also happened with university vs college level chemistry (chemistry also requiring a bit of backwards-ass math). Ended with a D+ and went to college level and got an A. We were allowed simple cheat sheets because she "wanted to test our ability to use the information, not to memorize it". No complaints here.
When I went for school in college (veterinary technician school), our medical math was pretty simple too. It's all based on simple addition/subtraction/multiplication/division/exponents with nothing too fancy or requiring a million steps. It's also pretty easy to visualize and practical in day to day life. Though it also helped because our teacher communicated a lot and provided lots of practice time, small weekly tests to figure out strengths/weaknesses, and lots of study sheets to practice new skills. I ended up getting an A in it (as did most of the class). Some college courses that required math I struggled in, but the worst class had a nearly 50% fail rate year after year so it's not just me.
So ya, fuck university level math. Damn thing wrecked me.
So long story short, I nearly failed one year earlier in university level math. However, that year I took college level math I got an A+, got nearly perfect in all of my tests and assignments, and ended up getting a regional award (big swanky party and everything) where I was among the students recognized for excellence in math. I'm not sure if I should be proud of that achievement since they're basically saying "Congrats for being too stupid for uni and excelling in a class meant for stupider people".
A similar thing also happened with university vs college level chemistry (chemistry also requiring a bit of backwards-ass math). Ended with a D+ and went to college level and got an A. We were allowed simple cheat sheets because she "wanted to test our ability to use the information, not to memorize it". No complaints here.
When I went for school in college (veterinary technician school), our medical math was pretty simple too. It's all based on simple addition/subtraction/multiplication/division/exponents with nothing too fancy or requiring a million steps. It's also pretty easy to visualize and practical in day to day life. Though it also helped because our teacher communicated a lot and provided lots of practice time, small weekly tests to figure out strengths/weaknesses, and lots of study sheets to practice new skills. I ended up getting an A in it (as did most of the class). Some college courses that required math I struggled in, but the worst class had a nearly 50% fail rate year after year so it's not just me.
So ya, fuck university level math. Damn thing wrecked me.
The only time I've ever had one of those "I FINALLY GOT IT" revelations when it came to mathematics, it turned out I was sorely, horrible, wrong and doing the thing the absolute wrong way. I tried a bit of college but it was an utter failure that cost me real-world money and has thus discouraged me from any further academic pursuits.
I know that feeling entirely. And the failing part crushed me absolutely. And I wound up dropping college not shortly after that.Shoggoth2588 said:
The teacher and the teaching style. Because everyone learns differently. I'm more an auditory learner for maths. Like when I took it in college, I understood what the teacher was telling us. I'd sit down to do my homework and my mind would blank. Same with tests. It would all be meaningless numbers. Hell, I STILL can't do percentages and I've been trying to learn those for......13 years now. (I mean I can do 25, 50, & 75% of things but apart from that anything else, I CAN'T do. Can't figure out percentages to add tax onto things with or without a calculator can't figure out what 15% off an item is..shit like that.) But when I was working as a cashier at a place that the taxes were already included in the shown price and our registers went down, I could look at what someone had and calculate it in my head in a snap. In fact, I can still tell you combinations of stuff and how much it was(as the prices have now been raised there and I don't know all the new prices off the top of my head anymore)without having to think too hard. I also think it has to do with the particular student and how their brains process things. Some people seem to be more mathematical than others.josemlopes said:
I hated math up until my junior year in High School.
I completely bombed my first Algebra 2 test (because I even though I had taken Algebra 1 I had failed to grasp it).
But dad was awesome and he helped me brush up on Algebra 1 quickly, and I passed the class with flying colors.
As the course went on I liked math more and more. So I chose to do Precalc my senior year, and then go into engineering. From then on, I've loved math, I've tutored nearly everyone else in my family through calculus.
Probably the biggest influence would be the fact that my teachers were excited about math, and taught it well.
I completely bombed my first Algebra 2 test (because I even though I had taken Algebra 1 I had failed to grasp it).
But dad was awesome and he helped me brush up on Algebra 1 quickly, and I passed the class with flying colors.
As the course went on I liked math more and more. So I chose to do Precalc my senior year, and then go into engineering. From then on, I've loved math, I've tutored nearly everyone else in my family through calculus.
Probably the biggest influence would be the fact that my teachers were excited about math, and taught it well.
Learning works like this: You repeat something until to understand the CONCEPT behind what you do.
Lets take some basic examples. If you are learning to ride a bike, not matter what anyone says, you cant until you understand the concept of balancing on a bike. If you are trying lose weight, no matter how many times someone tells you that all you need to do is exercise more and eat less, nothing will happen until you realise why you sabotage yourself. Algebra wont make a lick of sense until you stop looking at the letter and understand why they are there.
Lets take some basic examples. If you are learning to ride a bike, not matter what anyone says, you cant until you understand the concept of balancing on a bike. If you are trying lose weight, no matter how many times someone tells you that all you need to do is exercise more and eat less, nothing will happen until you realise why you sabotage yourself. Algebra wont make a lick of sense until you stop looking at the letter and understand why they are there.
As a Brit I don't find "Math" jarring at all, it's quicker to write and easier to say, especially if your accent makes "fin" and "thin" distinct from each other.kurupt87 said:
(England has a long history and very convoluted, twisty roads, so you get a lot of accents in a small space)
I've actually had the exact opposite effect happen to me in the last couple of years. Through mandatory and high school I was always sharp at math. Not a genius, but I ended up graduating high school with the second best grade from math. But since I went to a university of applied sciences, suddenly I've sucked at nearly every course I've had. I think I know the reason: our teacher sucks. He never asks whether or not we have any questions or if anyone's falling behind, he just blows through 10 pages worth of algebra with absolutely no sense of emphasis on what's important or not. He's also prone to using multiple symbols for the same thing, sometimes within the very same exercise! It's incredibly confusing and irritating when you spend 15 minutes wondering what a certain symbol means, and then find out it was just an alternative to another symbol. I've called him out on it, but he just says that's how it goes.
As an example, we've had statistics this period. When the first test came, probability, on which we'd had 14 pages of material and over 20 exercises, was only used in the secondary part of one exercise. Systematical error, which had exactly one page and one exercise, was required to complete two whole tasks. Luckily this is our last course with the guy, because he's seriously started to piss me off.
As an example, we've had statistics this period. When the first test came, probability, on which we'd had 14 pages of material and over 20 exercises, was only used in the secondary part of one exercise. Systematical error, which had exactly one page and one exercise, was required to complete two whole tasks. Luckily this is our last course with the guy, because he's seriously started to piss me off.
I hated Math in highschool too. I wasn't much good at it but that was more because I didn't really do anything in class. I'm currently doing a minor in Math at uni. It's still not exactly something that comes easily to me, but now I really enjoy it so I'm putting the time in to get good grades even if it is much more time than my other subjects require.
I've always admired math from afar and have had huge respect for people that pursue it. My problem, I guess was this feeling that there seemed to be almost an expectation for many people (even those that normally excel in other high school subjects) to hate and be bad at math, so I just accepted it and left it at that without ever trying to get into it. I eventually realised after high school how stupid and contemptible that sort of attitude was so I enrolled in some university Math courses (because take that stupid teenage me?).
I've always admired math from afar and have had huge respect for people that pursue it. My problem, I guess was this feeling that there seemed to be almost an expectation for many people (even those that normally excel in other high school subjects) to hate and be bad at math, so I just accepted it and left it at that without ever trying to get into it. I eventually realised after high school how stupid and contemptible that sort of attitude was so I enrolled in some university Math courses (because take that stupid teenage me?).
Sounds like my Calculus 3 professor. The guy can spend a whole lecture drawing graphs and (badly) explaining what happens geometrically, but when it comes time to actually work problems, he barely gives it any thought. There have been numerous times I had to go back and look at material to figure out the process he used because he essentially just works the problem on his own, completely forgetting that there's a class behind him who is seeing this for the first time. On top of this, he structures the course so poorly. He may assign us 10-20 problems over a concept and 1-2 over another, but when it comes time for the quiz or exam, the 10-20 problem concept may not even be on it while the 1-2 problem one is counted for a max credit question. And whether or not we really need to know the geometric concepts he spends so much time on is a complete mystery. At most, one of them will make it onto an exam, but he doesn't specify which one that is.bartholen said:
Basically, I've given up on his lectures and have decided to just teach myself the material. Maybe it will work and maybe it won't, but expecting to pick it up from him is certainly not working. I'd drop the class, but that would disqualify me for an internship, so I'm basically stuck with him.
The farthest I got was the C- in 11th grade Algebra II. I took geometry the year before that and don't actually even know what the point of geometry is, so I'm still not sure how I got past it.
My crazy next door neighbor's mom smashed into my parents' car one day during a newspaper delivery-related road rage, and instead of paying for the damage, my parents agreed to have her tutor me in geometry and chemistry. But she had a really bad temper, no patience, and was scary as hell. She'd explain it once, tell me to do it, and when I did it wrong she would just sigh really slowly like she was trying to suppress strangling me and say in a really low voice, "but I just showed you how, it's the same exact thing, how can you not do it."
I think I lost all of my ability to do math in pre-Algebra and Algebra I, when I had two teachers in a row who enjoyed humiliating students when they were wrong or didn't understand. Those were the years I was already getting bullied the hardest, so I went home and avoided math as hard as I could every day, which made it worse. One of those teachers actually assaulted my next door neighbor (crazy mom tutor's son) in study hall, giving him a concussion by slamming his head into the lunch table repeatedly, and they settled out of court. He can't teach anymore, but he's on the school board.
At this point, when I think of math, I also think of psychopaths. I don't know how you math people do it, must take great courage like Master Yoda.
I did take one math class in college, but all I really did was draw pie graphs and color them in with crayons (art) and count in base numbers. I think I got a C in that, too. I'd actually really love to finally conquer math someday and am pretty embarrassed at my ability, but don't really know where to start v:
My crazy next door neighbor's mom smashed into my parents' car one day during a newspaper delivery-related road rage, and instead of paying for the damage, my parents agreed to have her tutor me in geometry and chemistry. But she had a really bad temper, no patience, and was scary as hell. She'd explain it once, tell me to do it, and when I did it wrong she would just sigh really slowly like she was trying to suppress strangling me and say in a really low voice, "but I just showed you how, it's the same exact thing, how can you not do it."
I think I lost all of my ability to do math in pre-Algebra and Algebra I, when I had two teachers in a row who enjoyed humiliating students when they were wrong or didn't understand. Those were the years I was already getting bullied the hardest, so I went home and avoided math as hard as I could every day, which made it worse. One of those teachers actually assaulted my next door neighbor (crazy mom tutor's son) in study hall, giving him a concussion by slamming his head into the lunch table repeatedly, and they settled out of court. He can't teach anymore, but he's on the school board.
At this point, when I think of math, I also think of psychopaths. I don't know how you math people do it, must take great courage like Master Yoda.
I did take one math class in college, but all I really did was draw pie graphs and color them in with crayons (art) and count in base numbers. I think I got a C in that, too. I'd actually really love to finally conquer math someday and am pretty embarrassed at my ability, but don't really know where to start v:
Maths has always been easy for me because of its objective nature. I like thing to have one right answer and a clear set of logical steps to achieve that answer. I struggled with subject lessons like english etc where my grades where based on some arbritrary marking system. How can you define 90/100 in a written essay??? It never made sense to me
Maths is just so easy because you learn the rules and they can be applied every time.
Maths is just so easy because you learn the rules and they can be applied every time.
I used to get Cs, Ds, and Fs in math, now I come up with efficient programming solutions using matrices and trig functions that my professors call neat and creative. The change happened when I got into 3D animation. Math is boring, pointlessly abstract, and confusing when it's taught in a boring, pointlessly abstract, and confusing way. Give students a reason to use it, and more importantly to figure out how to use it, and they'll spend hours reading up on the history, implications, and consequences of mathematical concepts just to satisfy their own curiosity.