Math

[linkspast]

I got this problem, and figured some of you may be able to help me.

so I am a freshman in college, and i tested in to math 111 which they call college algebra. no problem right?

well... last year my math teacher did not realy teach us any thing, he was more of a supivisor. so I dont know half of the things we are talking about in math 111.

I am trying to decide if I should just stick it out, or retake the test to see if i just got "lucky" and guessed the right answers to get in to math 111.

Any help would appreciated.

[Bigfoot]

Definitely get out if you feel like you don't belong. Have you guys had a first test yet in class? You might want to wait until then before you decide upon getting out of it or not. I'm in ma111 too btw heh.

[Gollgagh]

Those numbers don't mean a thing to me. MATH111 here is calculus.

But yeah, I'm having the same trouble in spanish. I'm having to withdraw from it entirely.

[Bahamut]

Wtf, I was gonna make a math thread. Fuck.

So, what is this college algebra anyway? In many colleges, it is the lowest math class offered in a school (if you want to exclude statistics).

[Dhsu]

Yeah, you should consider dropping the class if you feel like you can't keep up. Your other option is to hit the books hard and try to get up to speed. Your school math lab and/or tutor would help a lot in that case.

[The Xyco]

I'm taking the same course as well. It's essentially High Shcool Precalculus. We covered polynomial functions, complex numbers, and other sorts of related material for our first section which we were just tested on last week. For the second section we're starting now, we're going into graphical representation and functions of the previous material.

Granted, I haven't had a serious math course since my sophmore year in high school, but of the courses I'm in now, MAT 111 is my biggest concern. So far, I've managed to already enormously screw up in the class already (I got a 49% on the aforementioned test, but that's mostly because I barely touched the homework and didn't study), however, I would hesitate to say the course is difficult. After speaking with my professor, he advised me to work on extra problems in my studies to understand the types of questions on the exams better.

[Bigfoot]

I'm taking the same course as well. It's essentially High Shcool Precalculus. We covered polynomial functions, complex numbers, and other sorts of related material for our first section which we were just tested on last week. For the second section we're starting now, we're going into graphical representation and functions of the previous material.

Granted, I haven't had a serious math course since my sophmore year in high school, but of the courses I'm in now, MAT 111 is my biggest concern. So far, I've managed to already enormously screw up in the class already (I got a 49% on the aforementioned test, but that's mostly because I barely touched the homework and didn't study), however, I would hesitate to say the course is difficult. After speaking with my professor, he advised me to work on extra problems in my studies to understand the types of questions on the exams better.

Damn, you beat me by 2% on the first test I just didn't study as hard as I should have. I made stupid mistakes like thinking 7-(-5)=14 haha. What the fuck was wrong with me? I also left a few questions that were so easy after going over the test the next class. I just totally forgot how to do them.

Basically, I suck at test taking.

[Paratha]

I think it depends on your major.

If you're planning on doing something that will require math, don't take more than you can handle, since you'll need a solid understanding of algebra for future classes.

If you're not going down that road, try to get math out of the way as quickly as possible.

EDIT: Whoops. Totally misred the OP post.

[Ceiphied]

I got this problem, and figured some of you may be able to help me.

so I am a freshman in college, and i tested in to math 111 which they call college algebra. no problem right?

well... last year my math teacher did not realy teach us any thing, he was more of a supivisor. so I dont know half of the things we are talking about in math 111.

I am trying to decide if I should just stick it out, or retake the test to see if i just got "lucky" and guessed the right answers to get in to math 111.

Any help would appreciated.

Talk to your professor or someone else in the math department, whichever is more competent for answering this question. No one here will know the exact specifics of what is taught in your class, while a professor will know.

Trust me on this. I was a math/econ/stat major in college; talk to someone who can give you an informed opinion. If it -truly- isn't an option, find a TA or an upper-classman that's willing to give you advice.

[Steben]

Get a tutor. The vast majority of math professors range from mediocre to crappy teachers (at least at my school), and don't understand how to explain math to someone who's not naturally mathematically inclined. I'm a math major, yet for over half my math classes so far I've pretty much just taught myself everything I need to know from books. (Granted, that's getting a little bit harder now that I'm taking Senior-level classes, many of which don't have books.)

However, if you get a good tutor (or make a friend in the class who knows what's going on), you can get that person to explain things to you in a way that you can understand. Of course, if you don't need math for your major, and you're struggling, then get out. No need to sweat out a difficult class that you'll never use that'll only hurt your GPA.

[Dragonmaster_Alex]

Those numbers don't mean a thing to me. MATH111 here is calculus.

But yeah, I'm having the same trouble in spanish. I'm having to withdraw from it entirely.

Spanish sucks.

[Global-Trance]

Math 111 here doesn't exist, though anything above 100 is considered upper division math.

[Bobwillis]

So... who here is a member of the Abelian group?

/raises hand

[neminem]

So... who here is a member of the Abelian group?

Nope - I've never had to commute. All my work has been right on campus.

Someone shoot me already, that was pretty horrible.

[Ceiphied]

So... who here is a member of the Abelian group?

Nope - I've never had to commute. All my work has been right on campus.

Someone shoot me already, that was pretty horrible.

So you're saying that it's never been the case that right on campus, all your work has been?

[Ace-Of-War]

In the same boat, except this is my second time taking College Algebra. I had to withdraw a couple of semesters ago because I just couldn't keep up. Like linkspast said, our high school teachers basically gave us a calculator and showed us how to get it to think for us.

I'm just not a math kind of guy either. When I see math, I see the same problem people have done for hundreds of years, meaningless numbers that have been solved countless times. It's so much different from writing a paper or reading about an issue or event, you don't really get anything out of it. You figure out x and you throw the paper away. The next kid figures it out, does the exact same thing, and he throws it away. I can't get over that mindset, that it is just the same thing over and over again.

[Bahamut]

Well, it takes time to get to a point of mathematical maturity to do something original. Math is one of the few fields where it really is necessary to have things taught in a simple way so that you absorb the concepts before you can really dig into more complicated stuff. So you're taught stuff with polynomials and solving equations early for example, but in higher math, you get to define the notion of a polynomial as a general concept and do all sorts of crazy stuff with them (i.e. Galois Theory).

[Ace-Of-War]

Well, it takes time to get to a point of mathematical maturity to do something original. Math is one of the few fields where it really is necessary to have things taught in a simple way so that you absorb the concepts before you can really dig into more complicated stuff. So you're taught stuff with polynomials and solving equations early for example, but in higher math, you get to define the notion of a polynomial as a general concept and do all sorts of crazy stuff with them (i.e. Galois Theory).

I'm sure there is, and for those that can stomache it, more power to you. It's just that a world where math can actually be fun and creative instead of the execise in repetition that I know it to be only exists for people who like doing it to begin with.

[Bahamut]

Well, it takes time to get to a point of mathematical maturity to do something original. Math is one of the few fields where it really is necessary to have things taught in a simple way so that you absorb the concepts before you can really dig into more complicated stuff. So you're taught stuff with polynomials and solving equations early for example, but in higher math, you get to define the notion of a polynomial as a general concept and do all sorts of crazy stuff with them (i.e. Galois Theory).

I'm sure there is, and for those that can stomache it, more power to you. It's just that a world where math can actually be fun and creative instead of the execise in repetition that I know it to be only exists for people who like doing it to begin with.

Well, the creativity is usually seen outside the classroom. For an example, have you ever looked at math competition questions for various levels of schooling? Anyone with a high school level of knowledge is capable of answering a lot of them, yet they require thinking outside the box.

[LegendarySword]

First advice I can give is strengthen your weaknesses. What specifically is giving you trouble? What you do to one side of the equation do to the other, slope-intercept form for graphing, and factoring are really the main topics of basic Algebra. Having a firm grasp of those topics would be a recommended start, and then move on to more problematic areas. Keep doing the type of problems that give you the most problems.

[Omatic]

One thing that is very important here is to NOT let the first exam let you down. It's always demoralizing to have a bad start in a class, but it's not the end of the class.

My suggestion is to study hard to make up for the failed test. On top of that, this class probably allows for a dropped exam, right? (most engineering-type classes have some kind of system like that).

However if the class is not like that, then chances are you can still pull at least a B out of the class if you get a decent grade in everything else. I know this is hard, but the absolute best way to pass a class is to set aside a daily, regular schedule for the class. Since it's a entry class, an hour a day should do it, and maybe 1.5 hours the week of a test.

You sound like a smart guy (after all, you made it into college), so don't give up on the class! Stick it out until you're sure you're doomed (your college should also have a class drop deadline, try and wait until just before then to make your drop decision).

[neminem]

So... who here is a member of the Abelian group?

Nope - I've never had to commute. All my work has been right on campus.

Someone shoot me already, that was pretty horrible.

So you're saying that it's never been the case that right on campus, all your work has been?

That sentence doesn't even parse, so I have no idea what joke you were going for.

On the other hand, a joke you could have made would have involved parsing my sentence as stating that while I've been on campus, I've never turned in work that hasn't been right. Which I certainly wish were true...

[Steben]

This topic is back and badder than ever.

Here's the question I have for you kids. In Intro to Topolgy, we were asked if the intervals (0,1) and (0,1] were homeomorphic, that is, if there is a bijective continuous function f:(0,1)->(0,1] whose inverse was also continuous.

The problem was solved by talking about continuity - assuming such a function exists, and coming to a contradiction from its continuity. Therefore, they weren't homeomorphic. But what I'm wondering is, is there a bijection between the two spaces, regardless of continuity? I want to say no, but perhaps someone here can think of one?

[Bummer]

complex numbers

I'll have a test about that next week. ;_;

[Ab56 v2 aka Ash]

I think for math students who aren't imbued with ungodly math ability (read: everyone except Bahamut), this would be a good resource:

http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/

It covers some Algebra, but mostly Calculus 1, 2, and 3 and Linear Algebra. It's a more useful resource than my textbook, anyway.