MISS YOU : Defection Confession

[RObert Budding]

I was trained as a Chemist, and I loved math - took 5 calculus courses in college. Finally passed it.

Robert

 

[ErnestoJL]

AFAIK there is no need to be an RF only man to be in this forum... many of us shoot SLRs, TLRs. APS, DAPS, pinhole cameras... and it doesn´t make us feel bad in any way... this is a photography forum were we exchange information and feelings about our cameras and our pictures, the way we got them and how to make them better if possible...
As long as you keep on shooting, its OK. So, do not quit!

I guess this forum is more "and" than "exclusive or" in all ways.

We´re not talking about defeat, this possibility doesn´t exist - Queen Victoria

Ernesto

 

[richard_l]

I was trained as a Chemist, and I loved math - took 5 calculus courses in college. Finally passed it.

Robert

Don't quite know if you're serious, but I really think calculus is usually taught wrong. Newton invented it as a practical tool. I think it should be first introduced in the most down-to-earth practical way possible, completely non-rigorous and intuitive. Maybe "waste" a semester or a couple of quarters doing this. Get the students to understand what it's all about before introducing the rigorous theory (which is fine but doesn't help in understanding what it's good for).

Now does anyone else want to help me hijack this thread? 😀

 

[Richard Black]

Richard_l,
I agree with your assessment. I think most of education is this way. How many of us shoot the cameras first then read the manual? Practical application could lead one into the theory.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

> - took 5 calculus courses in college. Finally passed it.

In 1975, when programmable calculators were just out, I had a Calculus teacher that announced that anyone who could write the program during the test, write down the program, and solve the question numerically, would have the answer accepted. My trusty TI SR-56 got me through it. I switched into computer science after that course.

 

[XAos]

Bah - the thread is spent already.

I've long maintained that much of the reason that math is hard is 1) Many who teach it do not love teaching, they only teach because its part of the job to do the stuff they want to do. 2) it's a bit of a cult, the last of the guilds, and they dont really _want_ ordinary people to learn it. It's secret knowledge that must be reserved for those initiated into the major. Anyone who wants to USE math practically (ie engineering students) is an outsider who only desires to exploit it.

At my alma mater (in Sin City), I remeber one grad student teacher in particular. He and some of the students in the front row would sometimes have lengthy discussions about the class in their native language. His accent was very thick - but I've had plenty of those. This one also mumbled. One class in particular, someone asked him to repeat himself. He did not understand their request and asked them to clarify. So they said "Can you please speak up, we can't understand you." He turns red, veins pop out, he slams the chalk down and yells (word for word - I am not making this up) - "IT NOT I NOT SPEAK ENGLITZ IT YOU NOT UNDERSTAND MOTH"

 

[ErnestoJL]

Richard_l, I too agree with you in regard of education of subjects like calculus. I had a ver bad experience in the university when the professor asked us if anyone didn´t understand something. I replied: Since march to today, nothing. This was because there were no correlation between theory and the physical world, so you´ll never recognize the road unless you know where do you want to go.

Besides, AFAIK I can see no reason why should someone read the manual before using the appliance... so I never did!
An US industrial controls maker put in their manual´s covers the following legend:
If everything else fails, please read the manual.

Best regards
Ernesto.