Advice on how to handle a difficult math class

[BCEagle91]

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<p>She has never done proofs before this semester, but is managing fine
in her Linear Algebra and Discrete Math classes, both of which are
quite proof-heavy.</p>

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<p>A lot of university courses use Rosen’s Discrete Mathematics and Its Applications and the first chapter is on proofs (7th edition). Then comes set theory, etc. So that course should provide some proof background. But it’s a lot easier when you’ve been doing proofs for a few years than if you have to learn proofs and the particular material at the same time. That’s one of the criticisms of the old-fashioned proof-based geometry course - that you’re learning how to do proofs and geometry at the same time which can be confusing. You do need to learn it somewhere (if you’re going to be a math or computer science major) and earlier is probably better. There are even some curricular materials that introduce proofs in elementary school (Sets and Numbers by Suppes and Hill). A good geometry text with thorough coverage of doing proofs is in Jacobs Geometry (from the 1970s).</p>

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<p>This is probably her hardest class because on top of learning the
regular Calc III material, she was also introduced to set theory,
function theory, complex numbers, and linear algebra.</p>

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<p>Is she a freshman? If so, then that’s a lot of new material at a pace that she might not be used to. Those types of courses accelerate in difficulty and material through the semester and students might not be used to that coming out of high school. If not, then she should be used to absorbing material at an accelerating pace.</p>

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<p>Her biggest complaint is that the teacher and the TA are not working
together to make sure the students are learning the material. She does
well on the problem sets but they are not preparing her for the actual
exams.</p>

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<p>Unfortunately, I’d guess that every students gets a professor (or a bunch) like this in college. My son has told me about students having the same problems from the tutoring center. The professors ask stretch questions where you have to piece together a bunch of different concepts or they ask questions that weren’t covered in class or in the textbook - you’d have to be keeping up with current events in science to know the answer. One professor explained that there is such a wide variance in abilities that they have to toss in really hard problems to distinguish between an A and a B.</p>

<p>Our daughter had a class once where she asked us if she could withdraw. She had an A- average in it and it was a bit shocking to us that she wanted to drop the course. She gave her reasons (the professor had a bizarre personality) and we trusted her judgement. Our son has had many professors that were excellent researchers but awful at teaching.</p>

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<p>She is working with a tutor and gets a lot out of it.</p>

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<p>Good to hear.</p>

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<p>Maybe she just has to concede that she isn’t cut out to do this level of work.</p>

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<p>It might be a bit early to draw that conclusion. She’s had to absorb proofs in a very short period of time and tackly at least three hard classes.</p>

<p>I had a look at a random Honors Multivariable course (John Hopkins) and see that the prereq for Honors Linear Algebra is a B+ or better in Calc II or a 5 on the AP BC exam or passing Honors Single Variable Calculus (BTW, it sounds like a great course). Linear Algebra or Honors Linear Algebra is a co-requisite for Honors Multivariable Calculus. It would seem to me that some mention of the ability to do proofs should be a prerequisite for Honors LA or MC. The Honors Single Variable course uses Spivak’s text which is heavily proof-based. Just doing the first chapter of Spivak (which doesn’t have an calculus material at all) would be a considerable challenge for the typical college student. Your daughter may be going up against students that took Honors Single Variable where they have a considerable background in doing proofs already.</p>

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<p>My daughter says that most of the students are struggling in the
class, but there are a handful of math whizzes who manage to ace the
tests. Would anyone know whether instructors would set a curve where
they eliminate the top scoring students?</p>

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<p>The only thing that would matter would be the particular curve that her professor uses. The syllabus would be the best place to look first. If the syllabus doesn’t say anything, then the best thing to do would be to ask the professor. The professor might not reveal the curve methodology or might work it out as it gets close to the end of the semester.</p>

<p>I’ve never heard him mention a course where the top students were dropped. I could perhaps understand if there were one person and I imagine that some formula that would discount outliers but if there are five (a handful) of students performing at a high level, then I’d expect less of an interest in removing them. In the old days, an A was for really outstanding work and five students getting As would be reasonable (in a class of say 30).</p>

<p>Patrick Suppes and Shirley Hill. First Course in Mathematical Logic. New York: Blaisdell, 1964, 274 pp. Reprinted by Dover, 2002, New York.
Patrick Suppes. Sets and Numbers. (Books K-2). New York: Random House. Revised edition, 1968.
Patrick Suppes. Sets and Numbers (Books 3-6). New York: Random House. Revised edition, 1969.
[Amazon.com:</a> Geometry (9780716717454): Harold R. Jacobs: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Geometry-Harold-R-Jacobs/dp/071671745X]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Geometry-Harold-R-Jacobs/dp/071671745X)
[Amazon.com:</a> Calculus, 4th edition (9780914098911): Michael Spivak: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Calculus-4th-Michael-Spivak/dp/0914098918/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1322061447&sr=1-1]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Calculus-4th-Michael-Spivak/dp/0914098918/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1322061447&sr=1-1)
[Amazon.com:</a> Discrete Mathematics and Its Applications (9780073229720): Kenneth Rosen: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Discrete-Mathematics-Applications-Kenneth-Rosen/dp/0073229725/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1322061500&sr=1-1]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Discrete-Mathematics-Applications-Kenneth-Rosen/dp/0073229725/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1322061500&sr=1-1)</p>