<p>i know exeter has a different approach to teaching math and i was hoping some exonians could shed some light on how well the method works for a student not particularly strong in math. is it much harder to follow, or does it help the student see things in a new way? is help readily available? thanks!</p>
<p>ditto??????????</p>
<p>My understanding (and it is anecdotal, gathered from an Exeter student who toured my child and me around) is that Math is taught by the Harkness method and typically the students have about 8 math problems of homework each night. I guess what they must do is discuss approaches at the Harkness table to solving each or similar problems. Not too helpful - hopefully an Exeter student can confirm/deny/amplify.</p>
<p>I concur with everything that MomtoanUndecided has stated...all algorithms and equations are discovered by the students. They do not, for instance, give you the equation for a quadratic--you discover it. It can be difficult, but it's far more satisfying when you grasp a concept.</p>
<p>I loved exeter's teaching method until i reached math 5... and then i couldn't do any of the hw problems anymore. but-- despite that, i do feel like i understand the concepts well.</p>
<p>Just a side note- the teachers at exeter came up with the book of problems that is used in all the classes- if something is not understood they add additional problems over the summer to help the enxt group of students...</p>
<p>DISCOVER the equation for quadratics?
oh god i think math will be a big challenge..
im not particularly strong in math and teachers not giving lessons on it! ugh.
discussing and using the Harkness method in humanities? yeah, but in math?! i'm gonna die..but im ready for it! =)</p>
<p>haha yeah "dicovering" the equation sounds really hard, but the math book hints a lot (find of funny sometimes actually) and there are problems leading up to "discoveries" so it's pretty obvious. Oh and they have a glossary-type-thing at the back so it's even clearer then.</p>
<p>I assume these are the problem sets used in the math classes, maybe they can help you.</p>
<p>just for those who dont quite understand what discover and equation means, it's when you are forced to derive the equation yourself and learn where the equation comes from rather than just memorizing it....it helps a whole lot and establishes a very firm foundation of understanding...same thing my school does and i love it....you use math to get the formulas and you arent forced to memorize formulas and equations that you will soon forget</p>
<p>Bump................</p>
<p>:P thanks for the link</p>
<p>Wouldn't it just be easier to go on the internet and find the formulas? The slackers way out, but it seems like that would be plausible and way less time-consuming for kids to do.</p>
<p>If you guys want to go on to be successful at college level math then this discovery approach will be invaluable when you have to do proofs and differential equations- you can not escape this type of learning in math- you will have to learn to derive the formulas sooner or later so you might as well start now with the easier maths.</p>
<p>"If you guys want to go on to be successful at college level math then this discovery approach will be invaluable when you have to do proofs and differential equations- you can not escape this type of learning in math- you will have to learn to derive the formulas sooner or later so you might as well start now with the easier maths."</p>
<p>True, but other college preparatory schools do not use this method and still produce students who are very successful in college.</p>
<p>I agree with Malishka31. Calculus is so much easier when you actually understand the concepts, and it's the same concept in multivariable calculus. I know this because I have taken calculus in two different ways-- at a public high school, where i learned math like the majority of the world, and at exeter. Exeter teaches you in a way that you don't have to memorize. the concept stays in your memory longer. actually, i don't think i understood the concept at all when i took it at public school. But i mean, if you just want to score a 4 on the AP exam, you can do easily that by memorizing formulas. And then of course if you don't care about math, all of this really doesn't matter.</p>
<p>im a senior at exeter and to be honest, "discovering the approach" really isn't as bad as it sounds. exeter has different levels of math classes and all of them have accelerated/regular classes, so if math isn't your strong point (it certainly wasn't mine), then no worries. </p>
<p>you're not going to be asked to find the formula of so and so on the first try. you're going to get ten or twelve problems that build up to it and then most of the time derive the formula in class. exeter math really isn't as bad as it sounds.</p>
<p>btw, feel free to ask about anything else concerning exeter</p>
<p>exeter math is awesome, you learn the concept better.</p>
<p>Multivariate calculus is a waste of time, learn calculus on manifolds.</p>
<p>Learning math is such a pain for me... especially since I usually learn it in Chinese first from my tutor/parents, then learn it again in English... I usually end up confusing all the terminology :X</p>