Howdy! So the name pretty much says it, but I will reiterate.
PS Question is the last line
After taking calculus in high school I though I was prepared for college calculus and content wise I was. However, I had a very terrible teacher this semester that is hurting my chances at a good grade in his class, despite knowing all the concepts. I believe our highest grade in the class is an 86 because of how he tries to deduct points on silly things like how when we write “sin(theta)”, their needs to be a very explicit dot over the i or solving a problem with a different approach then the one discussed in the book despite arriving at the same answer with the same amount of steps.
I understand as a freshman this is the “weed out” process (or I hope it is) and I’ve been doing well in my other classes, but the stress of knowing I’m getting a bad grade, despite clearly knowing the concepts is very frustrating. And its not like I can study how to be picky for this teacher since he doesn’t teach us or go over how we solve problems in class without heavily using a calculator or computer algebra system. (even though we can’t use one on the test)
It may just be that I have a bad professor but I’ve been told the pickiness only gets worse for calc 2 but not for calc 3. So my plan was to take Calc two this wintermester. and skip straight to calc 3 . The other classes I would be taking are programing, chemistry, and research (all of which I have experience in) so most of my time would be capable of studying for calc 3.
Is it a bad idea to skip to calc 3 with only one month of calc 2 ?
Are you sure your professor is the one actually doing the grading? Taking off for not making a neat “i” in the word sin() would seem to indicate that the grading is being done by someone who doesn’t actually understand what they are grading. Certainly most real mathematician graders understand there is more than one way to do something.
It could be that the professor doesn’t check enough on how their exams are being scored by a student employee. Or, perhaps you do not understand why the points were deducted. Either way, you might try taking your exams to office hours and discussing the deductions.
If you really “clearlly know” all the concepts, you’ll be able to apply them. I’m not sure I buy your overriding concept here.
In my experience, Calc 2 is the hardest of those first 3 courses. I think it would be a mistake for anyone to skip it, particularly someone who is struggling in Calc i.
I took calc AB in high school and when I take past exams for Calc 2 I seem to average 70 - 80s (since over the summer I already went though the calc 1 and 2 material) Is their a reason why it is an option to take calculus over winter term or summer 1 if that isn’t an adequate amount of time to learn the material? ( I guess I assumed it was since it was an option in the first place) Because I’m not skipping the material, just doing it much quicker.
@AroundHere He uses a lot of physics variables like s and n and he grades it as if sin(theta) = s/n (theta) if its missing a dot for example. And if you don’t perform the product rule in the same order as the quotient rule, the problem is wrong because he thinks that will make us remember the order of the quotient rule. Just alot of little things like that. And each question is either all right or all wrong. (Because the world doesn’t give partial credit or something like that)
@bjkmom
His theory is our work needs to be clear enough that anyone should be able to follow it . And I’m doing well on the common exams, its just the other grades I receive in his class (like quizzes, homework, etc.) are notably dragging down my grade. But in Calc 2 only half of the exams are common so this problem could be worse
You know what you do when you learn your prof is anal about how things are written or formatted? You write things the way the prof wants them written. I’m not sure why some do it, but it’s probably to get you to pay attention to details. It’s not an uncommon tactic. My son has had multiple profs act like this and so did I. Go along to get along or prepare for another 3 frustrating years.
If you have some inkling about calc 2, the fqlast pace should be fine.
An issue is that sometimes when the pace is very intense, student don’t retain as much and aren’t as well prepared for the next level.
It’s fine if the students are simply retaking the class or won’t take any further class.
If you took AB in high school, is there a reason you chose calculus 1 instead of calculus 2? Were you not able to solve the problems on the college’s calculus 1 exams?
@eyemgh That is actually something I didn’t think of . (since their is no way of knowing what he doesn’t like until after the grades are finalized) But I suppose I can ask him in office hours before turning in each assignment / before the day of the quiz
@ucbalumnus At my school their are lab components for computer programing embedded into calculus and I was really excited to try it. Besides, when I was registering for courses I saw that I wasn’t going to graduate sooner and the cost wasn’t going to be different, so I decided to take it for a nice review.
Math prof here. Do not skip. If you are getting 70’s on the calc 2 tests, you are missing 30%. That amount will increase if not addressed.
As for certain approaches and notation, it is important in math to do the basics in a clear and concise manner. It matters in the intro courses and is expected in the higher level one.