Dr. Suess

"And will you succeed? Yes indeed! Yes indeed! Ninety Eight and Three Quarters guarenteed!"


Sunday, February 28, 2010

3x + 2y = CRAZY

My 8 week algebra class is over. I got a 61%. Which, is significantly higher than the 45% I got my first time through Beginning Algebra.

My instructor reminded me that most people had this in high school. Very few in college didn't have it at all. So for them, it's a second time around, re introduction to skills they'd had but forgotten or never quite understood the first time. The fact that I never had it, and I'm trying to learn it at my current stage in life makes it harder. Taking an 8 week class probably didn't help ... most students get this in high school ... in 36 weeks. I'm taking it in collge, which is 16 weeks per semester and I took this one on fast track, 8 weeks. So I tried to absorb a full school years worth of info in just 8 weeks.

He suggested that I
memorize the formula's
memorize what a problem looks like that needs that particular formula
and memorize the vocabulary.
(like when the test asked me to rationalize a problem and I went blank because I had no clue what rationalize meant.)

He also said that if I get it down, college algebra wont' be that hard because while it is increasing in difficulty, it has very few new principals ... just new ways to use the ones you know.
(we'll see)

The nice thing about the 8 week is I get so confused, it just makes me more confused. This way it was all introduced to me and I know what I need to know ...and the confusion/frustration was only an 8 week process.

I plan on continuing to keep my schedule for homework. I'll just work on the principals that he told me to in the time that I was working on actual homework/studing for the class.

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