Best Brains: Mathematics
Kerry J. Renaissance-McAdams
like some advice/help from you guys.
Ever since sixth grade, when I had a major conflict with a math
teacher over what I _had_ to do vs. what I _could_ do (and while I
suppose a math teacher might not get the semantic difference, I still
think he ought to have deduced it as two separate functions....), I
have not been good at math. And I've hated it. I've also hated _not_
being good at it, because generally I've found if I set my mind to a
subject I can gain at least a functional degree of knowledge from it,
if not true expertise in it.
Mind you, before this sixth grade algebra teacher, I was good at math.
It wasn't my best subject, but I could hold my own quite respectably.
So I assume I'm capable of doing decent at it still, it's just I
haven't much utilized the ability.
The latest attempts through college to bring myself up to speed
through intro algebra courses has not worked. Sometimes it has been a
teacher conflict, and I just can't stand the person I'm learning
under, which doesn't help with a difficult subject. Other times,
well, I'm guessing I'm lacking either the knowledge of the base
subject or the experience of it. Because I read the text. Sometimes
over and over, when using it to try to solve an assigned problem. I
listen to the teacher and I take notes (which are also consulted
later).
When I do the problems, I _think_ I understand what I've been taught,
most times, and am sadly crushed when my papers come back bleeding.
In classes, well, any comments given _helps_ but we still rush onto
the next lesson without getting a chance to repair and comprehend the
error. So it proceeds to build, and by the end of a quarter or a
semester, I fail and am miserable and hating math more.
At this point in time I'm not willing to reenter a college math class
without greater surety that I can in fact do the work with at least a
passing grade of a C (but would prefer higher).
But I want to do better. I would very much like to get involved in
Computer Science (particularly programming and Internet-related
work), and my last college venture into that makes it clear one needs
maths for it to a greater degree than I have currently.
So, I've decided to work on improving this. I have a math teaching
and studying sister-in-law who is willing to help me, and my thought
is to get her to correct me on self-assigned work, since I've
accumulated various beginning math texts and some higher level ones.
I'd _like_ to find a computer program which would help me with at
least algebra, since I learn quite with the interactivity and text of
such programs (and they don't crush my self-esteem, either
purposefully or by accident, when I mess up). Does anyone know of a
good one?
And what else might help me? Any recommended books? Anything at all?
What can I do to improve in this subject?
Earl P. Jones
>
> And what else might help me? Any recommended books? Anything at all?
> What can I do to improve in this subject?
I can't offer much under my present circumstances (in the process of
driving across the country), but I do have one suggestion about technique:
When you know you're having difficulty with the subject, it's better to
catch problems as they happen than to have them pointed out after the
fact. See if you can find a time to sit down with your sister-in-law and
have her watch you working problems. Explain to her what you're doing, and
why, as you go along. Together you should be able to discover where things
are getting confused, after which you'll have a better idea of how to fix
them. I expect this approach would be more helpful and less stressful than
having her correct problems after you've worked through them. The
trade-off is that it takes a bit more time, and it only works well when you
get along with each other.
Earl Jones
Thomas G. McVeigh
Kerry J. Renaissance-McAdams <kerr...@circle-of-fireweavers.org>
wrote:
<snip>
> And what else might help me? Any recommended books? Anything at all?
> What can I do to improve in this subject?
I had a very similar experience with math teachers. When I was 18 my mom
gave me Godel,Escher,Bach: The Eternal Braid for my birthday. It helped
me understand that math had beauty. Once I realized that, my math
skills improved. It broke the mental barrier for me.
--
"If I can't dance, I don't want to be part of your revolution!"
Emma Goldman
||Thomas G. McVeigh||th...@idar.com||
work - http://www.idar.com
fun - http://members.home.net/tmcveigh
John Dean
Kerry J. Renaissance-McAdams <kerr...@circle-of-fireweavers.org> wrote in
message news:qfu8gtcpfh4njties...@4ax.com...
> Here is what I am trying to do, and why I'm trying to do it. And I'd
> like some advice/help from you guys.
>
> Ever since sixth grade, when I had a major conflict with a math
> teacher over what I _had_ to do vs. what I _could_ do (and while I
> suppose a math teacher might not get the semantic difference, I still
> think he ought to have deduced it as two separate functions....), I
> have not been good at math. And I've hated it. I've also hated _not_
> being good at it, because generally I've found if I set my mind to a
> subject I can gain at least a functional degree of knowledge from it,
> if not true expertise in it.
>
in a specific subject to find a psychological cause from their history.
Tends to be especially true of maths and that goes double for people who
were demotivated by either teacher or parent. You sound like a classic case.
If you look for counselling to help you address the issues which may still
be unresolved between you & your 6th grade teacher, the mental blockage may
just float away. This is not psychobabble. Someone dear to me had a problem
with maths and had been unable to pass UK O Level (the basic exam taken at
age 16) despite six attempts. But she went on to get a Bachelor of Arts
Degree in English and her work, outside maths, earned distinctions. Then she
had to pass a maths test to enter a particular postgraduate course. She
worked on the basis of having been demotivated by a parent who had great
facility with maths & who had unrealistic expectations. And taking it slow
and easy, she passed the test & got the further qualification. If you talk
to a professional educationalist I bet they will be able to quote you
endless examples - plus they should be able to point you in the right
direction.
Best of luck
--
John Dean -- Oxford
I am anti-spammed -- defrag me to reply
Miche
<john...@fragmsn.com> wrote:
> Kerry J. Renaissance-McAdams <kerr...@circle-of-fireweavers.org> wrote in
> message news:qfu8gtcpfh4njties...@4ax.com...
> > Here is what I am trying to do, and why I'm trying to do it. And I'd
> > like some advice/help from you guys.
> >
> > Ever since sixth grade, when I had a major conflict with a math
> > teacher over what I _had_ to do vs. what I _could_ do (and while I
> > suppose a math teacher might not get the semantic difference, I still
> > think he ought to have deduced it as two separate functions....), I
> > have not been good at math. And I've hated it. I've also hated _not_
> > being good at it, because generally I've found if I set my mind to a
> > subject I can gain at least a functional degree of knowledge from it,
> > if not true expertise in it.
> >
> It's quite common when otherwise able people fail to reach their potential
> in a specific subject to find a psychological cause from their history.
> Tends to be especially true of maths and that goes double for people who
> were demotivated by either teacher or parent. You sound like a classic case.
Certainly true for me. I went from straight As in fourth form to straight
Cs in fifth form because my teacher assumed (falsely) that I'd be able to
hold my own while he taught the less able.
> If you look for counselling to help you address the issues which may still
> be unresolved between you & your 6th grade teacher, the mental blockage may
> just float away. This is not psychobabble. Someone dear to me had a problem
> with maths and had been unable to pass UK O Level (the basic exam taken at
> age 16) despite six attempts. But she went on to get a Bachelor of Arts
> Degree in English and her work, outside maths, earned distinctions. Then she
> had to pass a maths test to enter a particular postgraduate course. She
> worked on the basis of having been demotivated by a parent who had great
> facility with maths & who had unrealistic expectations. And taking it slow
> and easy, she passed the test & got the further qualification. If you talk
> to a professional educationalist I bet they will be able to quote you
> endless examples - plus they should be able to point you in the right
> direction.
> Best of luck
It's really great to hear that this is being taken seriously. After 15
years of believing that I was just crap at maths (having conveniently
forgotten the nine years where I'd been really good at it, including
earning a Distinction in the Australian Maths Competition) I'm now
studying in a field where a decent grasp of maths is not just an
advantage, it's close to a requirement. And to my surprise and delight,
not only am I _interested_ in learning the maths, I'm doing well at it.
Miche
--
"... in the physics of the heart, distance is relative;
it is time that is absolute."
- Lois McMaster Bujold, _Shards of Honor_
Leonard Erickson
>
> And what else might help me? Any recommended books? Anything at all?
> What can I do to improve in this subject?
Well, if you can find a copy, try Asimov's "Realm of Algebra". It's what
got me thru Algebra I way back when.
--
Leonard Erickson (aka Nemo) kal...@krypton.rain.com
"No, I will _not_ move your planet... What do you want to move it _for_?
It's fine right where it is!"
-- Dairine Callahan, Wizard (no relation)
Clothahump
>
...snip...
>
> And what else might help me? Any recommended books? Anything at all?
> What can I do to improve in this subject?
Amazon.com has some CDs that teach math. Search for algebra under the
software category.