How hard is Calculus?

[mightyrick]

Yes sir!! We all stand corrected now, sir! (If only mightyrick ran the world, all would be well. )

Nice. The use of the "I" pronoun repeatedly leads to a presumption that if the poster ran the world that everything would be great. Now, I am basically a dictator. Sheesh.

Or... perhaps it just means that I want to be clear that I am only representing my own opinions and beliefs and that I want there to be no question that I am not generalizing or projecting my beliefs onto others.

 

[sureshs]

General-level physics is sufficient for most common engineering degrees that I know of.

Non-calculus physics is a pain to teach. That is why intro college texts all use calculus now.

 

[Steady Eddy]

Nice. The use of the "I" pronoun repeatedly leads to a presumption that if the poster ran the world that everything would be great. Now, I am basically a dictator. Sheesh.

Or... perhaps it just means that I want to be clear that I am only representing my own opinions and beliefs and that I want there to be no question that I am not generalizing or projecting my beliefs onto others.

No problem. As the saying goes, "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion."

 

[sureshs]

For good or for bad, there is competition out there. If someone is learning calc and someone else isn't, the first one has the edge.

 

[mightyrick]

For good or for bad, there is competition out there. If someone is learning calc and someone else isn't, the first one has the edge.

Yep, I agree. Not much can be done except to join the crowd try to keep up. I guess the same holds true for sports and steroids. That is the way of things.

 

[Manus Domini]

And then you were born

:lol: that was good lol

 

[fruitytennis1]

We should go back to the old way of learning information, when America was smart.

When was america smart?
Without the humor please.

 

[Manus Domini]

When was america smart?
Without the humor please.

I dunno, 30s and 40s? After the 90s America became idiotic

 

[Legend of Borg]

For good or for bad, there is competition out there. If someone is learning calc and someone else isn't, the first one has the edge.

Isn't that completely dependent to the field one is studying?

I can understand a computer programmer making use of calculus, but a sport psychologist not so much.

It can only "give you an edge" if it applies to your profession.

 

[angharad]

It can only "give you an edge" if it applies to your profession.

It can only "give you an edge" if you actually retain it. If a class is taught in a way that helps students pass without actually having them learn, the class is pointless. I unfortunately have seen that too often with some of the advanced high school classes. Students in them don't retain any of the information they're given.

 

[Talker]

One good thing about calculus is that it ties together algebra, geometry and trigonometry among other areas.

With more relations between these areas of mathematics it is easier to remember and work out problems that don't even need calculus.

Then to learn calculus very well take advanced calculus, if your taking other courses that use calculus it becomes even more ingrained also.

There's nothing special about calculus, it's just another math course.

If it's taught in high school then it gives exposure to how it works, you won't have to start from the beginning in college, but if you do some of the concepts you'll already have seen, it helps.

 

[sureshs]

Isn't that completely dependent to the field one is studying?

I can understand a computer programmer making use of calculus, but a sport psychologist not so much.

It can only "give you an edge" if it applies to your profession.

Yes that is true. I was refering to the people who will work in fields which will use calculus, like science, engineering, statistics, economics, quantitative finance, quantitative biology, etc.

 

[sureshs]

One good thing about calculus is that it ties together algebra, geometry and trigonometry among other areas.

With more relations between these areas of mathematics it is easier to remember and work out problems that don't even need calculus.

I don't know of areas in algebra, geometry and trigonometry which need calculus. Other way around is true.

 

[Talker]

I don't know of areas in algebra, geometry and trigonometry which need calculus. Other way around is true.

Those courses are taught before calculus, so they're not prerequisites.

 

[KBlade]

Almost half-way through the semester, its brutal. Not that the material is that difficult, but I have an awful professor who talks BS for most of class, does 2 easy example problems, and we're on our own. I have to teach myself the material. Of course after many days of 5+ hours of studying I "get it", but its not an efficient way to work, especially when we cover new material days. I'm getting solid C's on the tests which is really frustrating. I can do the easy/moderate difficulty problems because they're similar to the homework, but its those last few challenging problems that prevent me from getting a B or an A. I'm requesting a tutor in my area to speed up the learning process.

I'm down to two people. One guy recently graduated in Chemical Engineering. I think he'd be a good tutor since the material is still probably fresh in his head and he's only a few years older than me, so it should be easy to relate.

The other tutor is a research scientist in theoretical physics who did his postdoc training at UC Berkeley. He's probably in his 30's-40's. It would be great to have someone so elite teach me, but maybe it would be hard for a young community college student to relate to such an older, much more accomplished scientist.

What do you guys think?

 

[Steady Eddy]

Almost half-way through the semester, its brutal. Not that the material is that difficult, but I have an awful professor who talks BS for most of class, does 2 easy example problems, and we're on our own. I have to teach myself the material. Of course after many days of 5+ hours of studying I "get it", but its not an efficient way to work, especially when we cover new material days. I'm getting solid C's on the tests which is really frustrating. I can do the easy/moderate difficulty problems because they're similar to the homework, but its those last few challenging problems that prevent me from getting a B or an A. I'm requesting a tutor in my area to speed up the learning process.

I'm down to two people. One guy recently graduated in Chemical Engineering. I think he'd be a good tutor since the material is still probably fresh in his head and he's only a few years older than me, so it should be easy to relate.

The other tutor is a research scientist in theoretical physics who did his postdoc training at UC Berkeley. He's probably in his 30's-40's. It would be great to have someone so elite teach me, but maybe it would be hard for a young community college student to relate to such an older, much more accomplished scientist.

What do you guys think?

There's more to being a good tutor than "knowing your stuff", he's got to be able to communicate it. A tutor has to try to figure out how it looks from your point of view, not his. It does no good for him to say, "That's how you do it, and I'm right."

Have either of these guys done tutoring? Here's why they might know calc, but not know your homework. In calc one they ask you to prove things by the definition. Somebody using calculus hasn't done that in years. They won't know how to do it. They think they'll be great, but again and again, they'll look at your book and go "huh?"

[Digression. When asked to figure the derivative of the square root of x using the definition. An engineer will say, "Just use the power rule." He won't know how to do it by the definition. Doesn't mean he's not good at calculus, it's just that calculus is very different from calc one. For your class, you'll have to solve the problems the way they say. Your guy might be a Nobel Prize winner, but if he's not up on THIS math, that won't help you. Has he tutored calc one before? That's what you need to find out.]

Also, drop the age bigotry thing. Don't assume a guy your age will be 'cool' and an older guy 'stuffy'. Sometimes younger people are less mature and get impatient when explaining things. It's the tutor's job to click with you, if the guy doesn't, switch to the other one right away. He should be smart, but also not in anyway an A-hole, you know what I mean.

Good luck! I think getting a tutor is a good decision on your part.

 

[The Wreck]

I know it seems hard now, but the more you see it, one day it'll just "click" and the concepts and reasons and all behind it make sense.

 

[sureshs]

Almost half-way through the semester, its brutal. Not that the material is that difficult, but I have an awful professor who talks BS for most of class, does 2 easy example problems, and we're on our own. I have to teach myself the material. Of course after many days of 5+ hours of studying I "get it", but its not an efficient way to work, especially when we cover new material days. I'm getting solid C's on the tests which is really frustrating. I can do the easy/moderate difficulty problems because they're similar to the homework, but its those last few challenging problems that prevent me from getting a B or an A. I'm requesting a tutor in my area to speed up the learning process.

I'm down to two people. One guy recently graduated in Chemical Engineering. I think he'd be a good tutor since the material is still probably fresh in his head and he's only a few years older than me, so it should be easy to relate.

The other tutor is a research scientist in theoretical physics who did his postdoc training at UC Berkeley. He's probably in his 30's-40's. It would be great to have someone so elite teach me, but maybe it would be hard for a young community college student to relate to such an older, much more accomplished scientist.

What do you guys think?

If you have already got your fundamentals down, what can a tutor do for you? The tougher kinds of problems are usually twisted ones, and non-math PhDs (even Physics) may not have seen them. You may be better off working thru Schwaum's series or something.

 

[KBlade]

If you have already got your fundamentals down, what can a tutor do for you? The tougher kinds of problems are usually twisted ones, and non-math PhDs (even Physics) may not have seen them. You may be better off working thru Schwaum's series or something.

Well, I have other classes to study for. I don't have a problem with studying 5+ hours, but if that's for ONE class, DAILY, that's just ridiculous. Plus like I said, I put in a lot of work and still manage to only get C's. I need to transfer to a good university, so C's aren't gonna cut it. I need B's at the minimum, and clearly what I'm doing isn't getting me there. Time to seek professional help.

 

[Viper]

When was america smart?
Without the humor please.

Before all those other countries came along and took its place as world super power.


Wait.

 

[MCP]

Well, I have other classes to study for. I don't have a problem with studying 5+ hours, but if that's for ONE class, DAILY, that's just ridiculous. Plus like I said, I put in a lot of work and still manage to only get C's. I need to transfer to a good university, so C's aren't gonna cut it. I need B's at the minimum, and clearly what I'm doing isn't getting me there. Time to seek professional help.

This is why, for myself at least, I'm only taking two classes at a time. With work and other responsibilities, as well as the desire to get A's, two classes is enough for me. I have seen plenty of other students register for 4 or 5 classes and just end up dropping half of them. Before people jump on me, yea, the right person can do 4 and 5 classes I guess. In my situation I just don't see it happening without losing all of my hair. Two classes though at this point is 8 or 9 credits depending.

Back on the Calc discussion, Calc 2 is going well so far for me. It's also way more work than Calc 1 was. The average grade for the first test was a 69 and a 61 for the second(eek!). So the class will be thinning out by the end of the week(add/drop deadline).

 

[Talker]

Almost half-way through the semester, its brutal. Not that the material is that difficult, but I have an awful professor who talks BS for most of class, does 2 easy example problems, and we're on our own. I have to teach myself the material. Of course after many days of 5+ hours of studying I "get it", but its not an efficient way to work, especially when we cover new material days. I'm getting solid C's on the tests which is really frustrating. I can do the easy/moderate difficulty problems because they're similar to the homework, but its those last few challenging problems that prevent me from getting a B or an A. I'm requesting a tutor in my area to speed up the learning process.

I'm down to two people. One guy recently graduated in Chemical Engineering. I think he'd be a good tutor since the material is still probably fresh in his head and he's only a few years older than me, so it should be easy to relate.

The other tutor is a research scientist in theoretical physics who did his postdoc training at UC Berkeley. He's probably in his 30's-40's. It would be great to have someone so elite teach me, but maybe it would be hard for a young community college student to relate to such an older, much more accomplished scientist.

What do you guys think?

Drop the class and take it again. Getting a 'C' now will hurt you in the future. Get an outline like Schaums and go thru it. If you have classes that need calculus as a prerequisite you don't want to be trying to figure out the new material and have any trouble with the math too.
It's a pain but it has to be done.

 

[KBlade]

Drop the class and take it again. Getting a 'C' now will hurt you in the future. Get an outline like Schaums and go thru it. If you have classes that need calculus as a prerequisite you don't want to be trying to figure out the new material and have any trouble with the math too.
It's a pain but it has to be done.

I get what you're getting at, but dropping the class is not an option for me. I've already been at a community college for 2 years. I switched my major to Computer Science which will add an extra 2 years to my stay here. I can't spend the rest of my life in community college dropping classes and taking them the following semester. I still have 3 quizzes, 3 tests, and a final to turn things around.

 

[mightyrick]

I get what you're getting at, but dropping the class is not an option for me. I've already been at a community college for 2 years. I switched my major to Computer Science which will add an extra 2 years to my stay here. I can't spend the rest of my life in community college dropping classes and taking them the following semester. I still have 3 quizzes, 3 tests, and a final to turn things around.

Just do what you can to pass the class. If you are a CS major, you don't need to really retain calculus, anyways. Focus on your core classes in your junior and senior years.

I have been in software development for a long time now. The best software developers I have seen barely know how to even SPELL the world calculus. So just forget about it.

Trust me... whether or not you suck at software development will have nothing to do with your ability to do integrals and find areas underneath the curve.

 

[ogruskie]

deleted post

 

[Sentinel]

Just came across this.
http://calnewport.com/blog/2008/11/...s-the-art-of-doing-well-in-technical-courses/

 

[Eph]

I'll be taking the first semester of Calculus next semester and I'm not really sure what to expect. I just ordered the textbook online (author is Stewart, I hear its popular) so I won't be able to preview the material for a few days. But I think its stuff like functions, limits, integrals, etc. My professor has pretty decent reviews so I'm not too worried about her teaching skills.

The problem is I'm not very good at math. I typically get C's when I put in the minimum amount of work (doing just assigned hw), and I get B's when I really work my ass off. For some reason its impossible for me to get A's. If its any indicator of future success/failure, I took PreCalc last semester and got a C. But again, with minimum amount of work because I was swamped with other classes and work. However I'm quitting my job and taking fairly easy classes so I'll devote myself 110% to calculus.

Stewart's textbook is meant for the non-mathematician/physicist, viz. economics or biology students who need to learn calculus, but who are not interested in the math, per se. In other words, Stewart's book is great to learn how to solve calculus problems but you aren't going to become good at proof, nor are you going to do well in analysis using Stewart.


Calculus really isn't that difficult: Pick up the book now and start learning from it. If you're a visual learner, go to http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/mathematics/18-01-single-variable-calculus-fall-2006/ They probably use Apostol or Spivak's book. It will be more rigorous than the course you are taking, but it will prepare you well.

I just realized when this post was created... look, if you sit down for 3-4 days, 10-12 hours a day, you should be able to learn single variable calculus well. It really isn't hard. You'll be comfortable with the topics presented in the course and you'll be ready for the exams.

For what its worth, when I was a preteen, I sat down with Apostol's two volume work, _Calculus_, and within 5 weeks, finished the two books (and completed all the questions in the books). All it requires is hard work and dedication. I know this is not typical, but that's not because most do not have the aptitude (I do not know whether you do or not: Grades are not indicative of intelligence), but rather because people aren't willing to devote the time.

Just work at it. Calculus has a reputation to be this grueling, ball breaking course. It isn't. Don't psychologically defeat yourself before you have even tried.

 

[Eph]

I get what you're getting at, but dropping the class is not an option for me. I've already been at a community college for 2 years. I switched my major to Computer Science which will add an extra 2 years to my stay here. I can't spend the rest of my life in community college dropping classes and taking them the following semester. I still have 3 quizzes, 3 tests, and a final to turn things around.

Depending on what you want to do with a CS degree, you may or may not need to know calculus.

You'll need to understand logic, though.

I don't know if it was you or someone else on this forum, but if you're only interested in programming, you don't need a CS degree. Just go to google.com and search "learn XYZ language".