Posted by alexandra_k on January 13, 2014, at 17:04:41
i'm starting this thread to help keep me accountable (haha).
i got behind in maths... forever ago. then i thought i sucked at it because i couldn't figure things out... or because it was very hard for me, but it seemed very easy to others.
anyway, i've just come to start to properly appreciate how incremental math and perhaps even science is... the same and a little bit more, the same and a little bit more, the same and a little bit more... really consolidating the previous and only adding a little more on top and along you go...
i get that the reason why people think it is usual / better to go from science / math to arts (rather than the other way around) is because of this linear incremental progress thing. you can jump on into philosophy (or whatever) from wherever you are... not so with physics or math or chemistry. hum.
that will be why i didn't get a place in med at otago. i told them in the interview that i was not good at math and wondered if i might have dyscalculia or something... she said i interviewed well... i... i can believe her now that i have come to appreciate a little more of what lack of ability in math rules out...
if they had have given me a place i probably would have bombed out (not made the grades) for the pre-med year that they would have made me do... and having a place in med... without having this background knowledge... would have been suicide, anyway. so... i guess i should thank them.
anyway... i'm going to do what... has anyone done this before??? i guess it is the computer technology making it possible... or easier... not that it is easy... but i can sit in my room and make my way through the curriculum. i don't actually need to rock up to primary school haha. and i have immediate feedback on the problems... and it up or downgrades difficulty depending on how accurate my responses are...
it can't hurt. i don't know if it will get me where i need to be (all by itself) with respect to being properly prepared for uni math. but it can't hurt. so...
i need to make executive decisions: first up: when is it okay for me to start using pen and paper to keep track?
i'm in year three... and the bastards are giving me balancing equations with 3 digits like this:
? + 530 = 534 + 187
that one is kinda easy because to get from 530 to 534 is + 4 so 187 + 4 should balance for the answer. but still... some of them i actually need to add to get the sum on the right. then take that as the... uh... minuand? and subtract 530 and... I CAN"T HOLD ALL THAT IN MY HEAD. particularly well... hur. so i've started using pen and paper. i still have a little trouble with basic errors even then... i guess the idea is to check again - unless it truly is easy for me. is using pen and paper cheating?
later i guess i'll need to decide when to use a calculator...
poster:alexandra_k
thread:1058481
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20140102/msgs/1058481.html