alot of the times tests aren't able to accurately assess someones knowledge and understanding of the material but it's the best subjective system we have.

lol comp sci for money LOL

i love comp sci, but academic comp sci is SOOOO boring

rushz0rz

Canada5300 Posts

October 16 2010 06:35 GMT

.Aar

2177 Posts

October 16 2010 06:43 GMT

That was pretty much my experience of math when I went to school. The concepts were easy. It was remembering to stick a negative sign or writing 1 instead of 7 that got me.

On October 16 2010 15:35 rushz0rz wrote:
Well I really like reading the textbook and everything and learning how it really works. His teaching methods are just so dry and avoids anything too in-depth. "This is how you do it. So go do it."

Sounds like your teacher's one of those people who teach to live, not live to teach. ]:

I hate those. Imparting knowledge is the most amazing thing one can be paid to do. If someone doesn't like it, he should be pursuing other things..

Disregard

China10252 Posts

October 16 2010 07:05 GMT

Im in Calculus and my first semester of CS, also doing Java... but I have past experience with doing basic Java programming so I was ahead for awhile. My professor is pretty bad, he can teach but he does not seem to care or just damn lazy.

Sometimes I question myself when he cant spot simple syntax errors in the compiler, though he sends us his versions of the program challenges for reference. Since hes a professional, I just study his optimize work and go from there. Though sometimes I really hate how sensitive Java is.

Also got my first Cal exam on Monday, hope I dont bomb it because I get nervous trying to memorize everything.

numLoCK

Canada1416 Posts

October 16 2010 07:19 GMT

When ever I did calc quizzes I would redo them a couple of times and check my answers a whole bunch. Its very easy to make silly mistakes and kill your grade, so its key to make sure you do them perfectly.

Sucks about the CS prof though, profs can really make or break a class like that

rushz0rz

Canada5300 Posts

October 16 2010 07:37 GMT

awu25

United States2003 Posts

October 16 2010 15:51 GMT

#10

attention to detail is something important in real life
it's one thing to make the mistake because you didn't have time to check it
it's another thing to finish 10 minutes early and not find your mistake

shinosai

United States1577 Posts

October 16 2010 15:58 GMT

#11

Simple mistakes like that are usually the result of not practicing enough. You can know how to do the problem and understand the concept, but not have enough experience doing the problem to avoid those types of mistakes. If you practice enough, you will do the notation correctly without thinking about it. That was my experience in calc.

Ryan307 :)

United States1289 Posts

October 16 2010 17:24 GMT

#12

I feel your pain! I got a few points taken off for night writing dy/dx or lim x-> a (I can remember that method alot easier for some reason lol). And I missed a few points on my last calc exam for forgetting to write my notation for related rates.
That's a shame you don't like comp sci though, I was planning on taking a comp sci class but I'm knocking out chemistry first T_T

TossFloss

Canada606 Posts

October 16 2010 18:06 GMT

#13

On October 16 2010 15:00 rushz0rz wrote:
I'm loving calculus. Absolutely loving it. I fell in love with math last year.

But, the quizzes are KILLING ME. I should have got 9/10 on my last one, but got marks taken off for forgetting notation (lim as h -> 0) and accidentally switching a 2 to a 3 in a function (which is understandable). I do get really nervous for the quizzes and that probably makes me do stupid things on it. It was put down to a 6/10. I feel like my marks are not reflecting my knowledge and ability at all. I honestly wouldn't care for marks if I was at my university of choice already, but there is a lot of pressure on me to do well to get in.

Computer Science is not what I expected at all. We're doing basic java OOP. It feels really mindless and boring. It may just be my teacher, he doesn't have a PhD as it's a college. He seems to want to just teach us the programming language without going in-depth at all. First day of class he did say one of the best reasons for going into comp sci was earning lots of money. I also didn't expect the focus to be on creating simple 3d games. I'm not liking it at all. I'm glad this is the only programming class required for the math major. He also doesn't really seem like a teacher you can go to for help. He always seems irritated when we need help and talks really condescending to people. He also seems to be rushing the class because a few select people who have done programming before are moving way far ahead.

Seems like a typical 1st year computer science course at most schools. Some of the best CS people I knew couldn't stand it, dropped out of comp-sci in their 1st year t study math. They have great success nailing those top-paying CS jobs where their former-classmates couldn't hack it. Apparently, that piece of paper isn't an entitlement~~~

If you like math, you may enjoy theoretical CS. Here's some interesting bathroom reads:
Introduction to Algorithms
Introduction to the Theory of Computation

DeckOneBell

United States526 Posts

October 16 2010 19:02 GMT

#14

Early CS is just learning the languages, usually Java or C++ since those tend to be good languages to start with, easy, and fairly intuitive. If you continue with it (which it sounds like you won't, which is alright, I'm just telling you this) you get into more things that are more difficult requiring more knowledge on your part, like data structures and recursion. Also, the programs get longer and harder to do, and more of the program is left up to you to figure out.

Then you get to take courses more about the specific parts of CS you're interested in, cool stuff.

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