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Warning: This is going to be a long rant.
I've never had such a difficult class in my life until this year. That class is AP Calculus BC. This class is seriously testing my sanity and my patience. I know that what I learn in high school is nothing compared to the work in college, but the way this teacher instructs the course makes this class seem like a college course in every aspect. Every single day, I feel like this is the only class that I actually have to try better than my best, if that's even possible. Here's the situation.
Math has been one of my strongest classes since middle school. In every single math class, I have never received anything lower than an A- for my final average. I remember explicitly being able to open a book in my Algebra II class, stare at the material for five minutes, and be able to ace the exam the next day. I never came to question my talent in Math until last year when I took the Pre-Calc course that my current Calc teacher taught last year. But even in that course, when Math began to get hard for me, I managed to maintain a high B+ average for my final average, which is not bad at all.
I currently have a flat C as my average. This comes to me as more of a shock than I could expect not because I was always strong in Math (well before technically), but because I am getting these poor grades even after I study my ass off. For the last three tests, I have literally studied 7 hours for each. You might question my study methods for these tests, but I honestly don't see any problem with them. What I did was read through the chapters being covered thoroughly, making sure I understand the material. Then I would proceed to solve all the problems in the chapter that I would be able to check my answers for in the back of the book. I would even solve the problems in the Chapter Review, the cumulative review of the chapter. Even when these meticulous study methods failed me on these tests, I would go to my teacher for extra help after school and ask him specific questions and for help. But even that would not help me as much. These days, I'm really happy if I would get a B on my test as even that's really hard for me now.
What really makes all of this even more frustrating is that there's a student who sits next to me who seems to just completely dominate this class. For this semester alone, he has been able to score an A+ on nearly 85% of the total number of tests, which really surprises me. When the whole class is struggling just like me and he manages to receive these scores through less extensive methods than mine, I get really frustrated and discouraged.
I know that it's only one class, but this class really means a lot to me. Now that I realize that the material in Calculus is relatively difficult, I really want to receive a 5 on the upcoming AP exam in May, but that goal really seems far-off considering the current test scores I am receiving. Additionally, when I asked my teacher to recommend me for college, he doubted I would be able to be accepted at my top choice college.
Now that I was accepted by+ Show Spoiler +, he's still doubting whether I truly belong in the class and that I could get an A- as my final average. I want to succeed in this class to truly prove to him that I belong in the class and am capable of more than what he expects from me. But my poor grades are really discouraging me and I really don't know how I can improve my grade. It seems like my current methods are the best ways to study for my teacher's tests and yet I'm not receiving results. What should I do? How should I improve my study methods? How can I work harder to get an A- for this class?
 
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You jumped from Pre-calc to Calculus BC? Don't you need to do AB?
To be honest....Calculus is just a new subject to a lot of people. I'm not surprised that you find the jump from Pre-Calc to BC challenging.
I think what's really going to help is that you stop focusing on what you've focused on before. You talk about meticulous study habits and methods....and to be honest...while Calculus needs lots of practice and studying, a better way to approach Calculus is to understand the concept in general.
Derivatives, integrals, volume rotation and what they're meant to solve are much more important then understanding the actual equations and the actual formulas. Because a lot of times, understanding the concepts gives you a more perceptive interpretation of formulas.
I'm in AP Calc BC right now actually....so I guess I have some say.
Good job w/ Cornell!
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Well it sounds like you should go see your teacher. If you are able to do the practice questions you should be able to do the real questions just fine. Somethings wrong.
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Well first of all, grats on getting into Cornell!
BC Calc is nothing terribly hard, at this point in the year you should probably be doing integral still, right? If you don't understand what's going on, make sure you talk to your teacher... A LOT. If you can understand the reasoning behind derivatives and integrals, you're fine (until sequences and series, nobody really gets that).
I took AB Calc in sophomore year high school, took the BC test and got a 5. I think I answered only half of the open ended questions. A 65~70% or higher on the BC test will land you a 5.
On December 17 2010 08:13 Zergneedsfood wrote:
You jumped from Pre-calc to Calculus BC? Don't you need to do AB?
No, BC is everything in AB + some extras.
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Is it that your teacher asks questions which are confusing for you, or that the questions are incongruous with how the material is presented in the book? When (if?) you review your tests afterwards, are you able to see where you went wrong? Just for example, my girlfriend in high school got a C- in our Physics class, but managed a 4 on the AP exam. Sometimes people just don't match up well with the didactic methods of their instructors.
And chill out overall, dude. High schoolers tend to think high school is more important than it is. You're already into Cornell; it's not like people are going refuse to sit with you at lunch when you get there because you got a C on your transcript.
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I have a gift for you my friend.
Calculus is different from other Math subjects, because of the unusual nature of things like integration, derivatives, limits, differentiation, etc. You need an excellent teacher to help you "get" calculus.
I failed my first calc class because the teacher was bad. Then I used this to ace it the second time:
http://www.math.temple.edu/~cow/
Choose a book, choose a chapter, choose a subject. A calc problem will be presented. Click the help button, and a wonderfully succinct explanation of the subject will be shown.
It covers everything and it's easy to understand.
You're welcome. =)
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Calculus is a class where understanding where to apply what concept is critical - if you find yourself staring at problems with no clue where to go next I would recommend finding a tutor to help you. If you think you have a decent understanding of the concepts, but you are hazy on the application, I would search for alternative study materials. Different students grasp concepts in different ways, and if your teacher's lectures and your textbook aren't doing it for you then you should look elsewhere.
There are many AP Review books that you can check out at your local library (Don't worry if it's not the newest edition), on top of that there are plenty of online materials like Paul's Online Math Notes. The college equivalent of AP Calc BC would be Calculus I and some of the concepts in Calculus II, such as series.
Good luck
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Well if you understand the material and are able to solve all the practice problems, you should be doing fine on the tests. What is particularly difficult for you on the tests? In my experience, understanding the material is the most difficult part and after that you can basically solve any problem. Don't worry too much about the AP exam, as it is much easier than people expect.
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On December 17 2010 08:22 Laconic wrote:
Is it that your teacher asks questions which are confusing for you, or that the questions are incongruous with how the material is presented in the book? When (if?) you review your tests afterwards, are you able to see where you went wrong? Just for example, my girlfriend in high school got a C- in our Physics class, but managed a 4 on the AP exam. Sometimes people just don't match up well with the didactic methods of their instructors.
The teacher asks questions on the test that are a lot more advanced than the questions that the book provides. I know that there will be some challenges on the test, but the teacher asks challenging questions for like every single problem lol.
On December 17 2010 08:22 Laconic wrote:And chill out overall, dude. High schoolers tend to think high school is more important than it is. You're already into Cornell; it's not like people are going refuse to sit with you at lunch when you get there because you got a C on your transcript.
Out of all of my high school classes that I already stopped caring about, this class is the only one I care about for the reasons I stated in my last paragraph. This class is mostly a test for me and for my teacher, not about me freaking out over my grades. That time is gone now that I've been accepted.
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What are you getting points off on for on your tests?
The same thing happened to me for BC Calc when I took it 2 years ago because I kept forgetting to label my graphs or explain what I used to get my answer e.g. Not showing that L'Hopitals applied to that limit, not labeling the test/theorem I was using. I would get pretty much all the answers correct, but the teacher couldn't follow my work easily, and at least at my high school, for a ~10 point problem, 1 point was for the answer, 9 was for explaining the method and showing my work.
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It sounds like you can bake the cookies with a recipe but not without. Try to envision the hard problems that will be on the test and do those for practice. If you can't envision them, ask the teacher for sample hard problems to practice with.
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Dude, I'm in the exact same boat  . I ended up with a B- for first quarter and probably won't go above a B for this quarter. I've heard from people that it gets better as the year goes on, though, and it certainly seems that way. Volume by integration is pretty easy.
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I like HowitZers advice : if you feel kind of overwhelmed by the more difficult questions in the test, try to get some of the same difficulty degree beforehand, so that you can prepare better. My girlfriend´s math teacher did this in the last years of school with them actually, every homework consisted of the most difficult final test questions to that topic that he could find. Everyone in the class who got the homework done somehow was just laughing at the final tests, because the questions there were actually easier than anything they did before. It really helps to prepare for the most difficult stuff that he could come up with.
Finally :If you have any real difficulties to understand a problem, and your teacher won´t help you and you don´t find anybody who could explain it to you, feel free to PM me. I´m pretty confident that i should be able to explain it (math student for 4 years, going to be a teacher myself)
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I am currently undergoing a similar situation as you. As an intelligent person, math is easy because it is based off of a few simple rules. However, now in college this has actually hurt me. No amount of intelligence can help with study and anti procrastination habits. This stuff instead of being intuitive is now slightly complex and cumulative. By the time the end of the course comes around there are complexities layered on three different complexities. I have come to understand that nobody is intelligent enough to just look at a piece of paper and never have to study it again. Sure, one will know the "facts" but one won't know how to use them and wont be able to reliably use them in question with complex interactions. By doing lots of homework, this math should become second nature. Something one just knows as a fact of life. The complex interactions should be as clear as day.
I recently heard a someone say something very interesting. "One has to learn how to enjoy anything. Hockey, for example, was taught to many children to be a fun activity and sport. If effort is put into making things like math easy and fun, and it is made into a habit, it can also be fun."
Now that I understand why I am only getting 60-70% in my classes I can work to remedy my massive TL and procrastination addiction. My motivation, which was previously very little, is now to not embarrass myself by doing as bad I did my first term. Now, I can finally learn how to learn.
Also: http://patrickjmt.com/ is a great website if the teacher isn't very good.
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Korea (South)1897 Posts
It sounds like your teacher is trying to give you some 'hard love' to maybe try to prepare you for when your natural abilities won't be enough and you will have to really study hard.
1. Don't lose your confidence over this, you've gotten into a great university.
2. It's good that you are looking for ways to study harder/more efficiently/effectively
The fact is, university is considerably harder, especially for those who were naturally smarter not to learn 'how to study', this kills them in university as they spend their first year trying to figure out, how to study when everything was simply obvious to them before.
1. Don't assume the guy that does better than you doesn't have a private tutor
2. Studying the material every day as if there was a pop quiz the next day, is probably the best way to study in the case of something like math; because when you write the actual exam, it needs to be purely mechanical, meaning that you have no further questions about the concepts, if you are still iffy about certain things, then you are still learning while trying to execute the mechanics and for an exam that is gg. You should be spending at least 2 hours every night studying the days material and then another 1 hour reviewing the previous ones. Of course this is for the subjects that you are simply not performing it, you can't do this for every subject. Then when you do study your 7 hours for the exam, its all mechanics practice, cause you already fully understand the concepts. Then get a good nights rest so your mind is sharp.
When it exam time, its just a mechanical process, sit down, see the question, you know the calculus behind the question, do it, then don't screw up the algebra to work out the question and done; then you should 100% finish early, then you review and redo each question as much as time allows so that you don't lose marks for just careless calculations.
What smart people don't ever learn when learning how to learn is that for an exam there is the learning and the practicing of the mechanics for testing. Normally you learn so fast, that you don't realize that there was something to learn and your studying is just really practicing your mechanics. But when the material is now not instantaneousness learnt, your studying style would be to simultaneousness try to practice the mechanics while still learning the concepts: you can't apply or practice properly what you don't fully understand, that is why your performance under a test situation won't be good, ever.
Cheers ^^
ps. took calc in university in 1994, A ^^ but had a A- in high school, I must have studied calc about 3 hours every day in my last semester of my senior year.
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EPT
