Fresh out of class
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...I wrote a quick post a few days ago about how I really respect instructors that are able to push a student, which some of you may not already know that I have been involved in such a class. The instructor is known for having extremely difficult exams and tons of homework as well as being fast, blazing through material at a pace that would make the oxen in my wagon train catch pneumonia. I am proud to say that not only did I get through the class but that I got through it having learned far more than I had expected.
Our final was moved to Monday morning and I assure you, he pulled no punches. A group final the likes of which no one in the class (12 students made it to the end mind you…) knew how to solve. Of the twelve students, we worked in assorted groups initially; it was rather obvious that things needed to be reworked. After an hour on problem 1, we came together as one large group and we eventually concluded that we were all dumb asses and that is when things got screwy.
All told, the two hour final proved that we all needed to continue forward in math because of the twelve of us collaborating on the four problems none of us got a single problem completely correct. It is sad, yes, but he may have engineered it that way.
Posted on March 25th, 2008 by Bob in Inspiration
Mad Minute
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...When I was in elementary school we had a great task every day, before our math began where we were given a chart with numbers along the left and top, in random order, and a large white square on the top left corner. Our teacher would go up to the front of the class after handing these out and smile, toying with our soft grey matter and waiting for the first of us to ask the obvious question… What is the symbol for today?!
In a fit of joy we would all look up at the clock and saliva would pool as the clock approached the top of its rotation. The symbol would be unveiled and pencil shavings would fly. A snap would be heard on the far end of the class as a student would push far too hard on his pressed wood stick with lead in its core, and tears would stream as he realized he was not going to be able to finish today.
The clock would always slow when it got to the top of its rotation the second time and a hurried rush of blood would slam into every students arm as they would slam their answers and hopes onto this paper. Sixty seconds of craziness, 144 squares filled in, and thirty-two students were sweating (two crying as they made their ways back to their desks from having to resharpen the stubs that they dared call pencils. No stars for you. In fact, bring on the detention!). These fantastic spurts into the bowels of mathematics in third grade spanned all types and were justly termed Mad Minutes.
I bring to you, a reasonable facsimile. Enjoy.
Give random a try -> my results:
Percentage: 95% out of 64 attempted in 60 seconds
Anyone who can get 100% and more than 70 attempts in 60 seconds is up for a medal, and will get honorable mention.
Mad Minute Mathematics Tester (4.1 KiB, 4 hits)
Posted on January 2nd, 2008 by Bob in Random
Dangerous Knowledge
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...How big is infinity?
Posted on December 9th, 2007 by Bob in Inspiration, Misc. Video
Calculating SSE in a TI-84 Calculator
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...these days much of mathematics comes down to how well you know your calculator. Calculators are by far the greatest invention to come into my life. As many of you have already found out… It’s why I am what I am now. Statistical analysis is a pretty broad topic, covering things from standard deviation to sums to todays topic, SSE. Given a plot of data (x,y), the SSE stands for the Sum of the Squares of the Error, and they represent the failure of a given line to fit that data. If you jump into Excel or some other graphing utility and plot a series of data you may see a pattern emerge. Most utilities provide a method to find a line that fits the data (usually in the linear mx + b format), and you will obviously use this form today.
Lets get started…
Posted on October 9th, 2007 by Bob in Application Development
When things get small…
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Posted on January 20th, 2007 by Bob in Gneu Website, Misc. Video