Chemistry at 3:45 a m

[rabid_bookwyrm]

"I suppose I can understand the math department's point, but at the same time, this is a teaching institution, and they aren't teaching." "Well, not teaching everyone." "Right. But they should be teaching everyone, and that's more important than their ivory-tower mathematical eugenics project, or whatever they've got going

Comments

[cupacoffey]

I agree. I think the fact that people regularly have to go to other colleges to take courses required for their major is horrible, not to mention blind to the monetary burden of doing so. Math is probably the subject that makes it most obvious that different people learn in different ways, so there should really be more types of approaches to the subject rather than less, if getting people to learn math is the goal.

[rabid_bookwyrm]

It's a shambles, and you're correct on all points. I'd be more vociferous if I weren't awake right now.

[flawlessnight]

Yeah...it's pretty despicable. When the most down-to-earth person in the department teaches like Wheeler, you know you've got a problem.

Also, I like the phrase "ivory-tower mathematical eugenics project". :)

I do kind of wonder whether they've got the same reasoning as the physics department - physics as a major is intentionally murderous because if they gave a normal workload etc. they'd so many thesising seniors every year they couldn't possibly deal. The math department is small and composed almost entirely of old men...

I mean, it's not a good reason to not teach their subject - I'd take a murderous workload over a methodology for which I have no affinity any day.

[flawlessnight]

The physics department does actually teach, with the exception of, say, Wheeler, who kind of effervesces up at the chalkboard and hopes you learn. Bless his soul, but it's true.

[rabid_bookwyrm]

Mr Powell has never taught a day in his life. He's pretended, and no one to him before it was too late. David, Darrell, and (I hear) Joel and John teach.

[flawlessnight]

Lucas teaches too!

Mary gets points for effort, she apparently tries to teach but isn't good at teaching a great bulk of people all at once, she's better one-on-one.

[threnody_kismet]

Ah math. Here we have to take math for engineers, which is shitty because a) it's a weeder class designed to fail out a percentage of the engineering program and there's no need to fail physics students, and b) even though the class is hard to get a good grade in the level of math taught is actually much lower than the math required in physics classes. There is "Math for Physicists" class but it is optional, and since the requirements for the major take us pretty well beyond the school's unit cap only the most desperate and dedicated physics nerds can take it and only if they take it on top of their 4 full classes a semester courseload. :(

[rabid_bookwyrm]

Lamesauce. Here we have only math for math majors, which is awful and theoretical and doesn't touch on actual numbers and what the actual math actually does to an actual equation. It's really, really terrible. And no one except the math majors and the theoretical phyicists do well, and it blows.