Quote:
Originally Posted by Botnst
Suddenly it clicked in physics class. I had a natural epiphany and I could finally solve complex problems. Damned if I can explain it. After physics I took linear algebra and DE. Difficult courses, but I UNDERSTOOD. Amazing difference. Inexplicable to this day.
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It is a bizarre phenomenon but not unusual I think. At my school we have literally dozens upon dozens of remedial math courses and the statistics concerning their success are about as dismal as can be imagined. I think it's less than 3% of the students who start at the lowest level ever earn a degree or certificate. In my view, one of the problems is that the measure of success and the focus of attention in almost all basic math courses is not that epiphany but the ability to perform routine operations.
My wife had that epiphany when she went back to school to get her educators license and had to take a Math education class which are often terrible classes. The teacher simply posed about 7 problems and told the class the students will spend the semester solving them. They had to develop the solutions themselves. They were not going to be taught the solutions.
Math really must be approached like Zen.