Non-trad struggling with Calculus 1- need advice

[Futuredoc0614]

Hi All,

So I just transferred to a new school (Florida Atlantic University) from a CC and am majoring in Neuroscience. I chose this major because I like psychology and human behavior and felt that I was missing this in a traditional bio major. Little did I know- this major is really tough at my school and requires calc 1 & 2, physics as well as Stats...My issue is I SUCK AT MATH!!.. long story but I just don't have a strong background in mathematics. I just failed my first quiz and feel like I may fail my first exam in calc 1.. I am juts not grasping the material. I have hired a tutr to helpo me prepare for this exam and still feel lost.. I really don't know what to do and if I will pass this class. My school requires a C or higher to continue onto calc 2.

I am also taking chem 1 and bio 1 at the same time... and doing okay there, but not as well as I would of liked because calc class is really bogging me down. What would you recommend I do?

Should I change my major to something that does not require so many math courses? I am 27 years old and am dead set on going to med school- I just don't have the luxury of retaking classes and wasting anymore years...Again- I am not trying to take the easy route here, but I am being realistic with my abilities, time and family commitments (have 2 kids).

Pleased send your thoughts and advice.

PS: my current GPA is 3.42

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[Dagrimsta1]

Hi All,

So I just transferred to a new school (Florida Atlantic University) from a CC and am majoring in Neuroscience. I chose this major because I like psychology and human behavior and felt that I was missing this in a traditional bio major. Little did I know- this major is really tough at my school and requires calc 1 & 2, physics as well as Stats...My issue is I SUCK AT MATH!!.. long story but I just don't have a strong background in mathematics. I just failed my first quiz and feel like I may fail my first exam in calc 1.. I am juts not grasping the material. I have hired a tutr to helpo me prepare for this exam and still feel lost.. I really don't know what to do and if I will pass this class. My school requires a C or higher to continue onto calc 2.

I am also taking chem 1 and bio 1 at the same time... and doing okay there, but not as well as I would of liked because calc class is really bogging me down. What would you recommend I do?

Should I change my major to something that does not require so many math courses? I am 27 years old and am dead set on going to med school- I just don't have the luxury of retaking classes and wasting anymore years...Again- I am not trying to take the easy route here, but I am being realistic with my abilities, time and family commitments (have 2 kids).

Pleased send your thoughts and advice.

PS: my current GPA is 3.42

Stats is trash, dumb easy with a moderate amount of work involved. Calc 1 is relatively easy (easier than trig/college math IMO) Idk about calc 2 tbh. Two of these courses can be self taught on Kahn. I got a B+ in calc with my prof being absent for about 60% of the semester. Calc 1 explains trig and gives you a good foundation. If you are really struggling than go on Kahn from video 1 on calc and work your way through. If that doesn't help you than i believe that it is your fault.

 

[Futuredoc0614]

Stats is trash, dumb easy with a moderate amount of work involved. Calc 1 is relatively easy (easier than trig/college math IMO) Idk about calc 2 tbh. Two of these courses can be self taught on Kahn. I got a B+ in calc with my prof being absent for about 60% of the semester. Calc 1 explains trig and gives you a good foundation. If you are really struggling than go on Kahn from video 1 on calc and work your way through. If that doesn't help you than i believe that it is your fault.

Sounds good. I know about Kahn and will def give it an honest try. MY biggest issue is that my prof has a VERY heavy eastern European accent and goes super fast.. I can't understand a thing. I think u r right..will need to teach myself.

 

[Dagrimsta1]

Sounds good. I know about Kahn and will def give it an honest try. MY biggest issue is that my prof has a VERY heavy eastern European accent and goes super fast.. I can't understand a thing. I think u r right..will need to teach myself.

I don't mean offense but you HAVE to learn to teach yourself. As knowledgeable as professors are and can get, their ability to successfully convey information isn't always innate. You'll be fine with Calculus. I also recommend trying to appreciate the course. People make careers from mathematics and for good reason. Once you learn how to manipulate those RIDICULOUS functions, they're actually pretty cool and powerful...

 

[edgerock24]

Sounds good. I know about Kahn and will def give it an honest try. MY biggest issue is that my prof has a VERY heavy eastern European accent and goes super fast.. I can't understand a thing. I think u r right..will need to teach myself.

This is your problem right here. You cannot rely on your professors to actually teach you anything. Most professors are terrible teachers. The students who receive low grades constantly blame the professor for not learning much. It's essential that you teach yourself everything.

As others stated, use Khan Academy. Another great resource is: http://www.freelance-teacher.com/videos.htm#CALCULUS

 

[lnguyen1412]

I think cal 1 is easy. Cal 2 is the hardest. So if you don't need to take it, then don't.

For resources, I used Khan academy and practice tons of problems from the book to get familiar with the formula and some critical thinking to solve the problems.

My professor from Jaimaica so most of the time I cannot hear what he's talking about, but I take note what important then go relearn it on my own.

 

[mrjbb]

Non trad here as well. Coming back and taking Chem and physics after being out of school for almost a decade was a bit challenging to say the least. I remembered certain things from college Algebra but I had to go back and review many things, especially trig for Physics.

I actually never took trig in high school, so I had to self teach myself a few things.

I mainly used a mixture of example driven websites and most of all, Khan Academy. Hell, I still use KA lol The main thing you should focus on is learning how to self teach. It's essential not only in college but from what I understand, Med school.

If you still can't get it after having a paid tutor, online resources and khan academy, then I suggest you go back and start with the fundamentals.

Remember, anything can be learned with enough practice. How are you even getting past physics and chemistry? Which these subjects heavily deal with conversions between the si system, metric units, etc...

If you give up on calc, you'd probably need to reconsider your major at that point.

 

[Futuredoc0614]

All great replies and I appreciate the constructive criticism and advice. Just to give you all an UPDATE: Took my first exam on Friday- failed it (not surprising).... It's funny because I always thought that I was very good at self-learning in general , but this semester has been a BIG reality check for me..Heck, it was a slap in the face and the biggest wake up call yet in my academic career. I need to re-focus myself and reevaluate how I am studying..

I feel as though I want to keep pressing on in the class and master the material on my own like many of you recommended... I want to conquer this mental block I have for math and overcome this challenge..

Thanks again for all of your advice and input!

 

[cptnjack]

khan academy and grind out practice problems, if you have questions use the tutoring at FAU, from what I remember they had a free tutoring service

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Non-trad math major here. My calc 1 prof was a middle eastern lady with a horrendous accent and zero interest in actually teaching. Started day one assuming we already knew how to integrate/differentiate. My calc 2 prof was way better and actually wanted to teach, which I'm glad, since I thought calc 2 was more difficult (it requires not only the memorization in calc 1, but the application of that knowledge to novel problems). I taught myself calc 3 completely, as I took this course while active duty (as well as the rest of my degree).

I relied heavily on Khan Academy for calc 1, but I used Paul's Online Math Notes for calc 2 (http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/Classes/CalcII/CalcII.aspx) and calc 3. He also has good notes for calc 1 (http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/Classes/CalcI/CalcI.aspx).

The way to learn math is to do two things: figure out how you learn best (eg, I learn visually, so making pictures and mind maps worked great for me), and find a way to make everything concrete (eg, find something you can relate the concepts to). Also, they may not require it in the course, but going through the proofs for why the different rules are true can really solidify it because it shows you what is going on from a mathematical perspective (eg, prove the power rule using the definition of limits).

Feel free to pm me if you have any questions.

Edited to add: found a page that does a pretty good job of giving and example of making the calc topics concrete. This topic first discusses finding the volume of solids of revolution and then gives some practical examples (like finding the volume of a wine cask). It also has other calculus topics you can look through.

http://m.intmath.com/applications-integration/4-volume-solid-revolution.php

 

[Futuredoc0614]

Non-trad math major here. My calc 1 prof was a middle eastern lady with a horrendous accent and zero interest in actually teaching. Started day one assuming we already knew how to integrate/differentiate. My calc 2 prof was way better and actually wanted to teach, which I'm glad, since I thought calc 2 was more difficult (it requires not only the memorization in calc 1, but the application of that knowledge to novel problems). I taught myself calc 3 completely, as I took this course while active duty (as well as the rest of my degree).

I relied heavily on Khan Academy for calc 1, but I used Paul's Online Math Notes for calc 2 (http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/Classes/CalcII/CalcII.aspx) and calc 3. He also has good notes for calc 1 (http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/Classes/CalcI/CalcI.aspx).

The way to learn math is to do two things: figure out how you learn best (eg, I learn visually, so making pictures and mind maps worked great for me), and find a way to make everything concrete (eg, find something you can relate the concepts to). Also, they may not require it in the course, but going through the proofs for why the different rules are true can really solidify it because it shows you what is going on from a mathematical perspective (eg, prove the power rule using the definition of limits).

Feel free to pm me if you have any questions.

Edited to add: found a page that does a pretty good job of giving and example of making the calc topics concrete. This topic first discusses finding the volume of solids of revolution and then gives some practical examples (like finding the volume of a wine cask). It also has other calculus topics you can look through.

http://m.intmath.com/applications-integration/4-volume-solid-revolution.php

Thank you for taking the time to reply to me and for providing these resources. I have already begun learning calc 1 from scratch from khan academy-so far so good!!

Do you know of a good online resource for practice problems?

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Thank you for taking the time to reply to me and for providing these resources. I have already begun learning calc 1 from scratch from khan academy-so far so good!!

Do you know of a good online resource for practice problems?

Paul to the rescue again.

http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/Problems/CalcI/CalcI.aspx

 

[velodork]

Three words: algebra based physics

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Three words: algebra based physics

Well, he's taking calc, I assume, because it's required for his degree. Also, while algebra is generally fine to learn the fundamentals of physics, it requires some faking of the calculus concepts involved, and the whole thing becomes a bit disjointed.

Calc 1 is not difficult if you break it down into concrete ideas, and it helps makes the physics much more continuous (no pun intended).

 

[Noxy]

From what I remember, neuro and bio degrees were only different by a few classes..and you did not need calc 2 or that statistic lab required for the degree..you could just persue bachelor of science in Bio and take the interesting behavior and psych classes as your upper level electives. Thats what I did because I too originally wanted to be a neuroscience major when I first attended FAU. I myself wanted to take Calc 2 but since I have 2 kids myself I needed to graduate ASAP. PM me if you have any questions!