Physics Rant

[Nanon]

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Chat seems to be down (DAMMIT!) so I'll come here and bitch.

I actually like physics. But first semester I ended up with a bad professor, and now I have TWO mediocre profs for semester II. I will, by the end of my physics tour, have taught myself everything I'm going to know about physics.

I go to lecture, and they talk about theory, which is interesting - but I have yet to see an actual problem worked out on the board. Theory is only going to get me so far on the tests. So I go home, and spend HOURS reading what they tell me to read in the book - only to find out that the sections they told us we could skip are necessary to explaining what we're supposed to be reading. This info, for the most part, hasn't been covered in class. So then I spend MORE HOURS trying to figure it out. And then more hours trying to figure out how to do the homework.

And speaking of homework, it's all on-line, so I'm also trying to figure out how to use mathcad at the same time! 😡

On top of all of that, I have a comp. sci class that's using the same approach of "teach yourself! it's fun!" which means I'm spending more countless hours trying to figure out THE most annoying comp. lang. in the world - SCHEME! AHHHHH... it's only week 2, and I'm already behind!

HELP!!!!

Feeling guilty for even spending the time to post this...

Nanon

 

[AspiringDoctor9]

Hi Nanon,

I understand how you feel perfectly. Some of my physics classes were like that - it's largely self-taught. What you might wanna do is find some sample problems online, and see if you can figure out how those are worked out. I know my old physics textbook (by Serway and Jewett) had an online portion where they worked out problems for you and explained them step by step. That definately helped me, especially since we had online homework too (webassign). Have you tried this?

And yeah, sometimes science classes suck. When I took Physics II - we had 175 students in our class, only 17 got a B or higher. We were... angry, to say the least.

 

[Paws]

I too, had the 'teach yourself physics' kind of classes and would basically sit in class with a friendly smile on my face, so the prof would recognize me when it came time for my rec, but then I would spend ALL my other time doing the 65 problems in the back of the chapters.

This meant, that every chapter I would do every single problem at the end, and sometimes I would go back and do them again. I didn't really 'read' the chapter, except when I was stuck or before a test. I also worked with a tutor if I got stuck.

When I came to the tests I would come in and pretend it was another homework session and just crank thru the five or ten problems like I was at the library. Alot of them actually came from the back of the chapter problems.

So, the rule is: don't read the chapter, but DO all the problems ! If nothing else, your unconscious will be able to do the problems even if you get nervous because you will have done so many already. It's like playing the piano or learning to type - it should become automatic.

 

[Cerberus]

Far as i can tell most physics classes are taught in a teach yourself method. I am pretty bitter personally about my physics II grade (of course once I realized that even if I studied nonstop, read the book, did all the practice problems, and went to class he would still find some insanely difficult derivation problem I got a bit discouraged). My personal advice is this, go out and get study manuals and old physics books from the used book store and just go over the examples in the text. Remember, noncalc based physics largely doesnt make sense when you look at it because it is harder to understand why things happen.

 

[UCLAstudent]

Don't feel bad. Plenty of people have the same problem. I've basically taught myself everything I know about physics. My first quarter, I had a brand new professor who went through lots of derivations of formulas, which is all fine and dandy but does nothing to prepare you for a test. The second quarter was better; at least the professor was competent. 😉

 

[Nanon]

Thanks for the love, you guys. I usually study by not reading the book, just doing a million problems, but so far at least 4 topics assigned in the reading haven't really been touched on in lecture. That, and it's been about 4 years since I took calculus, so I'm kind of relearning that as I go along, too.

Happily, it occured to me last night that tutoring sessions through the campus organization I belong to will probably start next week. I think that will help a lot.

It doesn't help that I have a learning disability specifically in the processing of numbers, meaning I have difficulty tracking numbers in the same way that dyslexics have difficulty tracking letters and word. I also have a hard time with calculation. However, it seems to be better for me in Physics (and, weirdly, Statistics, too) because the problems are word problems that I can set up myself. Still, these kinds of courses always drive me a little batty. So thanks for listening to me whine...

OK, back to the grindstone...

Nanon