Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Race on November 28, 2008, 01:30:24 PM
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Any tips for learning calculus on your own in six weeks? I am trying to take the CLEP (credit by examination) test for calculus. If I can pass it will take a year or more off my schedule. Needless to say its a big deal for me. I am pretty strong in Algebra and Trig but never touched calculus. (Hey at least I wont have to unlearn anything.) I bought the exam guide for the test so I know what questions are going to be on the test. Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering major if you were curious....what are these jet thingies?
:D
Race
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you may be able to pass the clep in 6 weeks, but you won't learn calc. Especially if integrals are involved. Do you really want to shortcut around one of your most important fundamental classes in an engineering degree? I'd bet it will come back to haunt you later.
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I CLEP'd a whole bunch of english courses ~ but it was because I already knew the fundamentals of each course. For a calculus course, I'd take the course & not CLEP the thing if you don't already have a good grasp of it.
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I can see where your coming from on this and probly should have been more specific. There are 4 calculus classes that I have to take to move on to USF. Calc I,II and III along with Differiental Equations. The CLEP will be for Calculus I and II so I will still have two more to go. The real issue is I cant start physics (a series of two classes) until Calc II is passed. I dont want to take this test for some of the reasons you brought up. On the other hand taking 2 and half years of classes for a minor on top of 3 years for the major is just not likely to happen. Even if I CLEP non-critical courses it leaves me in the same bind. I figured IF I passed that would still leave me two classes to actually learn the nuts and bolts so to speak.
CLEP Test:5% Limits, 55% DIfferential Calculus, and 45% Intergral Calculus
Race
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http://www.mathtutor.ac.uk/viewdisks.php (http://www.mathtutor.ac.uk/viewdisks.php)
This might help you, I've used it a few times. Good luck :aok
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Yossarian,
Thanks for the link....looks promising!
Race
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Good luck! :aok
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Well, I don't recommend it, but if you are bent on doing it. I would suggest going to a College bookstore, finding the Calc books they use, the go to publisher and see if they have an interactive version. That is the book comes with disks that follow along with book and give visible examples. The book the college uses may have optional disk that can be baught to go with it. This will help if you are a visual learner.
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You normally get the "nuts and bolts" of a subject in the base classes for it, not the advanced classes. I'd be leery about taking the shortcut as well. I share the thought that it may well come back and bite you later.
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I would definately not recommend CLEP'ing calculus unless you are extemely proficient and have a photographic memory.
Calc is one of your base courses in all advanced degrees.
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I'd take the class.
When I went to school, Calc I was derivatives, II was integrals, and III was multivariable I & II.
If you are planning on Aerospace engineering, I would certainly take the classes - you will use Calc a lot and it would be wise to have a solid understanding of it.
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I say take the easy way out, as a matter of fact take as many short cuts as you can. Engineers don't really need to know all that stuff.
The computers will do all the hard work for you anyway. Shees it's not like it's rocket science or anything.
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I learned it in two weeks, but my university had a free tutoring service and my mother is a math professor
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I can see where your coming from on this and probly should have been more specific. There are 4 calculus classes that I have to take to move on to USF. Calc I,II and III along with Differiental Equations. The CLEP will be for Calculus I and II so I will still have two more to go. The real issue is I cant start physics (a series of two classes) until Calc II is passed. I dont want to take this test for some of the reasons you brought up. On the other hand taking 2 and half years of classes for a minor on top of 3 years for the major is just not likely to happen. Even if I CLEP non-critical courses it leaves me in the same bind. I figured IF I passed that would still leave me two classes to actually learn the nuts and bolts so to speak.
CLEP Test:5% Limits, 55% DIfferential Calculus, and 45% Intergral Calculus
Race
:salute I flunked Calculus twice at USF! Once in '77, once in '78 (finally passed it in '95)
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So far Ive only spent about a solid day studying and the good news it makes sense. To be honest it looks alot like trig where its easy once you know it. Some of you act like I wont even be learning calculus tho. My physics class is going to included alot of calculus and there are still 2 more calculus classes. Truth be told I had considered taking the test and if I passed taking calculus anyway. It would be the best of both worlds if the registar office would let me but it wouldnt mean extra credits tho.
Race
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It can't hurt to try, but depending on how thorough the exam is, I'd have to say you don't stand greater than 50/50 chances of (barely) passing a test that's almost half and half calc 2 and 3. The comments that you cant neglect calc for your career are true, but it wont actualy come back to bite you in the bellybutton if you carry the momentum you take into the test and 'finish' studying these topics over the next 3-6 months.
Go for it, but don't bet anything important on it.. For the physics class, if you really are serious about it and not just trying to find shortcuts, you can probably get by with just passing or knowing Calc 1, and taking calc 2 at the same time as the first physics class. You'd most likely have to talk to the teacher and effortlessly show him you've done the homework and deserve in. If you can truly integrate (no pun) the conceptual understanding of Calc1 and know it and everything it implies like the back of your hand, youve done the hard part.. Calc2 is more of the same IMO. Diff EQ isnt that hard at all once you've waded thru the conceptual obstacles in the calc classes.
I say go for it.. You cant push back your limits till you find em. IMO youll be a lot better off trying it, even if you fail the exam itself.
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I say take the easy way out, as a matter of fact take as many short cuts as you can. Engineers don't really need to know all that stuff.
The computers will do all the hard work for you anyway. Shees it's not like it's rocket science or anything.
so so wrong. you absolutely do not want to take a short cut on calculus - without being able to differentiate as second nature you'll struggle with a huge chunk of the engineering solutions you'll use every day. integration to a lesser degree IIRC, just as well because diff is mostly proceedural and integration requires some math intuition.
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Goin to USF race? Very nice i live across the bay, where you going now SPC?
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MCC (Manatee Community College) in Bradenton which is only 20 minutes south of SPC......well with me driving anyway. I share Moot's opinion that while its a slim chance the reward is worth it. If I were to take the test, pass and be done with calculus I might feel like different. Since I havent taken a math class (of any kind) in a long time a little bit of reviewing has been needed. Holmes I think SIK1 was being very sarcastic....internet humor. Math used to be my best subject so we shall see.
Race
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very cool bradenton is close by, I'd say do your best USF is a cool school, gotten drunk there more than a couple times lol
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What me sarcastic?
Race the reason I said what I did is because my dad is an old school, slide rule, engineer. I've seen him catch mistakes that others have missed because he knows his stuff forward and backwards. Engineers can effect the lives of thousands of people by making one little mistake. So who do you want designing the next critical component?
Oh, he also completed the electrical engineering course in three years. Not bad considering he was a high school dropout.
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Well, Race, everyone is different. What works for you, may not work for me.
CLEPing Calculus would not have worked for me, though I am most certainly not a math person (which is why I got the BS and Master's in Biology). I got by it and Calc 2 in undergrad....and haven't wanted to ever go back. I honestly don't use calculus much, but use statistics pretty much daily. Thankfully, I never had to do anything past calc2 or else I'd certainly not be almost finished with my Post hole Digger.
But, if it works for you and you understand it.... go for it.
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doh missed the sarcasm :rolleyes:
I just remember the look on the faces of about half my 1st year engineering class when some calculus appeared on the whiteboard :uhoh. made me wonder if they'd chosen engineering because it was sciency but without all that difficult maths stuff. later in the year we lost about 10% of the class when fourier transforms appeared...
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Fourier Transform......I had to look that up. :uhoh It appears that they have dropped them from the syllabus. Checked 4 different classes for them and nothing. I personally feel alot of engineering as moved on from calculus to finite analysis. Thats not the first equation I have ran across that has been dropped from general teachings. For anything less than basic stress I feel progams like ProE are faster and more accurate. Not to say its not important but is like machining and G-Code.
Race
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hehe my mistake it was laplace transforms (for electronic circuit analysis). did alot of maths a long time ago, hard to remember which bits i've applied where :)
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Moray the context here is for him to pass this test. Not to build a whole career on 6 weeks of crash course. 6 weeks of cramming as a gateway to a 6 month reduction in his curiculum is worth it, if he keeps everything on track over the next 6 weeks + following semester.
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Moray the context here is for him to pass this test. Not to build a whole career on 6 weeks of crash course. 6 weeks of cramming as a gateway to a 6 month reduction in his curiculum is worth it, if he keeps everything on track over the next 6 weeks + following semester.
Exactly, which is why I said it may work for him, if he is really good. I wasn't great with Calculus, so it would not have been a good idea for me.