Getting really tired of the Humanities Vs. STEM stuff..

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Dantac
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05 Mar 2013, 11:10 pm

rabbittss wrote:
So right now i'm taking one of my two required science classes to finish up my core courses. I feel it's a very good thing to be well rounded in your courses and I was actually kind of excited to take the class. It's environmental science and since we all live in the environment it made it feel relevant to my major.

But, I think my teacher is being very unfair in the class. He's requiring us to use a lot of mathematics even though this is supposed to be a class for studying the environment.. and when questioned about it simply says "well you should already know this".. I met my schools mathematics requirement by taking a "Mathematical Modeling" class, and the stuff he's wanting us to do simply wasn't covered in it. I never took any highschool math beyond algebra either. For one thing once he found out I was a History major he's been constantly pressuring me to swap majors to "Something that can make money" even though I have no interest in ANY type of science or anything involving Mathematics beyond addition and subtraction.

I'm also really frustrated by the constant nagging whenever I talk to the academic advisers or financial aid officers.. they seem convinced that the ONLY options are always "swap majors to a STEM field" even though I've tried, very patiently, to explain to them over and over again, that that would simply result in me flunking out of school. I barely passed my remedial math classes to get INTO school, let alone taking more advanced material when I have such a shaky foundation to begin with. As a Humanities major I have a nearly perfect GPA, I have a single bad grade, in a math Class, which is pulling my gpa down.. but English, History, Religions, Philosophy, German, Anthropology, Geography, and Sociology.. in all of those classes I have A's across the board. even in Statistics I have a good grade. Why do they want me to swap to something which I will struggle and eventually destroy my gpa with? Is it that they want me to flunk out of school?

I realize that there is more money to be made being an engineer than a historian.. but I'd be a TERRIBLE engineer if I even managed to graduate.. isn't it better to be a graduated History major with a 3.8gpa than a flunked out Engineering major with a 1.9?


Universities are lining up to get federal money by increasing their STEM grads output. Its a really pathetic thing to see.

History as a major is a bit limiting when it comes to employment so I do give a little credit to your proff. in mentioning something along those lines but he should not be pressuring you to change major at all.

You can do a double major however. For example, history major with anthropology major can lead you into a masters in historical archaeology/linguistics or into cultural resource management jobs.

Like you, math is my achilles heel. I'm graduating this semester with near perfect GPA ...A+ in all classes except my three miserable C's in math.



rabbittss
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06 Mar 2013, 1:20 am

Well I actually have A's in two of my 3 math classes.. College Algebra is a big fat F but Mathematical Modeling and Statistics are both A's.. cause they have to do with concrete data sets and I really do well at them..


Anthropology is already my minor, with a certificate in Medieval Studies.

But if I thought I could get past Algebra/Calc I'd love to do the Geographic Information Systems stuff.. but right now I'm more focused on finishing my BA with as high of a GPA as possible cause I really want to try and go to gradschool in the UK and I need at least a 2:1 which translates into an American 3.5 to qualify for most of their programs..



DVCal
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08 Mar 2013, 10:25 am

rabbittss wrote:
Well I actually have A's in two of my 3 math classes.. College Algebra is a big fat F but Mathematical Modeling and Statistics are both A's.. cause they have to do with concrete data sets and I really do well at them..


Anthropology is already my minor, with a certificate in Medieval Studies.

But if I thought I could get past Algebra/Calc I'd love to do the Geographic Information Systems stuff.. but right now I'm more focused on finishing my BA with as high of a GPA as possible cause I really want to try and go to gradschool in the UK and I need at least a 2:1 which translates into an American 3.5 to qualify for most of their programs..


You should know what you took was a class in elementary statistics, the most basic of statistics classes, higher level statistics require a strong understanding of much higher level math.



rabbittss
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08 Mar 2013, 4:12 pm

DVCal wrote:
rabbittss wrote:
Well I actually have A's in two of my 3 math classes.. College Algebra is a big fat F but Mathematical Modeling and Statistics are both A's.. cause they have to do with concrete data sets and I really do well at them..


Anthropology is already my minor, with a certificate in Medieval Studies.

But if I thought I could get past Algebra/Calc I'd love to do the Geographic Information Systems stuff.. but right now I'm more focused on finishing my BA with as high of a GPA as possible cause I really want to try and go to gradschool in the UK and I need at least a 2:1 which translates into an American 3.5 to qualify for most of their programs..


You should know what you took was a class in elementary statistics, the most basic of statistics classes, higher level statistics require a strong understanding of much higher level math.


Which doesn't matter one bit, since it qualifies my math requirements..



fueledbycoffee
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08 Mar 2013, 5:02 pm

Hi.

First, it was not your professor's job whatsoever to criticize your choice of major. I'm shocked that even at a community college that would stand. I attend a community college myself, and I recently switched to Biology from PoliSci, not because anyone pressured me, but because I'm passionate about science. I've had a lot of difficulty myself with the math of it all. My science classes are not so bad, they use basic calculations, but as an older student, my math reqs are a nightmare. Math was my Achille's Heel in HS, and while I've gotten much better at it, I'm still behind my younger peers. I never took anything beyond Algebra (And got a 65% in that), and some of my classmates took Calculus in HS! It can be rough.

I can't imagine why Environmental Science would have such difficult math. Even Chemistry has fairly basic calculations (D=M/V, etc.), just with really big or really small numbers. What sort of things is your teacher asking for? Most of the classes I'm taking required that I pass a specific course that would teach me the basics I needed.

Also, he you said that he tells you what to do and goes and sits in the front of the class? That's the worst. Have you tried flagging him down and asking him for advice on specific problems? If he refuses to help you, then I would talk to an advisor about what to do. You also might be able to get a tutor, if you are so inclined.



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08 Mar 2013, 6:08 pm

Well it's basically that I only understand about 65%-70% of pre-algebra level material. I BARELY passed those classes, and failed college Algebra.

He simply expects us to know that material, and I just don't know enough of it.

Generally speaking if it's in the % of material I understand, I can do it without any particular problem.. but sometimes he throws stuff at us, like that formula you posted, which I don't know.

I've tried to flag him down, but generally it's simply met with "You should know this" or "How can you nearly be a junior and not know this?" or "This is simple college algebra, you need to know this".. and then proceeds not to teach me since.. he's an Environmental science teacher and not a math teacher and continues to place the onus on me to "Already know this material".. It's not just him though, but the lab book itself that presents this attitude, constantly making references like "If you recall from basic college algebra..." or some other such lines.. when I clearly don't since I failed that class but passed a class the school system considers equivalent.



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08 Mar 2013, 6:24 pm

rabbittss wrote:
Well it's basically that I only understand about 65%-70% of pre-algebra level material. I BARELY passed those classes, and failed college Algebra.

He simply expects us to know that material, and I just don't know enough of it.

Generally speaking if it's in the % of material I understand, I can do it without any particular problem.. but sometimes he throws stuff at us, like that formula you posted, which I don't know.

I've tried to flag him down, but generally it's simply met with "You should know this" or "How can you nearly be a junior and not know this?" or "This is simple college algebra, you need to know this".. and then proceeds not to teach me since.. he's an Environmental science teacher and not a math teacher and continues to place the onus on me to "Already know this material".. It's not just him though, but the lab book itself that presents this attitude, constantly making references like "If you recall from basic college algebra..." or some other such lines.. when I clearly don't since I failed that class but passed a class the school system considers equivalent.
Do you still have the book for college algebra?



fueledbycoffee
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08 Mar 2013, 6:38 pm

rabbittss wrote:
I've tried to flag him down, but generally it's simply met with "You should know this" or "How can you nearly be a junior and not know this?" or "This is simple college algebra, you need to know this".. and then proceeds not to teach me since.. he's an Environmental science teacher and not a math teacher and continues to place the onus on me to "Already know this material".. It's not just him though, but the lab book itself that presents this attitude, constantly making references like "If you recall from basic college algebra..." or some other such lines.. when I clearly don't since I failed that class but passed a class the school system considers equivalent.


That's ridiculous. Yes, he's an environmental science teacher. That means that it's his job to teach you his subject, which means bringing you up to speed! I really would talk to an advisor or his supervisor about it. Especially his "How can you be nearly a junior and not know this?", if he made a comment like that. That sort of demeaning tone is disgusting. He's clearly unfit to be a teacher with that attitude. He needs to adapt to the needs of his students, not just show up, supervise, and collect a salary!

Sorry, I've had my share of bad teachers (Which is why I've only just switched to Biology. I love it, but certain teachers convinced me that it was beyond my abilities), so this kind of thing really irks me.

As I said, I'm not amazing at math, but I'm pretty good at science subjects, so if you want to PM me with something you don't understand, I can try to help, if you're comfortable with that.



rabbittss
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08 Mar 2013, 7:22 pm

ianorlin wrote:
rabbittss wrote:
Well it's basically that I only understand about 65%-70% of pre-algebra level material. I BARELY passed those classes, and failed college Algebra.

He simply expects us to know that material, and I just don't know enough of it.

Generally speaking if it's in the % of material I understand, I can do it without any particular problem.. but sometimes he throws stuff at us, like that formula you posted, which I don't know.

I've tried to flag him down, but generally it's simply met with "You should know this" or "How can you nearly be a junior and not know this?" or "This is simple college algebra, you need to know this".. and then proceeds not to teach me since.. he's an Environmental science teacher and not a math teacher and continues to place the onus on me to "Already know this material".. It's not just him though, but the lab book itself that presents this attitude, constantly making references like "If you recall from basic college algebra..." or some other such lines.. when I clearly don't since I failed that class but passed a class the school system considers equivalent.
Do you still have the book for college algebra?


Not it cost nearly 150 so I had to sell it after I failed the class.



DVCal
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08 Mar 2013, 10:29 pm

I do no understand how people who have passed secondary school, could be placed into a remedial math class like "College Algebra", so shameful the number of students who must take this type of class in college or uni.

Do people who fail to test into a real college level math class such as Calculus feel embarrassed?



rabbittss
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08 Mar 2013, 11:49 pm

Why should I feel embarrassed about not caring enough about something as pointless to me as Calculus? All you're doing is trolling my thread trying to stir up trouble.



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09 Mar 2013, 1:09 am

rabbittss wrote:
Why should I feel embarrassed about not caring enough about something as pointless to me as Calculus? All you're doing is trolling my thread trying to stir up trouble.


Calculus, and Math in general are not useless :roll:
(Math Tutor)



rabbittss
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09 Mar 2013, 1:22 am

uwmonkdm wrote:
rabbittss wrote:
Why should I feel embarrassed about not caring enough about something as pointless to me as Calculus? All you're doing is trolling my thread trying to stir up trouble.


Calculus, and Math in general are not useless :roll:
(Math Tutor)


I didn't say 'Useless' did I? I said "Pointless to me"..

Taking a Calculus class would do nothing except pull my GPA down further when I failed it.



DVCal
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09 Mar 2013, 1:56 am

rabbittss wrote:
uwmonkdm wrote:
rabbittss wrote:
Why should I feel embarrassed about not caring enough about something as pointless to me as Calculus? All you're doing is trolling my thread trying to stir up trouble.


Calculus, and Math in general are not useless :roll:
(Math Tutor)


I didn't say 'Useless' did I? I said "Pointless to me"..

Taking a Calculus class would do nothing except pull my GPA down further when I failed it.


You don't need to take Calculus, but it isn't good when students are taking remedial course work like "College Algebra", at my Uni "College Algebra" wasn't worth any credits, because it was considered remedial.



rabbittss
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09 Mar 2013, 2:04 am

College Algebra is not remedial at my school. It's an 1100 level course. Here those others are called ... "Math 0097, 98, 99" Sub 1000 level classes are remedial..



DVCal
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09 Mar 2013, 2:35 pm

rabbittss wrote:
College Algebra is not remedial at my school. It's an 1100 level course. Here those others are called ... "Math 0097, 98, 99" Sub 1000 level classes are remedial..


Sad, since the material in College Algebra is material learned in High School level math courses.