Sunday, March 25, 2007
Calculator Dilemma Resolved
After spending $460 on tuition and $150 on the textbook and foreseeing two exam proctoring expenses for my online calculus class, I wondered whether the calculator requirements would necessitate me buying something special for the course, since it's unlikely in the extreme that the HP 48GX would be on the allowable calculator list. (Lists for classes and standardized tests pretty much always are limited to various TI models.) But the instructor has taken care of this for me by saying that no calculator of any kind will be allowed for use on the tests, nor will we be allowed to bring in any notes (not even an index card). I can't remember the last time I had to do any "real" math without a calculator (perhaps the GRE in 1996?). Though I appreciate that I won't be dropping another couple hundred bucks on a calculator for the class, it remains to be seen how thoroughly I will be cursing this guy once I start on the problems. (OK, I recognize that people did calculus without calculators from Newton/Leibnitz to the 1970's, but waah.) I also anticipate spending some time rememorizing the trig identities, etc., that I basically haven't used in a thousand years.
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4 comments:
Which calc class is this? I'm surprised at the 'no calculator' rule - we had to have one for Calc 2 at Rice, and for Calc 3 here at Metro, including during tests. (Our prof here at Metro did not actually care what type it was, and one woman in the class did have a chunky HP into which she could presumably have programmed all the math for the class.)
I'm taking Cal 1. Again.
Of all the 6 or 7 things I learned in college, the two I've used most in real life are are how to throw a frisbee and how to use an HP calculator effectively. It's true that I should have spent more time out in the sun with the frisbee, but the RPN time was certainly well-spent. Of course, if I'd actually learned how to do the math instead of just faking it I might not need the calculator so often now.
The math I'm taking lately has gotten so theoretical that a calculator is rarely useful at all. Ah well.
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