---
Today was a terrible day. I had two papers today - both mathematics paper and both level 4000 modules. I was terribly slaughtered as I couldn't even do most of the paper (40% for the first and 50% for the second). This experience reinforces my opinion that it is useless to study for mathematics papers as I think it does not help at all.
I have always wondered how do we know whether we've learned a topic properly. Of course, examinations are not a good gauge of our grasp of the topic, but is it the best yardstick that we have? Or are there better means? Also, is there really a need to know how well we've learned a topic?
My journey so far taught me that there is a need for someone to guide you for mathematics as it is difficult to learn by reading mathematics textbook (One professor mentioned that reading mathematics is difficult. It is not like reading a novel - you need to think). Having a lecturer going through the topic with you speeds up the whole learning process. Examinations are good in the sense it points out to you where you've not covered properly in your studies. However, once the examinations are over, we lack the motivation to fix this "problem". Nevertheless, we cannot always rely on people to guide us as the future is uncertain.
I am extremely thankful to all my professors and teachers who have guided me so far. Thank you.
Labels: food for thought, victor's boring life
posted by roticv @ 11:42 PM
3 Comments:
If the mathematics exams are like the mathematic exams that I have taken, I would be inclined to agree that most of the time, the exams are testing one's thinking ability as opposed to testing the understanding of the topic. Granted, the exams will definitely require information that you have known before (all those theorems, lemmas, and proofs), but wanting you to synthesize a few proofs for the short short duration of a couple of hours is just ridiculous and annoying.
I got hit by that a long time ago, when I first did Set Theory. That was a big shock to me (obviously), but since then I've learnt that that's just how mathematics gets examined the higher you go. Like everything in life, one can always learn something on one's own time, but the truth of the matter is that with guidance from a lecturer, you speed up the process because the intuition is given to you explicitly as opposed to you figuring things out on your own. From a knowledge assimilation perspective, that is the most ideal, but from a research perspective, that is not the right thing to do, because you are guided down this one well-trodden path that may not yield you new ideas that you can explore.
Anyway, I think I have ranted a little too much in the comments of your blog. You take care, and let's go geocaching some day and take your mind of such things.
"Also, is there really a need to know how well we've learned a topic?" -> I would say you cannot know when and how you might need it in future. When you need it though, you will refer to it. So it is important to know what it is and what it can do.
"Nevertheless, we cannot always rely on people to guide us as the future is uncertain." -> You have your answer already.
I have confidence in you Vic!
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home