Mathematics Problem - Algebra.

nitrocan: you overestimate the New Zealand education system - we don't learn to do maths in that way (although if you want to do scholarship maths in the final year it is necessary which is kind of stupid as it isn't taught).

BeautifullyDecayed: Don't worry too much; 6th form maths is a joke. Just make sure you put down anything you know, even if you only put down the formula that you are meant to use without applying it in any way. You get bonus points for that (who knows why, but take advantage of the moronic system as much as you can). Good luck for your exam tomorrow.

I don't really know about New Zealand as you said, but in my country it's just as I described. I go to a relatively better school since there's an exam to get into BOTH high school and college in here so all my classmates are around the same level as me overall. But I know for sure that in most of the schools, the teacher just writes down the formulas and doesn't even explain them since the students don't even want the proof.
 
nitrocan: you overestimate the New Zealand education system - we don't learn to do maths in that way (although if you want to do scholarship maths in the final year it is necessary which is kind of stupid as it isn't taught).

BeautifullyDecayed: Don't worry too much; 6th form maths is a joke. Just make sure you put down anything you know, even if you only put down the formula that you are meant to use without applying it in any way. You get bonus points for that (who knows why, but take advantage of the moronic system as much as you can). Good luck for your exam tomorrow.

I don't really know about New Zealand as you said, but in my country it's just as I described. I go to a relatively better school since there's an exam to get into BOTH high school and college in here so all my classmates are around the same level as me overall. But I know for sure that in most of the schools, the teacher just writes down the formulas and doesn't even explain them since the students don't even want the proof.

Yep - that sound exactly right. The problem here is not that people don't want to know, but that if the teacher even bothered to try to explain it not a single person would have a clue what was going on, except for a very few students. I wish there was an alternative system in New Zealand for "advanced" students, but there isn't. There just aren't enough brainy people to put the money into. This country is full of morons >_>
 
nitrocan: you overestimate the New Zealand education system - we don't learn to do maths in that way (although if you want to do scholarship maths in the final year it is necessary which is kind of stupid as it isn't taught).

BeautifullyDecayed: Don't worry too much; 6th form maths is a joke. Just make sure you put down anything you know, even if you only put down the formula that you are meant to use without applying it in any way. You get bonus points for that (who knows why, but take advantage of the moronic system as much as you can). Good luck for your exam tomorrow.

I don't really know about New Zealand as you said, but in my country it's just as I described. I go to a relatively better school since there's an exam to get into BOTH high school and college in here so all my classmates are around the same level as me overall. But I know for sure that in most of the schools, the teacher just writes down the formulas and doesn't even explain them since the students don't even want the proof.

Yep - that sound exactly right. The problem here is not that people don't want to know, but that if the teacher even bothered to try to explain it not a single person would have a clue what was going on, except for a very few students. I wish there was an alternative system in New Zealand for "advanced" students, but there isn't. There just aren't enough brainy people to put the money into. This country is full of morons >_>


Amen.
 
But I know for sure that in most of the schools, the teacher just writes down the formulas and doesn't even explain them since the students don't even want the proof.

That's a lie! I would tell you how much I beg for a proof of a formula we are given. I ask the teacher. He says "Memorize the formula". The problem is, I want to know why the constants are there. Most of the time, there will be an even easier formula, that he doesn't use because he has to teach "according to standards" (Damn you NCLB!!!!!) Not only that, when he does explain it, and we understand it, I get a series of "Ohhhh's" from around the class. This shows you that many students are just afraid to ask because they don't
wanna be seen as "stupid"

We lack understanding and I believe that if we had a system based on understanding, rather than "standards", people wouldn't think math is hard.
I used to, until I started researching why everything is what it is.

I demand understanding!!!!!!!:p:p
 
But I know for sure that in most of the schools, the teacher just writes down the formulas and doesn't even explain them since the students don't even want the proof.

That's a lie! I would tell you how much I beg for a proof of a formula we are given. I ask the teacher. He says "Memorize the formula". The problem is, I want to know why the constants are there. Most of the time, there will be an even easier formula, that he doesn't use because he has to teach "according to standards" (Damn you NCLB!!!!!) Not only that, when he does explain it, and we understand it, I get a series of "Ohhhh's" from around the class. This shows you that many students are just afraid to ask because they don't
wanna be seen as "stupid"

We lack understanding and I believe that if we had a system based on understanding, rather than "standards", people wouldn't think math is hard.
I used to, until I started researching why everything is what it is.

I demand understanding!!!!!!!:p:p

So do I, and when I ask the teacher, he gives me the proof or I just figure it out by myself while he continues teaching. I'm just talking about the majority of the students who aren't really interested in how that formula was derived.
 
nitrocan: you overestimate the New Zealand education system - we don't learn to do maths in that way (although if you want to do scholarship maths in the final year it is necessary which is kind of stupid as it isn't taught).

BeautifullyDecayed: Don't worry too much; 6th form maths is a joke. Just make sure you put down anything you know, even if you only put down the formula that you are meant to use without applying it in any way. You get bonus points for that (who knows why, but take advantage of the moronic system as much as you can). Good luck for your exam tomorrow.

I don't really know about New Zealand as you said, but in my country it's just as I described. I go to a relatively better school since there's an exam to get into BOTH high school and college in here so all my classmates are around the same level as me overall. But I know for sure that in most of the schools, the teacher just writes down the formulas and doesn't even explain them since the students don't even want the proof.

Yep - that sound exactly right. The problem here is not that people don't want to know, but that if the teacher even bothered to try to explain it not a single person would have a clue what was going on, except for a very few students. I wish there was an alternative system in New Zealand for "advanced" students, but there isn't. There just aren't enough brainy people to put the money into. This country is full of morons >_>


Amen.

Heh, good to know that one of the few other intelligent people picked up cubing, anyway :) :p
 
nitrocan: you overestimate the New Zealand education system - we don't learn to do maths in that way (although if you want to do scholarship maths in the final year it is necessary which is kind of stupid as it isn't taught).

BeautifullyDecayed: Don't worry too much; 6th form maths is a joke. Just make sure you put down anything you know, even if you only put down the formula that you are meant to use without applying it in any way. You get bonus points for that (who knows why, but take advantage of the moronic system as much as you can). Good luck for your exam tomorrow.

I don't really know about New Zealand as you said, but in my country it's just as I described. I go to a relatively better school since there's an exam to get into BOTH high school and college in here so all my classmates are around the same level as me overall. But I know for sure that in most of the schools, the teacher just writes down the formulas and doesn't even explain them since the students don't even want the proof.

Yep - that sound exactly right. The problem here is not that people don't want to know, but that if the teacher even bothered to try to explain it not a single person would have a clue what was going on, except for a very few students. I wish there was an alternative system in New Zealand for "advanced" students, but there isn't. There just aren't enough brainy people to put the money into. This country is full of morons >_>


Amen.

Heh, good to know that one of the few other intelligent people picked up cubing, anyway :) :p

Meh, I don't feel at all particulary intelligent. In New Zealand I find if you work hard you will pass.
People who don't care frustrate me, I had an exam today and you HAVE to stay for the first hour, after that people start leaving. It's funny to see the people who leave first, they have smug smiles on as if they think they are really cool for leaving so early, I just don't understand that!
Why isn't it cool to want to understand stuff? :(
 
Work hard? I think you're wasting your time with that. In high school, and in university, you can coast by, doing nothing. It's all straight forward.
Personally, I never left exams early, but I did spend most of my exam time resting/accidentally falling asleep in physics. Of course, I only scraped through most of my classes with the bare minimum (actually, now that I come to think about it, only about half of my classes; the other half I did well in without trying). Once you realise that high school is completely meaningless you will stop caring. If you want to get lots of scholarships then you will have to do independent work, otherwise you should be ok without it.
I always thought that getting to university would be different, but it turns out it isn't. Lot's of morons, and really low standards. How very unfortunate.
 
Work hard? I think you're wasting your time with that. In high school, and in university, you can coast by, doing nothing. It's all straight forward.
Personally, I never left exams early, but I did spend most of my exam time resting/accidentally falling asleep in physics. Of course, I only scraped through most of my classes with the bare minimum (actually, now that I come to think about it, only about half of my classes; the other half I did well in without trying). Once you realise that high school is completely meaningless you will stop caring. If you want to get lots of scholarships then you will have to do independent work, otherwise you should be ok without it.
I always thought that getting to university would be different, but it turns out it isn't. Lot's of morons, and really low standards. How very unfortunate.

Yep, that's how it is.
I work pretty hard. I got a merit endorsement last year [level 1] and was 8 credits off excellence.
So this year I've gone pretty hard-out, I now need 13 more excellence credits from externals to get an excellence endorsement and somehow got "top year 12 scholar" at my school.
Basically, if you work hard, you can get places :)
I could probably pass without working so hard, but if I get an excellence endorsement this year I get preference in hostels at uni, I'd much rather be in a nice one!
Also, vic are offering up to $4,800 scholarships for people with E endorsement.
I'm sure other unis are too.
Also, seeing as I got top scholar I guess I have a reasonable chance at dux next year - if I work hard, and that's worth heeeaps.
You seem very intelligent, if you worked you would get recognised for it.
But I guess some people don't feel the need to be recognised, or need the money, in which case I can understand that
But I'd like my parents to be able to retire early and enjoy their older years rather than paying for me to go through uni.. a little bit of work now for them doesn't bother me.. I also like the thought of getting through uni almost completely independantly
What uni are you at?
Sorry for writing a novel.
 
Dene likes reading novels.
I don't know about all these endorsements - they sound nice, but I don't think they were around a few years ago when I went through it - or else I would have gotten one, at the very least in 5th form where I don't think I got a single achieved >.< (well, maybe that's a mild exaggeration, but I got almost all merits in 5th form). Scholarships are certainly nice. Your best chance at getting free money is to sit scholarship exams - university scholarships will be harder to get. I know a guy who got 5 scholarship exams, and his prize was $5000 each year for the next 3 years :) . He only just missed out on doubling that. He also got some other scholarships, in total probably around $30000. That's what you get for being really brainy.
I'm at Canterbury, but I went to Saint Bernard's College (Lower Hutt).
 
Ewww I always hated chemistry. Chemistry is like wannabe physics. Have you considered doing the scholarship science paper? With a bit of a catch up on astronomy and geology, that's an easy pick. I know 2 people that got it in 6th form.
 
Ewww I always hated chemistry. Chemistry is like wannabe physics. Have you considered doing the scholarship science paper? With a bit of a catch up on astronomy and geology, that's an easy pick. I know 2 people that got it in 6th form.

NOO!
Don't say that about chemistry!! :(
I don't think I'm taking physics next year.. But I'm pondering it.
I HATE electricity but I liked waves and mechanics..
I got 2nd in physics in my year, but never actually understood anything til just before the real exams. How silly is that?!

Maybe you didn't have a good chem teacher?? A schol paper in 6th form?! But 6th form is over for me after 27th November! ;D
 
Our chem teacher was ok, I just always saw chem as being completely redundant. It's like the boring stuff between physics and biology.
I still remember my physics experience so well, because our class went from having the best physics teacher in the country in 6th form (he wrote the text book that you probably work from and won an international award), to having a complete moron in 7th form that knew nothing about physics. In 7th form physics I spent the whole year either sleeping in class, listening to music (or doing both), or making the teacher's life a complete misery. It was rather a lot of fun but I didn't learn anything the whole year.
Then at the very end of the year, after classes but before the exam our old teacher paid a visit. When he realised how little I knew, he took me into the next room for a private session for like 30 minutes, in which I learnt enough to pass waves and mechanics. 10 credits for 30 min of work >.< . However that still meant I technically failed physics, but I had every intention of failing, just to make a statement. Unfortunately, knowing nothing until just before the exam didn't get me second in physics >.< . Two people in our class got scholarship physics :p
 
That's strange.
At our school biology is seen as the drop kick bum subject.
Bio is to chem/physics what stats is to calc.

My teacher is pretty old, he has taught for a long time and is retiring soon.
He means well but his teaching methods are very old fashioned and hard to adapt to, however I don't think he is taking the 7th form physics class next year.
What are you studying at uni??

Oh and the text book the school issues is written by:
Athol Binns, Denis Burchill, David Houseden and Peter Kinsler.
But I also have my own books which are written by: David Housden [again] and another by Chris Rutter
x]
 
Yep, David Housden was my teacher :) . I think he's back at St. Bernard's now, but I'm not sure. The reason that there are multiple authors is because they were the authors of older editions of the book. The newest edition was by Mr. Housden alone.
I actually have ended up studying Psychology and Philosophy at uni. My parents were extremely disappointed that I didn't do engineering :p . But to be honest I wanted to do something where I could do more than the same thing for the rest of my life, not going anywhere in particular. Engineering is a really limiting major.
It's interesting that bio is seen so poorly at your school. 6th form bio isn't particularly exciting, but I loved 7th form bio. Evolution is the best. Not only that, but it should be taught to kids in primariy school, not only to those taking 7th form bio... what a shame our school system is.
 
Yes, I agree!
I didn't take bio this year I took Maths, English, Chem, Physics, Economics and Classical Studies

Next year I think I'll do Stats, Chem, Bio, English and Economics.

What sort of careers could you go into after doing psychology and philosophy?
Is that like, learning about human behaviour?
 
Back
Top