calculus

[mollykins]

How hard is it?

we'll be doing it some time between january and june and it'll be on one of my maths papers in june. However there's a book about it that's a self-teaching guide which I could refer to if I get stuck, however it's 342 pages long! What kind of equation takes that long to explain how to do! although it does say it teaches you integral and defferential calculus . . . .

[DTCwordfan]

it is a huge subject as calculus leads into quadratic equations etc. What grade in maths did you get at GCSE and did you do advanced - and what grade in that?

[Buenchico]

Differential calculus is easy peasy.

Integral calculus can be a pain in a considerable number of parts of the anatomy!

(And that's from somebody who had to teach it!)

[boxtops]

molly, might be worth looking at this - the dummies range is very good to offering simple explanations and instructions. http://www.dummies.co...uctCd-0764524984.html

[factor-fiction]

... differential.
It's quite a wide-ranging topic but it probably covers more than you need. I think you need one that's aimed at A level Maths students. There are loads of books (and you can get a cheap one second hand- calculus doesn't get out of date), although I think Mymaths and other websites (Kangaroo maths?) are more than adequate

[mollykins]

I only did a normal gcse in maths and somehow got an A with the 10 or so different teachers I had. I'm finding it easier this year though, possibly because of the better quality of teaching which could also be due to the class now only having 6 students in it, so it's easier to have 10 minutes of 1-to-1 if there's something you can't get your head around.

[mollykins]

never heard of kangaroo maths, is it like mymaths and samlearning where you need a password to do much?

[DTCwordfan]

you should be ok - may be that you might go through some "what on earth is going on" and then the penny drops in and all is clear.

Don't panic and ask questions....even the stooopid ones - no one minds answering them

[Prudie]

At A level I'd have thought you will only cover differentiation (which isn't too bad if you follow the rules) and then integration (which is differentiation in reverse) which is harder but again there are rules to follow. I doubt very much that you'd get into differential equations at standard A level

[cc1]

So glad you are getting a "better quality of teaching"! Are you not mature enough to realise two things, you are in a very small group, 6, and they are 6 well-motivated people, hence the teacher is able to, err, teach.
Not all problems in school can be blamed on poor teaching, no-one asks the pilot of a 747 to check the bags, serve the meals and duty free and deal with pukers, he's able to concentrate on his job! Or, of course, her job, to placate the nit-pickers.

[factor-fiction]

http://www.kangaroomaths.com/index.php
The stuff in Kenny's Pouch is free.
I think you need a password for the rest but I find that the Kenny's Pouch bit is adequate.
Here's an example:
http://www.kangarooma....php?page=KassessASA2

[mollykins]

Thanks, i've added that to my favourites for when we start C2 :)

[factor-fiction]

Whilst I don't agree with the tone of your response cc1 you are of course correct- in most schools, even in higher sets, the attitude and behaviour of pupils is very poor.
At my school the Year 11s have just done their mocks and have done badly. After half an hour of the exam many students had lost interest and were flicking bits of paper round the room, making farting noises or watching the snow ouside. Today, after marking their papers, I tried to show them how they missed out on lots of easy marks but they were not interested at all. Very sad.

[Prudie]

factor that sounds awful. i always thought the main joy of teaching sixth formers was that they wanted to be there. Seems like a prime example of the problem with raising leaving age and trying to get so many to go into further ed.

[Prudie]

And to add when I was at schooll and then subsequently teaching any individual behaving like that in an exam room would have been sent out and probably not entered for the 'real' thing.

[Prudie]

^ school LOl LOL

[factor-fiction]

Hi Pudie - I was describing a situation with Year 11s (fifth formers in old money) rather than sixth formers. Yes, sixth formers are generally much more motivated than 5th formers although there is now quite a large number of students who aren't as self-motivated as sixth formers should be.

[mollykins]

Probably because they are only there ebcause they can't get a job or get benefits for dossing around factor.

[Prudie]

Yes of course Yr 11 is fifth form, I was assuming wrongly within the thread because Moll's in the 6th year

[Tim123]

It's amazing how things change. Back in 1978, differentiation and integration of simple polynomials was on the 'O' Level syllabus. ' A' Level (including further maths) covered trignometric and hyperbolic functions, exponentials, partial differentials and differential equations.

Integral calculus is harder than differential, as you are looking for a question that fits the answer, rather than vice versa. However, if it's well taught and you make sure you understand each principle before moving on to the next, there's nothing to fear.