Im failing a remedial algebra course in college

[Masquerouge]

(9*4)/6=6 is right
9*(4/6)=6 is also right

This is a specific case. It's not true no matter what a,b and c are.

or--
((9+6)4)+6=58 right
((9+6)4+6)=130 wrong

If you're omitting * and the first line should read ((9+6)*4)+6, then the answer is not 58 but 66... but I don't understand your point?

 

[Xanikk999]

I thought you were 19? The questions that have been posted are primary school stuff.

Perhaps you should spend less time thinking about girls and more time on maths.

Of course its primary school stuff. Why do you think im taking this class?

I suck at math so i have to take it. Hopefully i will do well on the next test.

But the class is very rowdy and the teacher is an old senile bat who doesnt know how to teach...

 

[pboily]

Failing math = failing life.

But seriously folks, failing math is really just failing math. You can live a very happy, very prosperous, very complete life without math.

That being said, I echo the advice given by others: get some outside help. If the prof is unavailable, check to see if your college has some sort of math help center (usually, these would be free). And look into getting a good tutor. Go to the math department and ask the people there.

When you don't understand, the worst thing you can do is to do nothing. Work at it even if you don't understand, and with a bit of outside vision, things will probably fall into place.

 

[Xanikk999]

But seriously folks, failing math is really just failing math. You can live a very happy, very prosperous, very complete life without math.

That being said, I echo the advice given by others: get some outside help. If the prof is unavailable, check to see if your college has some sort of math help center (usually, these would be free). Failing that, consider a tutor.

Ive had tutors. They are good help for right before a test but some stuff never sticks in my mind.

So if i have a math class a year later it will be like all i know is basic algebra.

Anything above that gets very hard and complex for me to memorize and put into long term storage.

 

[Masquerouge]

I've just looked at the paper, and I'm gonna be blunt but you're really terrible at maths Is your algebra class mandatory?

I mean you even failed multiplication of numbers with opposite signs... So if you can, get as far as you can from maths as possible, you shouldn't have to do maths all your life.

 

[Xanikk999]

I've just looked at the paper, and I'm gonna be blunt but you're really terrible at maths Is your algebra class mandatory?

I mean you even failed multiplication of numbers with opposite signs... So if you can, get as far as you can from maths as possible, you shouldn't have to do maths all your life.

For me it is because i did bad on the placement test... And i know how to do this math i just make mistakes from time to time.

 

[Atlas14]

Im doing Pre-Calc stuff, and our teacher sounds like yours, only probably not as old. But he lectures in a monotone, he gives us a crapload of work before he teaches it, which may sound ok for any other subject, but math, if you learn to do it the wrong way in your hw, then you're screwed pretty much forever. He doesn't teach well at all, and he is anal about the most ******** things. It is friggin pre-calc and we aren't allowed to use graphing calculators. Not that they're absolutely necessary right now, but they will be helpful later on, plus my TI-83 plus is easier to punch numbers into than any other lower model. We have like 20 problems per night every night, and math isn't my subject so its tuff. Just stick with it, and learn to do problems by actually KNOWING how to do it, not just solving mechanically by looking off of example models of the same problem. Thats what our teacher says. Good luck in math man.

 

[Pontiuth Pilate]

Only if it's only multiplication and division.

Er... it makes absolutely no difference.

(3*5)/8 = 3*(5/8)

Lawlz.

 

[ParkCungHee]

My Advice? **** Math.

 

[Masquerouge]

Er... it makes absolutely no difference.

(3*5)/8 = 3*(5/8)

Lawlz.

And yet

(12/4)*3 is 9, and 12/(4*3) is 1.

 

[Gogf]

I'm not exactly sure what to say. Just looking at the paper really quickly, though, I'd like to point out that that's not scientific notation (or even the correct fraction). The correct answer to that question is 1.234 X 10^-7.

 

[Gogf]

(9*4)/6=6 is right
9*(4/6)=6 is also right
or--
((9+6)4)+6=58 right
((9+6)4+6)=130 wrong

1/(2*5) = 1/10
(1/2)*5 = 5/2

 

[Pontiuth Pilate]

And yet

(12/4)*3 is 9, and 12/(4*3) is 1.

Cuz you've moved the virgule, silly!

 

[nihilistic]

They teach that stuff in college? Wow. Anyway, you can complain that question is rather malformed. He should really use the slash for division in that specific position if he wanted you to do the division before the multiplication. Formally, that equation is parsed as divide before multiply, but it does suggest multiply before divide. Unless he had specifically stated that order of operations is a main objective of the test, you have grounds to request that that question be disqualified. Of course, judging by the quality of your answers, the teacher is going to know that you didn't spot that error yourself, and even if he disqualified that question your score isn't going to improve by much.

Anyway, I used to write questions for a few math math competitions, so the above is actuallly a professional opinion.

P.S. I find it quite amusing that the test instructions stated that a piece of graph paper is included. For what? Tic-Tac-Toe or Connect-4?

 

[Riesstiu IV]

But seriously folks, failing math is really just failing math. You can live a very happy, very prosperous, very complete life without math.

I was being a bit sarcastic but having a basic foundation in math is more important than ever considering American corporations have moved most decent paying non-skilled jobs overseas. I can't speak for Canada but statistics have shown American kids are becoming less and less adept in the science and math subjects. I believe a recent survey concerning student’s math skills placed the US at number 24 or 25.

Failing something like Remedial Algebra shouldn't be accepted. Instead we should be pushing math since its one of the versatile and needed skills. So many important aspects of life ranging from finances to home maintenance to corporate embezzlement require such skills.

I don’t consider myself mathematically inclined but I managed to complete Calculus II with a B average. This was only because I went above and beyond by doing numerous practice problems to help me understand. If I had just done the minimum my instructor required me to do, I would have likely failed the course. There are many venues out there that allow you to improve your math skills. Take advantage of them. Read examples in the book, buy an instruction manual from a bookstore, try practice problems, get a tutor, and/or ask the instructor (or parents) for help. An Internet forum really isn’t the place to improve your ability to solve Algebra problems or for any real academic assistance for that matter.

Unless you have some mental deficiency that prevents you from learning, you shouldn't have problems if you just keep at it. Keep practicing and study the material the teacher provides you.

Edit: Also, I'm a bit suprised that they even offer "Remedial Algebra" at college. The highschool I attended made it mandatory that all kids at least pass pre-cal to graduate.

 

[GenMarshall]

You failed to convert 0.0000001234 into scientific notation?! .

You just move the decimal point over to the nearest non-zero number. (1.234) and count how many times you moved the decimal point (-7). Thus you get 1.234x10^-7

Here is what helped me with scientific notiations when I first started doing it back in High School.
If you want to turn 32210000000000 into scientific notation. You move the decimal point to the left (Yes the decimal point is there, its just invisible since I dont have any other fractional number).

32210000000000.

Once you move the decimal point. Count how many times you moved it from it's point of origan:

3.2210000000000

you come up with 14 spaces. Then you put that in a form like this:

3.2210000000000*10^14

Once you moved the decimal point and added that, eliminate any zeros after the last number (NOTE: ...4300430000 becomes ...430043 No need to eliminate the "sandwiched zeros")

3.2210000000000*10^14

Thus it becomes this:

3.221*10^14

Here is a site that would give you a better grasp of it

I would give you a site to convert it, but you have to do it by hand first. Much like how I had to figure it out by hand. Though I had a better High School Chemistry background which prepared me when I was faced with this in College Chemistry and Algebra .

Edit: Also, I'm a bit suprised that they even offer "Remedial Algebra" at college. The highschool I attended made it mandatory that all kids at least pass pre-cal to graduate.

They do, but in my College. Its only offered as a requirement for a two year degree.

 

[pboily]

I was being a bit sarcastic but having a basic foundation in math is more important than ever considering American corporations have moved most decent paying non-skilled jobs overseas. I can't speak for Canada but statistics have shown American kids are becoming less and less adept in the science and math subjects. I believe a recent survey concerning student’s math skills placed the US at number 24 or 25.

Yeah, I know. I don't see why that would be any different in Canada than in the States. There's a malaise in North America (in the Western World, perhaps?). Even during my short career, I've noticed the trend you allude to. And yet, and yet, the students go on, blissfully unaware that they could have done more, they could have been more.

In some sense, I feel that teaching these topics is being reduced to cheerleading. Trying to get students to see something interesting, to get them to give more than the strict minimum. Rewarding them, etc. But you succeed maybe 5% of the time: those who really like the subject do not need the circus show, and you still can't reach those who appreciate the effort: people know that math and science are important, but they don't really believe it.

 

[nihilistic]

But seriously folks, failing math is really just failing math. You can live a very happy, very prosperous, very complete life without math.

Well, technically you don't need college or even an education either.

Anything above that gets very hard and complex for me to memorize and put into long term storage.

Then don't try to memorize. The best math people rely on memorization the least. In fact, these people usually do not try to memorize anything they haven't derived at least once. The key to mathematics is understanding rather than memorization, since technically the amount of information (information being defined as facts that cannot be known or inferred otherwise) in any math text is 0.

Try it. Start from the basics. Try to do basic multidigit addition and multiplication without a calculator without writign out any of the steps. Look at the question and find a way to write only the answer down. do everythign in your head. Use no mechanism except your head. You'll get better.

 

[pboily]

Well, technically you don't need college or even an education either.

How true. On the one hand, I applaud people for trying to improve their lot through college/math/etc.

On the other, it's depressing to fail so many people each year.

 

[Riesstiu IV]

Tell me pboily, what types of math courses do you teach and do you really fail a lot of students? Do you have a rough percentage of the failure rate or does it vary from year to year?

Something I will never understand are college/university students that purposely blow off their courses and subsequently fail them. I thought it was an overblown myth in high school but now that I've been in university for three and a half years, I'm surprised how often it happens.

For example, I took a seminar course that required a fifteen page research paper to be completed by the end of the semester. Out of the starting class of fifteen, I was the only one who completed the course. Too many students weren't up to the task. The rest either dropped out or failed. On one hand it made me feel rather proud but on the other I was saddened to my professor consider his “most depressing semester.”

Don't these people realize they're paying money for these courses and not getting their money's worth? Do they not know how much they're risking by throwing it all away?