not that cute anymore
So, I got a 1.8 in Discrete Math. Not enough to make the degree happy I don't think, and I'll probably have to take it again. On the bright side, however, it's the hardest and flat out worst class I've ever taken, and I don't feel at fault at all for failing it. The instructor's teaching ability is questionable, given how many people expressed complete and utter cluelessness at pretty much all times throughout the course. But the real condemning mark against him is that he never allows calculators.
On the front of the final after the "no calculators" message was "I'm sorry if you've forgotten everything your grade school teachers worked so hard to teach you." I thought it was pretty funny when I first read it. Now it's fucking disgusting. Grade school teachers didn't teach us how to efficiently divide 20-million-something by 2 over and over until we get to 1 in order to find 20-million-something's binary expansion. Took about 20 minutes. They didn't teach us how to efficiently multiply numbers over 20 together about 20 times and then divide each by 55 to find the remainder. Never finished that, probably would have taken 40 minutes. Then those grade school teachers gave us no preparation for multiplying all those remainders that correspond with a 1 in 20-million-something's binary expansion together, then dividing by 55 again to find the remainder, on and on, probably another 20 minutes right there. 80 minutes right there for just one 10 point problem, and there were at least 3 others just as tough. Maybe superhuman arithmetic powers are pretty common and I'm just deficient, but given the frequent groans I heard during the test, I seriously doubt it.
Besides the sheer cruelty of it all, it also just doesn't make sense. The focus of the class is proofs and algorithms, the purpose is to teach problem solving. Forcing us to do these monotonous menial tasks for several minutes completely derails that focus and purpose (not to mention exponentially increasing the odds of a silly little math mistake completely destroying our grade). Furthermore, the class is for a computer science degree, a field where using technology to avoid every menial task we possibly can is our fucking job. This teacher does not deserve to teach, let alone have tenure.
A different teacher does the night class. And the two days when he taught our class as a substitute were two of the best. Depending on his calculator policy I'll see about taking the class at night next time.
On the front of the final after the "no calculators" message was "I'm sorry if you've forgotten everything your grade school teachers worked so hard to teach you." I thought it was pretty funny when I first read it. Now it's fucking disgusting. Grade school teachers didn't teach us how to efficiently divide 20-million-something by 2 over and over until we get to 1 in order to find 20-million-something's binary expansion. Took about 20 minutes. They didn't teach us how to efficiently multiply numbers over 20 together about 20 times and then divide each by 55 to find the remainder. Never finished that, probably would have taken 40 minutes. Then those grade school teachers gave us no preparation for multiplying all those remainders that correspond with a 1 in 20-million-something's binary expansion together, then dividing by 55 again to find the remainder, on and on, probably another 20 minutes right there. 80 minutes right there for just one 10 point problem, and there were at least 3 others just as tough. Maybe superhuman arithmetic powers are pretty common and I'm just deficient, but given the frequent groans I heard during the test, I seriously doubt it.
Besides the sheer cruelty of it all, it also just doesn't make sense. The focus of the class is proofs and algorithms, the purpose is to teach problem solving. Forcing us to do these monotonous menial tasks for several minutes completely derails that focus and purpose (not to mention exponentially increasing the odds of a silly little math mistake completely destroying our grade). Furthermore, the class is for a computer science degree, a field where using technology to avoid every menial task we possibly can is our fucking job. This teacher does not deserve to teach, let alone have tenure.
A different teacher does the night class. And the two days when he taught our class as a substitute were two of the best. Depending on his calculator policy I'll see about taking the class at night next time.