Math homework questions that consist entirely of asking the student to draw graphs.

Nyktos · 2011-09-28 19:50:53

I want to make a philosophical argument as to why these questions don't actually help students understand the subject, but honestly I just really hate drawing graphs.

Lisztening · 2011-09-28 19:54:04

Aye, I always skipped those graphing homeworks whenever I could too. There really aren't that many other types of assignments that are more tedious than graphing.

Besides, once one gets far enough in calculus, one eliminates the need to draw almost any graph or so I've heard.

Forzare · 2011-09-28 19:54:08

I hate those too.

Nyktos · 2011-09-28 19:58:46

@Lisztening: Normally I skip them, but I have one due for marks tomorrow. >_>

This is supposed to be the most theoretical and advanced first-year calculus course, and there's still this question. Mind, this is the chapter specifically about graphs, so I can only hope that there aren't a lot of them in later chapters.

At least it's not just "graph " this time; rather it requires a slight amount of thinking...but actually it's just a bunch of simple functions with x and y interchanged, so as soon as you figure out that the "trick" is just reflecting the normal graphs through y = x, it becomes even more pointless.

DYRE · 2011-09-28 20:01:35

so as soon as you figure out that the "trick" is just rotating the normal graphs 90°, it becomes even more pointless.

If that's the way you're doing it, then... you're going to get every problem wrong... >.>

Or, rather, it's actually that you flip the graphs over the line y=x. Which is generally completely different from rotating it 90 degrees.

Nyktos · 2011-09-28 20:13:56

You caught me before I edited. I did know that.

Point is that the question is easy but somewhat tedious and the trick is the same in all four parts. The fact that I forgot what the trick is is just me being stupid.

Lisztening · 2011-09-28 20:15:56

There were a lot of graphing done before/around derivatives and integrals I believe. After those units, I don't think they really ask people to graph anymore, as the key points can be obtained fairly easily through protocols learned in those two key units.

Of course, I only had to take first year calculus, so if you're a math major, things could be different, probably.

Nyktos · 2011-09-28 20:18:51

This is a first-year calculus course, but it's a course primarily for math majors.

I'm not an anything major at this point as I am in high school and am taking just the one university course as part of a program at my school.

DYRE · 2011-09-28 20:22:00

Anyway, yeah, I think once you're done learning specifically about graphing various functions, you probably won't have to do too much graphing, aside from sketching things just to show you know roughly what shape something should be, and stuff like that. At least, that's how I think it's been for me so far. Doesn't really stop it from sucking for now though. And there's other similarly tedious things you'll have to do in later math courses, too, should you end up having a need to take any.

RedEyedAbyss · 2011-09-28 22:09:07

At least most of them are 2-D. Visualising a coordinate figure in 3-D is a royal pain in the buttock.

Chagen · 2011-09-28 22:57:59

Oh thank god

Other people who hate this shit

Bee · 2011-09-28 23:56:25

Let's see. In rough chronological order...

Calc I -- Graph equations, locate ballpark value of what you're looking for.
Calc II -- Graph equations, shade in the area you want.
Calc III -- Graph a sequence as if it were a curve, show how left/right-end rectangles correspond to terms of sum.

At some point during that -- Graph polar stuff and curves along rotated axes.

Differential Eqs -- Graph vector fields and families of curves that lay along them.
Multivariable I -- Graph vector fields, 3D surfaces, and highlight intersections between 3D surfaces.
Multivariable II -- Graph 3D surfaces inside 3D vector fields so you know what to integrate to get the flux.

Linear -- Graph equations, overlay successive approximations via orthogonal polynomials.

Elementary Analysis -- Rigorously prove the continuity of x = y. Then graph it.

TheMightyAnonym · 2011-09-29 10:52:36

I know that feel bro.jpg

Vivi · 2011-09-29 10:53:52

Ugh. Math. The worst subject, ever.

Nyktos · 2011-09-29 11:31:51

Ugh. Math. The second or third best subject, ever.

Fixed.

All Nines · 2011-09-29 11:32:29

Math is awesome. Graphing is one of the parts of it that's not.

Vivi · 2011-09-29 11:36:06

Math is awful.

Nyktos · 2011-09-29 11:42:11

no u

MillerCross · 2011-09-29 13:12:08

Meth is so dull it's not even funny. But once you get the hang out of it, it is pertty cool.

I kinda forgot everything I learned in High School, though. Except the stuff hat apples to photography and film, wheeeee

Stormtroper · 2011-09-29 13:16:30

^ Yeah, once you get the hang of it, it's better than weed.

MillerCross · 2011-09-29 13:21:49

...

best typo ever

Nyktos · 2011-09-29 13:25:57

Real math is a lot less dull than high school math, though you still need the right mindset to appreciate it I suppose.

Crimson · 2011-09-29 13:26:59

Graphing is no where near the worst part of math.

Now Series on the other hand. Ugh...

Nyktos · 2011-09-29 13:31:26

What's wrong with series?

MillerCross · 2011-09-29 13:32:11

Real math is a lot less dull than high school math, though you still need the right mindset to appreciate it I suppose.

yeah, one thing you learn from seeing Tzetze rambling daily about his classes is that real math is fucked up.

in a David Lynch/Salvador Dali way, that is.

Crimson · 2011-09-29 13:34:45

Basic series aren't so hard, but once you get to Taylor series and series expansions of differential equations is when shit hits the fan. Problems become very drawn out, complex, and VERY easy to make a mistake (especially with the latter); in general it's really frustrating.

Nyktos · 2011-09-29 13:43:27

Eh, fair enough, I haven't experienced much of that kind of stuff (and not at all for school). I wouldn't consider the issue there to be an inherent problem with series though.

Stormtroper · 2011-09-29 13:44:04

^^ While I agree with most of that, I like Taylor series.

Fourier's can go die, though.

Nyktos · 2011-09-29 13:47:55

Taylor series seem pretty cool from my limited exposure to them. I can see how they would become complicated for certain functions though.

SotiCoto · 2011-09-29 14:45:16

... I used to use a graph program and just print the results out. Was sorta cheating, but thas the best way to achieve victory, usually.

Luckily these days I just do simple, mundane sorta maths at most. None of that fancy niche stuff any more that you only really need when you don't have enough time to meaningfully use it.

Bee · 2011-09-29 15:22:15

Huh. Never had a problem with Taylors. My math teacher basically compared it to having a kind of Laplace Demon of an equation -- the position, and every pull, and every rate of change of those pulls -- that would let you extrapolate it outward. The formula to calculate terms just kind of fell out by trying to manipulate things to systematically kill everything in each term except the snapshot derivative as you differentiate it over and over.

A recent project forced me to brush up heavily on Fouriers to do sound analysis, so I've got that solidly for at least the next several months.

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Math homework questions that consist entirely of asking the student to draw graphs.

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