ITT Uncle Sherm goes back to school

[Lars]

Unrelated but you didn't happen to be out handing out Constitutional Party info in Ankeny yesterday or maybe Saturday did you?

Just so you know, he's not the guy pictured in his avatar.

[Uncle Sherm]

Also not interested in the Constitution Party. They combine the worst elements of the Libertarian and Evangelical wings of the Republican Party.

[Pokaris]

Unrelated but you didn't happen to be out handing out Constitutional Party info in Ankeny yesterday or maybe Saturday did you?

Just so you know, he's not the guy pictured in his avatar.

No shit?

[Uncle Sherm]

The textbook at DMACC costs $220. The course itself is $655.

[MarcusAurelius]

Don't buy the book. A $5 calc book will have the same material. If you have to do specific problems, download a nefarious copy

[Uncle Sherm]

8 week course, exam every 2 weeks, homework due with each chapter exam. We're flying through this class.

[MarcusAurelius]

that's the way to do it.

[Uncle Sherm]

Exam #2 in 90 minutes.

[Uncle Sherm]

Calc II...Asses kicked, names taken.

Now I wait and transfer credits to ISU.

[Uncle Sherm]

Sitting in my Calc III recitation waiting for class to start and a cute blonde sits next to me.


She's my cousin.


It's the first time I've seen her since my High School graduation, when she was 6.

[Lars]

I did that once at ISU. Third cousin, on the sidewalk.

[Uncle Sherm]

I have officially been to every class I'm signed up for this semester. Poli Sci 361 is going to be a test of endurance more than anything. The Presidency with Dirk Deam. Normally he doesn't let his political prejudices show, but today was spent doing some bashing of GW Bush while calling Obama "adequate". I look forward to hearing his justification for that assessment as time goes on. His historical interpretation of the Great Depression is simplistic to say the least, but he uses that simplicity to draw similarities to today's economic situation, by attributing it to "letting big businesses do whatever they want". I'd ask for a more in-depth analysis to see how he arrived at that idea, but that would be pretty pointless tangent given the context of the class.

[Uncle Sherm]

Paper on Plato's Republic due Monday, 1st Physics exam Wednesday, Calc III exam Friday.

I <3 Calculus

[MarcusAurelius]

holy mother... want

[Uncle Sherm]

Really? You don't strike me as a reader of Plato.

[Uncle Sherm]

I started on Plato this morning and finished about half the length requested by the teacher. The entire 2nd page will be about how Superman and Lex Luthor make a better analogy about justice in people and justice in a community than Plato's analogy.

I can't believe anyone has ever failed a Poli Sci class.

[Uncle Sherm]

Got the Poli Sci paper back.

Teacher to class: I don't know if it was too difficult or if the questions weren't clear enough, but the papers weren't as good as I'd hoped. I'm giving everyone a week to improve them, because the highest grade I gave was a B+. If you got the B+, you can feel good about yourself, but the rest of you need to improve your work.

Hands back graded papers.

I spent an entire page talking about Superman, Lex Luthor, and Metropolis, the night before the paper was due, and got a B+. This is a class full of Poli Sci majors. WTF?

[Santa]

Haha, the stupids.

[MarcusAurelius]

one time i talked to a poli sci major that was completely convinced political science was actually a science. they're really not bright

[Talenos]

That's like the time I took Journalism law from Barbara Mack where she said whatever you do, don't write it the night before, because she would be able to tell.

Wrote it the night before.
Got an A

[nippletwister]

like a boss

[nippletwister]

wait... no...

that one's

[Uncle Sherm]

How many former engineering students here took Calc III and Physics 221 during the same semester? It doesn't seem like it would be all that rare an occurence, but the finals are scheduled on the same night. Physics final 4:30-6:30 and then Calc III 7-9, on a Monday.

[Uncle Sherm]

^^That Monday has arrived. Poli Sci 430 at 7:30 AM, then camping at the library for my back to back Calc III and Physics final preparation.

[MarcusAurelius]

i believe in you

[Santa]

Hope you did Ok. The only way I could stay focused during my 5 hour certification exam was with massive amounts of caffeine. By the end, I was nearly ready to puke from the combination of stress and caffeine overload. Not passing the exam meant I would have to pay my company back nearly $5k.

I still shit out towards the last hour.

[Lars]

I took two Illinois educator certification tests on the same day. Neither test was hard, but it was about 5 straight hours of reading, thinking, and answering. By the end, you feel incapable of doing anything for the rest of the day.

[Uncle Sherm]

My brain just quit after the first half of the Physics exam. We'll see how that goes, but I felt better about the Calc III exam than I did about any of the previous ones, mostly because it provided twice the amount of time as earlier exams. I don't like in-class exams in a course as large as this one, the room is always crowded and by the time the exams are handed out, you have less than 45 minutes to work before the next class starts coming in.

[Turbo]

fuck the next class. they can wait

[Uncle Sherm]

Spring 2013 is here.

Calc III (again)
EE 201
EE 294
Physics 222

[MarcusAurelius]

why are you retaking calc 3?

[Uncle Sherm]

I didn't pass it the first time. I did well on the final, but my grade by then was in the toilet, and they apparently don't let you test out of a class you already tried and failed.

[Talenos]

EE 201 was fun with Kruempel. I wonder who will teach it now.

[Uncle Sherm]

Neihart is my teacher.














And the hot Calc III SI leader from last semester is my lab TA this semester.

[Uncle Sherm]

Wilson is my Math 265 teacher. It's not a big lecture hall class, we meet in a regular classroom 4 times a week and have a small test every two weeks on Friday.

EE 201 has a quiz every Friday. Unfortunately, those classes are back to back, with math in the basement of Carver and EE on the 2nd floor of Town.

[Uncle Sherm]

3 exams this week. EE201 is tomorrow, Physics 222 Wednesday, and the biweekly Math 265 exam Friday. Lab Reports due Tuesday and Thursday.

Hot Dog!

[Talenos]

It's like sophomore year all over again!

[Lars]

I'm so glad I'm no longer sophomoric.

[floor punching mummy]

Wilson is my Math 265 teacher.

i had that guy for 307 many moons ago.

[Uncle Sherm]

He's pretty good at explaining things, but he's not terribly organized. Neihart is probably the best teacher I've got this semester.

[Uncle Sherm]

Physics 222 exam tomorrow.

[Uncle Sherm]

Calc III exam at 9 am today in Carver, EE 201 exam at 10 am today at Town.

[MarcusAurelius]

CRUSH IT

[Uncle Sherm]

I either did well on both exams, or have failed with confidence.

[Uncle Sherm]

I either did well on both exams, or have failed with confidence.

Of the 28 people in my Calc III class, 10 managed to pass the exam. 18 failed. At what point does the teacher revisit his teaching method? I ask this as someone that passed.

[MarcusAurelius]

I either did well on both exams, or have failed with confidence.

Of the 28 people in my Calc III class, 10 managed to pass the exam. 18 failed. At what point does the teacher revisit his teaching method? I ask this as someone that passed.

for a class that's the exact same material semester after semester? probably never. some people get it, some don't, and most instructors for a low-level service course like that probably don't care that much.

[Talenos]

It's a weed out class for a reason right?

[Uncle Sherm]

I'd have no problem with raising standards to get into the College. However once you are here, if the point is to teach calculus, I'd rather they leave it to teachers that can manage better than a 50% success rate.

[Talenos]

But the school makes more money when they lower admissions standards. Free market at work!

[Uncle Sherm]

But the school makes more money when they lower admissions standards. Free market at work!

srsly?

[Uncle Sherm]

Physics final done, EE 201 and Calc III later today.

[Uncle Sherm]

Those weren't so painful. My final seemed to be a lot easier than the ones I studied with from previous semesters, and the comprehensive Calc III final was easier than the biweekly ones.

[Uncle Sherm]

Physics was the class that had me worried, but the prof posted the final grades and I passed. Looks like I'm moving along quite nicely.

[Turbo]

[Uncle Sherm]

Taking EE 285 this fall. Anybody have some tips on how to get a head start on C before taking an intro class on it next semester? I heard visual basic is a good first compiler to use, but I doubt it is what we'll use in class. Is there enough difference between what's available to get picky?

[Thinine]

What does VB have to do with C? Or do you mean Visual Studio? VS doesn't actually include a C compiler to my knowledge. There are a variety of other solutions for C on Windows though. Most of the major IDEs have plugins for C.

[MarcusAurelius]

Taking EE 285 this fall. Anybody have some tips on how to get a head start on C before taking an intro class on it next semester? I heard visual basic is a good first compiler to use, but I doubt it is what we'll use in class. Is there enough difference between what's available to get picky?

you could try skimming through one of those silly "learn C in 24 hours" things to pick up on some syntax and fundamentals, and then try some of the first few project euler questions.

visual basic isn't a compiler; it's a different language altogether. Visual C++ is an editor with a compiler and debugger. Visual Studio has visual C++ in it, and some other stuff. Visual C++ will work just fine for starting with C if you're on windows.

[Uncle Sherm]

visual studio is what I meant. I'll give that a try.

[MarcusAurelius]

do try out some project euler problems though. it's perfect for someone in your position. it gives you a non-trivial objective to learn some aspects of a new language, and it teaches you how to think of math in code in a way that benefits you no matter the language.

[Thinine]

Project Euler is not an introduction to programming, it's an introduction to computer science. An actual intro to programming would be something like Code Academy, which walks you through the basics, rather than just throwing problems at you.

[Thinine]

Visual C++ will work just fine for starting with C if you're on windows.

You're sick, man.

If you're up for getting your hands dirty, there is a VS plugin that lets you use clang as the C compiler. https://github.com/ishani/ClangVSx

Depending on the class material, an actual POSIX-compatible environment may be needed.

[MarcusAurelius]

Project Euler is not an introduction to programming, it's an introduction to computer science. An actual intro to programming would be something like Code Academy, which walks you through the basics, rather than just throwing problems at you.

For someone whose task with programming is to solve math/engineering problems, Euler is great for learning to think about problems correctly.