rant on groups in math class

Post Reply New Topic

groups in math class don't work.

tried it today. doesn't work. the groups are now dysfunctional from an organizational standpoint. they have departed from logical organization and entered the domain of informal heuristics.

the teacher's lectures i can at least to some degree follow, as there is some form to their function

but what is supposed to be learned in the group time is applied to the quiz afterwards!

class quizzes each tuesday are averaged into the same percentage of the overall grade for class as homework is average into! that is sadistic from my standpoint, as, even though homeworks are fewer and farther inbetween than quizzes, I make 100s or 99s every time on my homeworks!

Groups in math intended to actually get ahead and learn something? Where the hell did you get that idea from? Everyone knows that, in any class, when you're grouped up with random people what you're supposed to discuss is how much Radiohead sucks and insult the resident computer tech.

Oh, and dick jokes work too.

Yeah, it's pretty cool. My college has a small fanbase, actually, from what I can tell from Facebook.



Most of the people in this class, perhaps in my entire school, could be considered geeks in one form of another. Most of that is concentrated in the typical engineering majors (chemical, mechanical, civil, etc.). Nobody really talks about their majors though. I would, if I knew people cared, which they don't. I have a few inventions that I don't want to tell anybody, even though they could rock this world possibly. In that case, I just don't want my ideas stolen. The bad thing about that is that I would like collaborators, but I don't trust too many people.



Are you saying that the people in your typical math group tell dick jokes or that I should tell dick jokes in order to fit in and therefore get legitimate answers to my math-related questions?

Eh, I was just saying what usually happens when I end up being grouped up with random people and we're supposed to be doing serious work. I don't know how things typically go with you, but I don't think I've ever been in a single group where we were honestly doing our assigned work for longer than five minutes.

I'm not sure what the nature of the group work here is so maybe this isn't an option, but if it could potentially have an affect on your average, can't you ask to be placed with more diligent people? Maybe even just do it on your own?

Some of the people in the class are like that, but in my class most people are actually trying to work the problems.

This would seem odd - Maths is very much a solitary subject, not like English or Psychology or something... why bother with groups at all?

I have a few inventions that I don't want to tell anybody, even though they could rock this world possibly. In that case, I just don't want my ideas stolen. The bad thing about that is that I would like collaborators, but I don't trust too many people.

~ ~ ~

The creation, development and marketing of inventions is a specialized area. Learn about it here: <http://www.inventorsdigest.com/>.

geezer