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matt271
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21 Apr 2007, 8:58 pm

JakeG wrote:
calandale wrote:
matt271 wrote:
but a TI89 or computer or w/e does all the monkey work for you nowadays.


Back when I first took it, such things weren't available. I took multi-variable calc recently, and we were allowed to use a calculator to handle it. Big difference. Still had to come up with the work, but it's a lot easier when you already have the answer.


Calculators like the T189 seem pointless to me; if I wanted to do something that I couldn't do on a 99pence calculator, I'd just go and use Maple/Matlab/R etc.


those computer programs??
i love the ti89 because i have been using it for a while now, i know lots of short cuts and can type on it very fast. i also like that i can just set it anywhere, no matter where i am, and use it. its like a portable, math-specific computer w/ a simple basic language that uses all the math syntax.



biostructure
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21 Apr 2007, 9:32 pm

I do believe that there is a general gender difference in mathematical ability, such that men typically perform better. This isn't to say that there aren't some women who are great at math. So the answer to your question "are girls good at math" is "some are".

I would expect the difference to be much smaller among people with AS/autism though, as seems to be the case with most other brain sex differences.



Wolfpup
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22 Apr 2007, 4:05 am

Fraya wrote:
Girls are good at cooking and cleaning.. and hunting and rebuilding harleys and driving monster trucks and uhhh.. so why do we need boys again? :P


This just made me think of a bumper sticker I saw yesterday on a truck that said:

Quote:
Silly Boys, Trucks are for GIRLS.



adhocisadirtyword
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22 Apr 2007, 4:19 am

I've gone beyond calculus and done so without use of a calculator. I'm excellent at both abstract and standard mathematics.

At the moment, I'm studying to be a high-school math teacher. Not that I can't go higher, but I think the secondary grades as opposed to college are a better place to reach more people and hopefully help them at least tolerate math more, if not enjoy it.

In the year that I had my IB Mathematics class, only three people in the world got 6s. I was one of them. There were no 7s. We didn't have IB Calculus in my school at the time, though - this was about 12 years ago.

I'm female, by the way.


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calandale
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22 Apr 2007, 5:00 am

JakeG wrote:
Calculators like the T189 seem pointless to me; if I wanted to do something that I couldn't do on a 99pence calculator, I'd just go and use Maple/Matlab/R etc.


There are times when it is nice to have
a hand-held. The TI89 is too small, I like
the old 92 (though I here they have another
qwerty version now). For matrix applications
and some small coding, it's pretty handy. Plus,
it was allowed on tests - a laptop wouldn't have
been.

adhoc - the real problem comes a lot younger than
HS. There are so many early elementary school teachers
who just don't have any grasp on mathematics. So, they
tend to bring very little excitement to teaching it. Hard to
change this though.



Mushroom
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22 Apr 2007, 10:15 am

I read somewhere that when it comes to mathematics, more women are good at fast calculation but men are good at drawing fast logical points.

As for me, I'm VERY good with maths as long as it is nice, concrete number maths and not abstract maths with lots of "assuming" and numbers. I'm not BAD with abstract maths, actually I'm one of the few in my class who can figure out the problems that we haven't been taught yet, but I can only figure out the "easier problems".



matt271
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22 Apr 2007, 11:25 am

adhocisadirtyword wrote:
In the year that I had my IB Mathematics class, only three people in the world got 6s. I was one of them. There were no 7s. We didn't have IB Calculus in my school at the time, though - this was about 12 years ago.


interesting. i didnt know it had changed that much. ib calculus is just what my school calls the first semester of the last ib math course. they say its cuz if a university dosent regonize ib, they want to see the word calculus on your transcript. we did a lot more than just calculus in it.

calandale wrote:
There are times when it is nice to have
a hand-held. The TI89 is too small, I like
the old 92 (though I here they have another
qwerty version now). For matrix applications
and some small coding, it's pretty handy. Plus,
it was allowed on tests - a laptop wouldn't have
been.


wow they used to let u use a 92 on tests?? they dont allow any calculator w/ a querty keyboard on any test or math contest now because ppl who can program have an unfair advantage. but i learned all the short cuts for coding on the 83 and 89, so i program all the time on contests :D

oh thats another thing, are girls good at computer programming?? there was a girl who i thought was really smart in my computer science class, but she seemed to not understand it. she used examples and "studied" how to code things.



matt271
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22 Apr 2007, 11:35 am

Mushroom wrote:
I read somewhere that when it comes to mathematics, more women are good at fast calculation but men are good at drawing fast logical points.

As for me, I'm VERY good with maths as long as it is nice, concrete number maths and not abstract maths with lots of "assuming" and numbers. I'm not BAD with abstract maths, actually I'm one of the few in my class who can figure out the problems that we haven't been taught yet, but I can only figure out the "easier problems".


i rem doing a proof i couldnt get, and the teacher did it using some new method we where about to learn. i was the only 1 to question it. i said it dosent prove anything useful. just because the opposite of what you are trying to prove is false, dont make what ur proving true. say your proving f(x)>=x x belongs to the Z, proving f(x)<x is false does not make the original true. they could both be false, or only true for a specific domain.
so it may be that, they expect you to assume something thats not true all the time.
1 time in phy, we had a huge problem w/ a bunch of vectors and all this crap, but no defined N or 000 degrees, so i gave all the angles relative to one of the vectors i defined to be u = 1 at 0 degrees. apparently we had to assume the top of the sheet was N. i had complained to the teacher about it after we got the test back, but in the end i still got all my points :D



kyethra
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23 Apr 2007, 1:34 am

Lost in Space, I have NLD too. It stinks.

I like math. A lot. I miss math. I was very good at it until I got beyond basic calculus. At that point I hit a brick wall. And this is true for me in science as well-- I started out as a physics major. I think physics is beautiful. But my language skills are much better than my math skills. In highschool I did notice that as we got into higher level classes there were a lot less people in general. The classes got smaller. In college though there were about three times as many guys as gals in my calc class.



TellerStar
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23 Apr 2007, 9:09 am

I'm doing a physics degree. But there aren't many girls on the course. I love maths and I can get lost in my own world for hours solving problems. Sometimes I look forward to getting my next problem sheet just because I like solving problems so much.