I'll admit it, I am a bit of a wannabe Mathematician. I recently completed an MSc in Applied Statistics where I had to get the wire brush on my very rusty residual A level maths knowledge. My meagre knowledge was stretched to the limits, and I had to really work hard to ensure that this did not hold me back on the course.
I am going to do A level maths again this year, 25 years after I embarked on it first time around. Contrary to popular belief, I don't think the syllabus is any easier - a very wide range of topics are still covered - but I do think that the assessment method are stacked in the students favour. The exams are spread out over 2 years, you can resit exams to improve your grades and there is a coursework elements for some of the pathways. I am really looking forward to it - though not so thrilled about having to sit the exam in a dusty sports hall.
Anyway, I love calculators. I have quite a few, and last week I got myself a TI-nspire, which is a real beauty. They are becoming more and more like mini-PCs, and on this model you can link a spreadsheet of data to a graph that can be updated dynamically.
In fact, calculators could clearly be much more powerful, but as their biggest market is the educational sector, they are restricted by what the various exam boards will allow.
I will give the TI-nspire a more thorough testing as my studies progress (I am aiming to complete the A level in a year), but I am impressed by what I have seen so far. And I already feel 3.7% cleverer.
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As a Maths graduate and accountant I ought to be embarassed to admit that I don't own any calculators. I'm not though. I think it's because I'm more interested in the idea than the application? ( Which "coincidentally" explains, what can charitably be described as, my barely adequate performance in my finals)
ReplyDeleteI have the same attitude towards work - I like the idea, it's the reality i struggle with!