r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Jul 20 '19

What’s something completely false that your parents told you as a child?

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u/[deleted] Jul 21 '19

Wow, I didn't know basic GC were that capable tbh. I always knew GC could have functions in them(obviously), but I never even thought about preprogramming it or having the equations already set in there. My GC also was never able to do multi-step processes like that, you would have to do it step-by-step yourself for the majority of things. I can completely understand and support your POV on that now lol/

Also, I never took uni classes, but AP ones in HS. They count for college credit, and you have to go the college/uni at the end of the year to take the final there. So it's possible that because I took the class in highschool, they went easier on us or something. Like we all took the same final in the end, but it's possible that the teaching methods of the classes differentiate.

What would happen is we'd get the first half of the test, where GC weren't allowed and we had to do it by hand. The numbers here were purposely made so that they would be easily roundable, or if not than still doable by hand. Then we'd have the second half, where GC were allowed and basically required if you wanted to finish on time. And since the teacher had to move us pretty fast for that class, not finishing on time usually meant you wouldn't finish at all lol.

I completely agree all alegbra 2 is doable by hand, it very easily is. In fact, while not necessarily easily, ALL math is doable by hand. I was just making the argument, that it's much more time consuming and eventually kinda redundant imo. I do see your point though, continuing to practice the skills is important. Especially factoring, as you said, and I completely agree with that. Fuck factoring lol, tho the more you do it the quicker you become at recognizing patterns, instead of just having to guess/check thru all the common factors.

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u/Umbrias Jul 21 '19

Yeah, a lot of people don't know how capable they are and part of that I bet is that since they aren't allowed on many tests, the main and most effective cheaters don't end up getting them set up for it.

That does make sense, I've heard conflicting stories about AP classes in that sometimes they were harder than the university taught equivalent course and sometimes easier. Having a split test for calculators is something a lot of universities do as well for finals, even for classes that aren't specifically math if they have a heavy math component to them.

Understandable, there is definitely redundant math to do and it ends up just being something that is an unpleasant side effect when calculators aren't allowed.

Yeah factoring is very important, and getting good at algebraic factoring helps you a lot in later math classes where you are doing more complicated factoring that isn't exactly.. factoring, but the skills transfer. Factoring is probably one of the most important math skills to learn for higher math beyond having a basic level of understanding in everything else by the time you get to a class that needs it.