So, finals
Finals have come and gone, but news of them is only now getting blogged about (from me at least).
First of all, I had 3 finals: MATH 224 was first, on Tues 12 at 4 pm. Then came JAPN 101 on Thurs 14 at 9:30 am. Last was PHYS 203 on Tues 19 at 4 pm.
So anyway, that math class was calculus 4, differential equations. Can I say easy? Well, I know I can -- what I mean is, will you forgive me for saying so? Before the first test, I did about half the homework assignments, and I studied for about two hours (the day of the test). I got a 93% on it. Well and well, I know what that means -- I don't have to work as hard. For the next test, I did a grand total of one homework assignment, and I studied for only about one hour the day of the test. At that, I spent a good deal of that one hour simply fretting that I wasn't ready. I finished the one hour test in twenty minutes, turning it in amid snorts of disbelief from my classmates (and I only brag on my blog). I got a 91% on it. Yup, more slacking off for me. I had always gone to class before that point -- every day. And, I continued to go to class every day. But now I'd show up anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes late to the 50 minute class. I did no homework assignments. I fell asleep in the back of the classroom twice. When it came time to study, I spent one hour the night before learning all the material and one hour before the test reviewing it. I was first done again, but not quite so spectacularly, and I got a 92%. Fairly consistant, I thought.
Now, there were also assignments in this class that were graded. "Labs" they were called. These could be done with partners, and there was plenty of time to do them. My partner and I did them the night before they were due and did quite poorly, unfortunately. So, at the end of the semester, there was only the final and one lab left; and I calculated that I could miss only 16 of the remaining 240 points to get a 90% in the class, which was a guaranteed "A". I figured I'd need all of those points on the final, and stressed endlessly about the lab. We did it the night before it was due. And, surprisingly, only missed three points on it -- allowing me to miss 13 points on the 200 point final.
I finished the 3 hour final in an hour. I spent two more hours redoing every problem using different techiniques, and taking the answer and doing the reverse calculations to find the original problem. Everything was perfect. I haven't seen my grade on the final itself, but I did get the "A" in math :-).
Ahhhh, Japanese. See, at the beginning of the semester I stayed on top of things. I learned all the vocabulary, and the grammar was simple. I would get even better than 100% on the quizes. Then, things went wrong. Work piled up, stress increased, and... some things went wrong. I stopped learning. I did my homework in the time between my classes the day it was due. If it required the language learning center website (which didn't work on the computer in the physics lounge), I didn't do it, and I didn't turn it in. On the midterm, which was both written and oral, I got 80/100 written and 40/50 oral: an 80%. I felt that was good, considering I hadn't prepared much (or well).
As the semester progressed, I didn't improve my work at all. If anything, I got worse. Earlier, though I was behind, I still managed to learn all of the kanji (Chinese characters) that were assigned, but that stopped and I fell behind on those too. My grades on homework and quizes started to reflect more clearly my grade on the midterm. And then came the final along with it's oral part, and I was two chapters behind on vocabulary. I never did learn a good portion of those words. Worse still, the oral presentation was the same day as a presentation I had to give for my seminar class on farming -- and I hadn't prepared either. The night before those presentations I stayed up all night, thanks to liberal use of caffeine. Well, "all night" is a relative term: I took a nap from 5:30 am to 6:30 am, at which point I went to the library to continue working. I've never had so much caffeine in my life. After one double expresso shot, I was alert as never before -- yes, I was high on caffeine. And, in response to the drug, I called my dad to let him know I was high. I was sure he'd want to know. He wished me luck on my presentations.
My seminar presentation went flawlessly. It was a group activity, and it was in English so I could B.S., as is my wont, fluently. We scored 10/10 100%. Then it was time for my Japanese oral. I helped myself to more coffee. Here's the rundown: it wasn't terrible. I managed my lines, even if my arms were shaking. But, when it came time to answer questions, I blew it. I was asked "Did your father swim in the ocean, too?" I understood it, perfectly, and was proud of myself. I instantly thought "until he lost his glasses in the waves". Unfortunately, I don't know a single one of those words in japanese -- not even "he", if they have such a word. I was tongue-tied for the rest of the exam, and I know it affected my grade. Anyway, I got a 42/50 on that oral; I suppose it paid off to partner up with two of the best in the class ;-).
The written final was as bad. I progressed fluently through the test at a reasonable rate, getting to the end at about the three hour mark. The down side: I left blanks where I couldn't think of the Japanese word, or I didn't know what a word meant. Again I don't know how I did on the test, but I got a "B" in the class.
Now, if there is anything to say about my circuits class (PHYS 203), it's this: "fun, fun, fun". I honestly enjoyed that class thoroughly. Constructing circuits that use digital logic to solve problems was like solving a puzzle. The whole class was like a game. The night before the final I printed out one of the review tests. I skipped right to the end; there were two practice "make a circuit" problems. I read one of them. The concept was to design a circuit that could take an oscillating voltage of unknown amplitude, DC offset, waveform, and frequency and determine and display both its frequency and period using both analog techniques and digital logic. As my classmates, who were studying with me, went through the practice test, I lay on my back on the floor and considered it. The next day, before the test, several of us were again studying, this time in the physics lounge. I solved that problem. It made me happy. Then, I colored in a coloring book that Megan had brought along, using crayons that were conveniently stored in the lounge.
The test wasn't bad at all. I went through the problems, maybe a bit too fast. I probably made some stupid mistakes and never went back to fix them. I was distracted: there was an extra credit problem. "You have two phototransistors and two LED's (light-emitting-diodes), a ruler, and a protractor. You also have any equipment you would find in the lab. You can earn one extra credit point for each unique method for measuring distance that you come up with. Simply using the ruler is not acceptable. Methods cannot use the same principal." (That's not a direct quote, just from memory.) This came from a joke we had been told days previous in class, about a physics student who was asked on a test how to measure the height of a building using a barometer. The student responded to measure the lenght of the barometer, then use a ladder to scale the building and mark off barometer lenghts up its height. Then, simply count them up and multiply by the barometer's length. The student recieved an "F", but appealed to the dean. He was then put before a panel to determine whether he would pass. They told him, "Your answer is technically correct, but unfortunately does not show an understanding of the subject. To determine whether you deserve to pass, we will give you this oportunity to display to us what you have learned this semester. You have ten minutes, go." The student sat and thought. After several minutes had passed, they reminded him he was on the clock, so he stood up and started: "There are other solutions available of course: for example, one could drop the barometer from the top of the building and time how long it takes to hit the ground. The height of the building can then be determined by Newton's laws. Pity about the barometer, though. Or, on a bright day, one could stand the barometer up and measure it's height and the length of it's shadow, and the lenght of the building's shadow. Simple trigonometery would yield the height of the building. A more world-wise person might just go up to a custodian who worked there and say 'I'll give you this nice barometer if you tell me the height of the building.' And, of course, if one was boring and not creative, the height of the building could be determined by measuring the air pressure at the top of the building and at the bottom, determining each's height above sea level, and subtracting -- but that would require an unusually accurate barometer."
Anyway, I enjoyed the joke and the extra credit problem. I came up with 8 different meathods, one of which was serious. Two may have been too similar to give credit, but that's water under the bridge: I got an "A" in the class :-D.
Lastly was SAGES, my seminar class, which had no final. I got a "B" in it. That's all there is to say about that.
I apologize about the lenght of this blog entry, but perhaps it'll make up for me not posting recently.
First of all, I had 3 finals: MATH 224 was first, on Tues 12 at 4 pm. Then came JAPN 101 on Thurs 14 at 9:30 am. Last was PHYS 203 on Tues 19 at 4 pm.
So anyway, that math class was calculus 4, differential equations. Can I say easy? Well, I know I can -- what I mean is, will you forgive me for saying so? Before the first test, I did about half the homework assignments, and I studied for about two hours (the day of the test). I got a 93% on it. Well and well, I know what that means -- I don't have to work as hard. For the next test, I did a grand total of one homework assignment, and I studied for only about one hour the day of the test. At that, I spent a good deal of that one hour simply fretting that I wasn't ready. I finished the one hour test in twenty minutes, turning it in amid snorts of disbelief from my classmates (and I only brag on my blog). I got a 91% on it. Yup, more slacking off for me. I had always gone to class before that point -- every day. And, I continued to go to class every day. But now I'd show up anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes late to the 50 minute class. I did no homework assignments. I fell asleep in the back of the classroom twice. When it came time to study, I spent one hour the night before learning all the material and one hour before the test reviewing it. I was first done again, but not quite so spectacularly, and I got a 92%. Fairly consistant, I thought.
Now, there were also assignments in this class that were graded. "Labs" they were called. These could be done with partners, and there was plenty of time to do them. My partner and I did them the night before they were due and did quite poorly, unfortunately. So, at the end of the semester, there was only the final and one lab left; and I calculated that I could miss only 16 of the remaining 240 points to get a 90% in the class, which was a guaranteed "A". I figured I'd need all of those points on the final, and stressed endlessly about the lab. We did it the night before it was due. And, surprisingly, only missed three points on it -- allowing me to miss 13 points on the 200 point final.
I finished the 3 hour final in an hour. I spent two more hours redoing every problem using different techiniques, and taking the answer and doing the reverse calculations to find the original problem. Everything was perfect. I haven't seen my grade on the final itself, but I did get the "A" in math :-).
Ahhhh, Japanese. See, at the beginning of the semester I stayed on top of things. I learned all the vocabulary, and the grammar was simple. I would get even better than 100% on the quizes. Then, things went wrong. Work piled up, stress increased, and... some things went wrong. I stopped learning. I did my homework in the time between my classes the day it was due. If it required the language learning center website (which didn't work on the computer in the physics lounge), I didn't do it, and I didn't turn it in. On the midterm, which was both written and oral, I got 80/100 written and 40/50 oral: an 80%. I felt that was good, considering I hadn't prepared much (or well).
As the semester progressed, I didn't improve my work at all. If anything, I got worse. Earlier, though I was behind, I still managed to learn all of the kanji (Chinese characters) that were assigned, but that stopped and I fell behind on those too. My grades on homework and quizes started to reflect more clearly my grade on the midterm. And then came the final along with it's oral part, and I was two chapters behind on vocabulary. I never did learn a good portion of those words. Worse still, the oral presentation was the same day as a presentation I had to give for my seminar class on farming -- and I hadn't prepared either. The night before those presentations I stayed up all night, thanks to liberal use of caffeine. Well, "all night" is a relative term: I took a nap from 5:30 am to 6:30 am, at which point I went to the library to continue working. I've never had so much caffeine in my life. After one double expresso shot, I was alert as never before -- yes, I was high on caffeine. And, in response to the drug, I called my dad to let him know I was high. I was sure he'd want to know. He wished me luck on my presentations.
My seminar presentation went flawlessly. It was a group activity, and it was in English so I could B.S., as is my wont, fluently. We scored 10/10 100%. Then it was time for my Japanese oral. I helped myself to more coffee. Here's the rundown: it wasn't terrible. I managed my lines, even if my arms were shaking. But, when it came time to answer questions, I blew it. I was asked "Did your father swim in the ocean, too?" I understood it, perfectly, and was proud of myself. I instantly thought "until he lost his glasses in the waves". Unfortunately, I don't know a single one of those words in japanese -- not even "he", if they have such a word. I was tongue-tied for the rest of the exam, and I know it affected my grade. Anyway, I got a 42/50 on that oral; I suppose it paid off to partner up with two of the best in the class ;-).
The written final was as bad. I progressed fluently through the test at a reasonable rate, getting to the end at about the three hour mark. The down side: I left blanks where I couldn't think of the Japanese word, or I didn't know what a word meant. Again I don't know how I did on the test, but I got a "B" in the class.
Now, if there is anything to say about my circuits class (PHYS 203), it's this: "fun, fun, fun". I honestly enjoyed that class thoroughly. Constructing circuits that use digital logic to solve problems was like solving a puzzle. The whole class was like a game. The night before the final I printed out one of the review tests. I skipped right to the end; there were two practice "make a circuit" problems. I read one of them. The concept was to design a circuit that could take an oscillating voltage of unknown amplitude, DC offset, waveform, and frequency and determine and display both its frequency and period using both analog techniques and digital logic. As my classmates, who were studying with me, went through the practice test, I lay on my back on the floor and considered it. The next day, before the test, several of us were again studying, this time in the physics lounge. I solved that problem. It made me happy. Then, I colored in a coloring book that Megan had brought along, using crayons that were conveniently stored in the lounge.
The test wasn't bad at all. I went through the problems, maybe a bit too fast. I probably made some stupid mistakes and never went back to fix them. I was distracted: there was an extra credit problem. "You have two phototransistors and two LED's (light-emitting-diodes), a ruler, and a protractor. You also have any equipment you would find in the lab. You can earn one extra credit point for each unique method for measuring distance that you come up with. Simply using the ruler is not acceptable. Methods cannot use the same principal." (That's not a direct quote, just from memory.) This came from a joke we had been told days previous in class, about a physics student who was asked on a test how to measure the height of a building using a barometer. The student responded to measure the lenght of the barometer, then use a ladder to scale the building and mark off barometer lenghts up its height. Then, simply count them up and multiply by the barometer's length. The student recieved an "F", but appealed to the dean. He was then put before a panel to determine whether he would pass. They told him, "Your answer is technically correct, but unfortunately does not show an understanding of the subject. To determine whether you deserve to pass, we will give you this oportunity to display to us what you have learned this semester. You have ten minutes, go." The student sat and thought. After several minutes had passed, they reminded him he was on the clock, so he stood up and started: "There are other solutions available of course: for example, one could drop the barometer from the top of the building and time how long it takes to hit the ground. The height of the building can then be determined by Newton's laws. Pity about the barometer, though. Or, on a bright day, one could stand the barometer up and measure it's height and the length of it's shadow, and the lenght of the building's shadow. Simple trigonometery would yield the height of the building. A more world-wise person might just go up to a custodian who worked there and say 'I'll give you this nice barometer if you tell me the height of the building.' And, of course, if one was boring and not creative, the height of the building could be determined by measuring the air pressure at the top of the building and at the bottom, determining each's height above sea level, and subtracting -- but that would require an unusually accurate barometer."
Anyway, I enjoyed the joke and the extra credit problem. I came up with 8 different meathods, one of which was serious. Two may have been too similar to give credit, but that's water under the bridge: I got an "A" in the class :-D.
Lastly was SAGES, my seminar class, which had no final. I got a "B" in it. That's all there is to say about that.
I apologize about the lenght of this blog entry, but perhaps it'll make up for me not posting recently.
posted by Corrag at 2:48 AM
3 comments
