Well, I got my assignments back over the last few days, and I'm really happy with the outcome.
I dropped one point on the M336 TMA, which is actually rather annoying, because I just didn't copy out the whole of an answer from my rough version. It was a question asking what transformation you need to do to move one of the 'motifs' on a freize pattern, onto another. The answer, remaining as vague as feasible, was in two parts: the type of transformation and the point about which you apply it. When I copied out my answer (and I did have it on my draft, because I dug out the sheets to check and lo, the full answer was there), I seem to have stopped the sentence short without fully explaining the point where to apply it. I don't begrudge this costing a mark, because I accept it being a vital bit of information. Just annoyed at myself is all. Though what can you really expect, with the last-minute panic to finish, the all-nighters, and all the other (admittedly self-induced) obstacles. Rather, it's surprising I only dropped one point.
My tutor was very kind in her comments, and gave me some useful advice on what to put more effort into in that block, &ct. I've not met her yet, because I was too busy working on catching up with the material, that I had to skip the tutorial last month. Actually, I had to miss the tutorial for both courses as they were on the same day (they were, however, at different times, which was nice as it meant we can go to both). It was a shame to miss the tutorials, as I do like to go, even if it is a bit of a trek to Leeds, and the fact that I can never find Leeds Metropolitan University when I get there. The problem was, no matter how useful they would be, the 7 hours I spent going to them would not get me any further through the study materials, which was my main concern at the time.
As for M338, well, it was nowhere near as bad as I expected, in fact, I just about pipped into the 80s! Not quite distinction territory, but easily high enough to put me in a good mood all day after I opened the envelope (...Kim opened it actually, as I usually make her check the results, when I'm worried about it). I tend to expect the worst about most things, but this time, I really went overboard! I mean, I was even trying to work out what I needed to do, to make up for it, if I only got 50!
In his comments, my tutor said it is a really tough TMA and that I should be pleased with myself for doing as well as I did. Of course, it's his job to encourage, but regardless of motivation, it made me feel good about myself. I kind of figured, if I managed to do okay under the conditions I was in at the time, I can assume that I might have done very well otherwise. Either way, he did warn us back at the start of the course, that Block A is hardest, whereas Block B is easy, and Block C is just "hard."
For what it's worth, I'm really enjoying the surfaces unit, B1. In fact, I will hopefully get through most of the last part this afternoon/evening. It certainly is a chance to breathe after the ultra-dense Block A. In fact, I am going to go and work on it now. I've already spent enough of the day watching snooker, reading (Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke - very cool), and general pottering around on the Internet. It's time to get productive, I reckon.
By the way, for anyone that didn't catch it, Dara O'Briain's School of Hard Sums, that I mentioned last time, was fairly entertaining. Not ground-breaking TV or anything, but hey, it was worthy enough of watching again tomorrow at least. Warning though, the puzzles aren't particularly hard (and I mean, for "normal" people as well as us mathsy types), but titling inaccuracies aside, it was an enjoyable enough 40 minutes, and I have little else on at eight on a Monday.
Sunday, 22 April 2012
Sunday, 15 April 2012
School of Hard Sums
Hello again,
Just a quickie for anyone who's interested, and doesn't know already.
The practically ubiquitous TV panel show comedy bloke, Dara O'Briain has a new programme tomorrow night on Dave: School of Hard Sums.
http://uktv.co.uk/dave/series/tvseries/257755
I heard him being interviewed about it on Radio 4 t'other day, and it sounded quite interesting.
And look, there's half of Melvyn Bragg's In Our Time maths brigade, Marcus Du Sautoy too...
Note how the set looks like it's right out of an OU video :)
Neil
Edit: Sorry, I just thought. As wrong as I no doubt am, it's wrong of me to give my answer. Deleted.
Just a quickie for anyone who's interested, and doesn't know already.
The practically ubiquitous TV panel show comedy bloke, Dara O'Briain has a new programme tomorrow night on Dave: School of Hard Sums.
http://uktv.co.uk/dave/series/tvseries/257755
I heard him being interviewed about it on Radio 4 t'other day, and it sounded quite interesting.
And look, there's half of Melvyn Bragg's In Our Time maths brigade, Marcus Du Sautoy too...
Note how the set looks like it's right out of an OU video :)
Neil
Edit: Sorry, I just thought. As wrong as I no doubt am, it's wrong of me to give my answer. Deleted.
Saturday, 14 April 2012
The best laid plans, eh
Hi
Sorry for being so rubbish at writing in my blog lately. Actually, this is a symptom of a much wider issue I'm going through of being rubbish at doing anything.
Whether it's been work, study, or just life in general. I've had almost zero motivation and very little capacity to stick at something for any useful period of time. Well, that's not totally true I guess, my capacity to get through Twin Peaks on DVD recently has been admirable, but that's hardly productive...
2012 has been tainted by a general malaise so far, and the worst effect it has had is on my studying. Although I've been equally unmotivated with work, I'm still meeting all my deadlines, being too responsible to do otherwise, and too courteous to refuse work when allocated to me. So despite the many times I've not even got started until 4pm, or when I've had three days to do a job but not started until the final day, work has been mostly unaffected.
I've been looking forward to M338 since before I even started MST121, so it's quite upsetting to be so far behind so soon. I even bought the first three units back in December so I could get started... only I didn't. So where exactly am I? Well, I finished my first TMA, more or less on time, and got 90-odd. I was not expecting there to be a TMA based on the first unit of the course only, so it was lucky that my tutor who, coincidentally is not only from Portsmouth as I am, but did his undergraduate degree at Sheffield Uni, like me... (I wonder if it was at the same time because he looks fairly young; I should ask!), emailed to remind us. The comments on it were very encouraging. However, I had to then switch to M336 to catch up for a while, and somewhere along the way I got to last week, at which point the situation was thus:
M336 TMA due 12th April - relevant units complete
M338 TMA due 13th April - only Unit A2 complete (with the TMA based on A2 - A4)
Well, I got a good start on the M336 TMA over the weekend, but had to put it aside for a bit to finish a big job (it was legal, a contract, and a right pain to complete - involving an all-nighter from Monday, until the deadline at 9am Tuesday). I finally finished the work itself on that TMA sometime Tuesday afternoon/evening. But as I was so knackered from the all-nighter right before, I opted to quit for the day and go to bed early, at ten. Wednesday morning, after driving Kim to uni (it's the holidays but she wanted to go in and do some work), I wrote up the M336 TMA in neat. Of course that took hours, as it always does for me, and I got it to the Post Office at about 2.45 on the 11th. Pretty sure it arrived on time though; it usually does.
So then I found myself faced with M338 TMA02, at around 3pm the day before I had to send it, and only a third of the material covered. Not good! Rather than just dive into it head first, I thought I'd speed read those two units before starting. So from 4 to 6, I blitzed my way through A3 on Topological Spaces, and after dinner, from about 7 to 9 on A4, Closed Sets. I can't deny that I took very little of it in... but I was up for a challenge.
It took me from 9.30 until about 12.30 to do the stuff on A2, Metric Spaces, but I'm fairly confident of that part. In fact, I was pretty pleased with myself over how I cracked the question on proving the third metric space axiom is satisfied by the "vine-picker's metric", though I suspect I went the long way round. By now, putting aside the prospect of another all-nighter so soon, I was feeling pretty good. I figured, well it took me three hours to do the part I knew. Maybe it'll only take twice that to do the rest, so six hours on A3 and six on A4. Actually, fast forward a bit and I found myself only 15 points from the end (though with a 9-pointer skipped), at 5.30am. So I actually went to bed for two hours! Finished those fifteen points by about 10am. Took me just over four hours to write up. Leaving me at 2.30 with the question I'd skipped left to try and do, and hopefully get to the Post Office at 4-ish.
Unfortunately, by this point, I could barely hold a pen and write, let alone be capable of abstract thought. A few false starts, then I just decided to get it to sent.
I'm not expecting a very good result. But, I think, perhaps, that this might have been the kick up the bum I needed. I actually came this close to picking up my text books again later that evening, despite the epic burn-out of the week so far. I talked myself out if it and opted to just lay on the sofa that evening with B'elanna our dog, watching Vinnie Jones as a butcher killing people on the underground (in Midnight Meat Train, based on a Clive Barker short story). Not bad actually, but the makers need to realise that CGI gore looks silly; the flying eyeball put me in mind of the health meter on the first few series of the (excellent) kid's show Knightmare.
My aim for catching up is to continue working through the material from where I actually should be by now, and working on getting through the previous stuff at the same time. I do not think it's in my interests to catch up first, as from experience, I know I'll just end up a unit or two behind throughout. Meanwhile, I think I'm still on schedule with M336, and with some luck, I reckon I can keep it that way.
I'm sure either you've given up reading by now, or would like me to finish soon. So I shall.
Hopefully, by the next time I post, I'll be up-to-date on everything, getting great results back, and just generally having a good time. I doubt things will change quite that quickly, but I reckon I'm over the hill now and will start sorting out, whatever it is that's been going wrong... watch this space!
Neil
Edit: Mentioning Knightmare above made me think.... do you guys remember The Adventure Game in the early 80s, set on the planet Arg? That must've been the highlight of my week when I was little....
Edit 2: The attentive will note that I've been discussing M336, not S282 Astronomy. Well spotted. Actually, I changed my choice within a week or so, due to concerns over the transitional fee rules.
Sorry for being so rubbish at writing in my blog lately. Actually, this is a symptom of a much wider issue I'm going through of being rubbish at doing anything.
Whether it's been work, study, or just life in general. I've had almost zero motivation and very little capacity to stick at something for any useful period of time. Well, that's not totally true I guess, my capacity to get through Twin Peaks on DVD recently has been admirable, but that's hardly productive...
2012 has been tainted by a general malaise so far, and the worst effect it has had is on my studying. Although I've been equally unmotivated with work, I'm still meeting all my deadlines, being too responsible to do otherwise, and too courteous to refuse work when allocated to me. So despite the many times I've not even got started until 4pm, or when I've had three days to do a job but not started until the final day, work has been mostly unaffected.
I've been looking forward to M338 since before I even started MST121, so it's quite upsetting to be so far behind so soon. I even bought the first three units back in December so I could get started... only I didn't. So where exactly am I? Well, I finished my first TMA, more or less on time, and got 90-odd. I was not expecting there to be a TMA based on the first unit of the course only, so it was lucky that my tutor who, coincidentally is not only from Portsmouth as I am, but did his undergraduate degree at Sheffield Uni, like me... (I wonder if it was at the same time because he looks fairly young; I should ask!), emailed to remind us. The comments on it were very encouraging. However, I had to then switch to M336 to catch up for a while, and somewhere along the way I got to last week, at which point the situation was thus:
M336 TMA due 12th April - relevant units complete
M338 TMA due 13th April - only Unit A2 complete (with the TMA based on A2 - A4)
Well, I got a good start on the M336 TMA over the weekend, but had to put it aside for a bit to finish a big job (it was legal, a contract, and a right pain to complete - involving an all-nighter from Monday, until the deadline at 9am Tuesday). I finally finished the work itself on that TMA sometime Tuesday afternoon/evening. But as I was so knackered from the all-nighter right before, I opted to quit for the day and go to bed early, at ten. Wednesday morning, after driving Kim to uni (it's the holidays but she wanted to go in and do some work), I wrote up the M336 TMA in neat. Of course that took hours, as it always does for me, and I got it to the Post Office at about 2.45 on the 11th. Pretty sure it arrived on time though; it usually does.
So then I found myself faced with M338 TMA02, at around 3pm the day before I had to send it, and only a third of the material covered. Not good! Rather than just dive into it head first, I thought I'd speed read those two units before starting. So from 4 to 6, I blitzed my way through A3 on Topological Spaces, and after dinner, from about 7 to 9 on A4, Closed Sets. I can't deny that I took very little of it in... but I was up for a challenge.
It took me from 9.30 until about 12.30 to do the stuff on A2, Metric Spaces, but I'm fairly confident of that part. In fact, I was pretty pleased with myself over how I cracked the question on proving the third metric space axiom is satisfied by the "vine-picker's metric", though I suspect I went the long way round. By now, putting aside the prospect of another all-nighter so soon, I was feeling pretty good. I figured, well it took me three hours to do the part I knew. Maybe it'll only take twice that to do the rest, so six hours on A3 and six on A4. Actually, fast forward a bit and I found myself only 15 points from the end (though with a 9-pointer skipped), at 5.30am. So I actually went to bed for two hours! Finished those fifteen points by about 10am. Took me just over four hours to write up. Leaving me at 2.30 with the question I'd skipped left to try and do, and hopefully get to the Post Office at 4-ish.
Unfortunately, by this point, I could barely hold a pen and write, let alone be capable of abstract thought. A few false starts, then I just decided to get it to sent.
I'm not expecting a very good result. But, I think, perhaps, that this might have been the kick up the bum I needed. I actually came this close to picking up my text books again later that evening, despite the epic burn-out of the week so far. I talked myself out if it and opted to just lay on the sofa that evening with B'elanna our dog, watching Vinnie Jones as a butcher killing people on the underground (in Midnight Meat Train, based on a Clive Barker short story). Not bad actually, but the makers need to realise that CGI gore looks silly; the flying eyeball put me in mind of the health meter on the first few series of the (excellent) kid's show Knightmare.
My aim for catching up is to continue working through the material from where I actually should be by now, and working on getting through the previous stuff at the same time. I do not think it's in my interests to catch up first, as from experience, I know I'll just end up a unit or two behind throughout. Meanwhile, I think I'm still on schedule with M336, and with some luck, I reckon I can keep it that way.
I'm sure either you've given up reading by now, or would like me to finish soon. So I shall.
Hopefully, by the next time I post, I'll be up-to-date on everything, getting great results back, and just generally having a good time. I doubt things will change quite that quickly, but I reckon I'm over the hill now and will start sorting out, whatever it is that's been going wrong... watch this space!
Neil
Edit: Mentioning Knightmare above made me think.... do you guys remember The Adventure Game in the early 80s, set on the planet Arg? That must've been the highlight of my week when I was little....
Edit 2: The attentive will note that I've been discussing M336, not S282 Astronomy. Well spotted. Actually, I changed my choice within a week or so, due to concerns over the transitional fee rules.
Friday, 2 December 2011
The Hiatus is Over
Hi all!
Gosh, I really have been away for a long time. I knew I'd left it a while since last posting, but only just now realised that it was way back on 4th July that I last wrote anything.
Many things have happened in the meantime, the most significant of which is that I got married on 12th August. It was a great day except for the New Forest weather which tried to ruin things right around the time the photos were to be taken. Some of you may appreciate that me and Kim have Mobius wedding rings. While it doesn't do it justice, I've added a picture of mine below (please excuse the state of my fingers, I had a fight with a ferret a couple of weeks ago...)
My M381 TMA was, unfortunately, due around this time. My tutor was kind enough to give me an extension because of the wedding, which certainly helped matters, as I had a few large projects to get finished in my work as well. The M337 TMA was due a few weeks earlier, but again, poor timing on my behalf meant I spend the whole weekend preceding, camping with my brother and a few friends. So I had to get that one out over an intensive all-nighter after getting back. Fortunately, I got good marks on both of these.
In September, we went to New Orleans for a week for our honeymoon. Again, TMA deadlines almost perfectly coincided with our departure, and as you probably know, there is no scope for extension on the final assignments. I managed to complete my M337 TMA in Portsmouth after driving our dog there so my parents could doggy sit while we were away; I only got about two hours sleep though because I spent the whole time trying to get my head around conformal mappings and fluid flows (the Mandelbrot set questions were easier at least), which made the prospect of a four hour drive back a little worrying. Alas, this left me little time to finish my final TMA for M381; I was actually working on it at the airport on the morning we left, but had to post it more than 2/3 unfinished. I thought it would be better at least, to send something, however short, than to skip it altogether. I was quite upset at having to do this, but tried to put it out of my mind, and focus on the fun and exciting (but hot and expensive) week ahead. I was under the slightly deluded impression that I'd be able to study while out there, so I took practically all my textbooks with me, as well as past papers and previous TMAs. Ultimately this just added about 15kg to our luggage for nothing, as I did not one minute of study.
After getting back, it was time to begin thinking about the exams. I am rather annoyed at myself in this regard as I put it off and put it off, and started much later than I should have done. The exams themselves were very hard, though I doubt starting my revision earlier would have changed that too much.
The M337 exam started out okay, but I was behind schedule by the time I got to Part 2, and when faced with the optional questions, quickly realised that I was only really qualified for one of them. You'll have to forgive me because I cannot remember now which that was. My second choice was on generalised circles and Mobius transformations, and I doubt I got many points on that one at all. I left it thinking that I'd probably got a Grade 2, but would not be overly surprised by a Grade 3. A twinkle of hope for a Distinction arose in my mind a few times over the ensuing month and a half but I made a point of quickly extinguishing that each time, as it would only lead to tears.
The M381 exam started out badly and then got worse, or at least that's how it felt. I probably did better than I felt I was doing at the time, when in the throes of mid-exam despair. I got off to a bad start when I took almost half an hour over a question involving a proof by induction. The problem was that I knew I could do it. I knew that if I fiddled long enough I could get the two sides of the induction step to match and therefore complete the proof, so I kept on going until I did. Not the most efficient way of tackling an exam, that's for sure. By the time I'd finished, I had only done eight questions, and since they take your best nine answers across the two topics, that did not bode well either. I can't really recall much of the content; probably a psychological defence mechanism. But I do remember my final question being one where an incomplete formal proof is given and you have to fill in which assumptions (or was it the rules, or both, I'm not sure?) were in use at each step. By the time I got to that point, I had about two minutes left. I tried to to ignore the time and tackle it normally, as I was quite good at this when I did similar questins before. But in the end I had to quickly scrawl out some answers in the hopes I'd score some points by luck, or indeed by hoping my subconscious would do the work for me. Anyway, I left that exam very very depressed. I've not had an exam go so badly since my module on Modern Japanese History in my 2nd year at Sheffield University... at least I didn't leave the M381 exam half-way through knowing that even what I did write was little better than gibberish! So I was hoping for a Grade 2, but expecting a Grade 3 (remember also, I'd only done a small part of the final TMA, and as useful as the substitution rule is, it can't fully counteract something like that!).
Anyway, as some of you must know, the results came out on the night of the 30th. That's almost two weeks earlier than my M208 one last year! I was relieved to find that I'd managed a Grade 2 in both cases. I'm in shock regarding the result of M381, and I keep checking back to make sure they haven't changed their minds on me. I like to think they're not allowed to do that, but I still worry.
I've just signed up, over the phone, for M338 Topology, and as a bit of a diversion (as well as a step back, hopefully, in difficulty) S282 Astronomy. I may even be tempted to get out my telescopes over the winter to get me in the mood; there's already been some very starry nights here. I expect Topology to make M337 and M381 look like child's play, but I've been looking forward to the course itself for a long time, as the topic really interests me. Hopefully that, along with the (presumable) lack of weddings and honeymoons next summer, will help me to do well in it.
I hope everyone else who was awaiting results, has got what they hoped for!
If I don't post again in the meantime, have a great Christmas.
Neil
Gosh, I really have been away for a long time. I knew I'd left it a while since last posting, but only just now realised that it was way back on 4th July that I last wrote anything.
Many things have happened in the meantime, the most significant of which is that I got married on 12th August. It was a great day except for the New Forest weather which tried to ruin things right around the time the photos were to be taken. Some of you may appreciate that me and Kim have Mobius wedding rings. While it doesn't do it justice, I've added a picture of mine below (please excuse the state of my fingers, I had a fight with a ferret a couple of weeks ago...)
My M381 TMA was, unfortunately, due around this time. My tutor was kind enough to give me an extension because of the wedding, which certainly helped matters, as I had a few large projects to get finished in my work as well. The M337 TMA was due a few weeks earlier, but again, poor timing on my behalf meant I spend the whole weekend preceding, camping with my brother and a few friends. So I had to get that one out over an intensive all-nighter after getting back. Fortunately, I got good marks on both of these.
In September, we went to New Orleans for a week for our honeymoon. Again, TMA deadlines almost perfectly coincided with our departure, and as you probably know, there is no scope for extension on the final assignments. I managed to complete my M337 TMA in Portsmouth after driving our dog there so my parents could doggy sit while we were away; I only got about two hours sleep though because I spent the whole time trying to get my head around conformal mappings and fluid flows (the Mandelbrot set questions were easier at least), which made the prospect of a four hour drive back a little worrying. Alas, this left me little time to finish my final TMA for M381; I was actually working on it at the airport on the morning we left, but had to post it more than 2/3 unfinished. I thought it would be better at least, to send something, however short, than to skip it altogether. I was quite upset at having to do this, but tried to put it out of my mind, and focus on the fun and exciting (but hot and expensive) week ahead. I was under the slightly deluded impression that I'd be able to study while out there, so I took practically all my textbooks with me, as well as past papers and previous TMAs. Ultimately this just added about 15kg to our luggage for nothing, as I did not one minute of study.
After getting back, it was time to begin thinking about the exams. I am rather annoyed at myself in this regard as I put it off and put it off, and started much later than I should have done. The exams themselves were very hard, though I doubt starting my revision earlier would have changed that too much.
The M337 exam started out okay, but I was behind schedule by the time I got to Part 2, and when faced with the optional questions, quickly realised that I was only really qualified for one of them. You'll have to forgive me because I cannot remember now which that was. My second choice was on generalised circles and Mobius transformations, and I doubt I got many points on that one at all. I left it thinking that I'd probably got a Grade 2, but would not be overly surprised by a Grade 3. A twinkle of hope for a Distinction arose in my mind a few times over the ensuing month and a half but I made a point of quickly extinguishing that each time, as it would only lead to tears.
The M381 exam started out badly and then got worse, or at least that's how it felt. I probably did better than I felt I was doing at the time, when in the throes of mid-exam despair. I got off to a bad start when I took almost half an hour over a question involving a proof by induction. The problem was that I knew I could do it. I knew that if I fiddled long enough I could get the two sides of the induction step to match and therefore complete the proof, so I kept on going until I did. Not the most efficient way of tackling an exam, that's for sure. By the time I'd finished, I had only done eight questions, and since they take your best nine answers across the two topics, that did not bode well either. I can't really recall much of the content; probably a psychological defence mechanism. But I do remember my final question being one where an incomplete formal proof is given and you have to fill in which assumptions (or was it the rules, or both, I'm not sure?) were in use at each step. By the time I got to that point, I had about two minutes left. I tried to to ignore the time and tackle it normally, as I was quite good at this when I did similar questins before. But in the end I had to quickly scrawl out some answers in the hopes I'd score some points by luck, or indeed by hoping my subconscious would do the work for me. Anyway, I left that exam very very depressed. I've not had an exam go so badly since my module on Modern Japanese History in my 2nd year at Sheffield University... at least I didn't leave the M381 exam half-way through knowing that even what I did write was little better than gibberish! So I was hoping for a Grade 2, but expecting a Grade 3 (remember also, I'd only done a small part of the final TMA, and as useful as the substitution rule is, it can't fully counteract something like that!).
Anyway, as some of you must know, the results came out on the night of the 30th. That's almost two weeks earlier than my M208 one last year! I was relieved to find that I'd managed a Grade 2 in both cases. I'm in shock regarding the result of M381, and I keep checking back to make sure they haven't changed their minds on me. I like to think they're not allowed to do that, but I still worry.
I've just signed up, over the phone, for M338 Topology, and as a bit of a diversion (as well as a step back, hopefully, in difficulty) S282 Astronomy. I may even be tempted to get out my telescopes over the winter to get me in the mood; there's already been some very starry nights here. I expect Topology to make M337 and M381 look like child's play, but I've been looking forward to the course itself for a long time, as the topic really interests me. Hopefully that, along with the (presumable) lack of weddings and honeymoons next summer, will help me to do well in it.
I hope everyone else who was awaiting results, has got what they hoped for!
If I don't post again in the meantime, have a great Christmas.
Neil
Monday, 4 July 2011
Patterns of study
I had not thought this through beforehand, but somewhere along the line I fell into the pattern of completing a whole unit of one of my courses at a time. No one day one one course, the next day the other, then repeat, nor a bit of each course every day. Nope, I work right through one unit of a course for however many days it takes, then work right through the corresponding unit in the other course (though that's not strictly true, as I'm not at the stage of "corresponding units" any more; not since I cut my losses on M381 and accepted that I'd be behind until the end, but you get the idea).
Pro: I get to keep my mind on one area of maths, e.g. Complex Analysis, for a few days without disrupting my flow by having to get my head around Church's Thesis slap-bang in the middle. Then, within Complex Analysis itself, I get to cover an entire unit, which basically equates into a single topic, residues, Laurent series, or whatever, to its conclusion before switching to something completely different. And these courses are different! Psychologically, this way also helps me feel like I'm getting somewhere, you know? Because I can tick off another completed unit fairly quickly. I'm well aware that this is silly, because technically, I should progress at the same pace either way, but it feels effective at least. A schedule placebo of sorts.
Con: I am prone to not remembering diddly when I get back to one course after maybe a week on the other one. This is worse with M381 because of the fact it alternates Logic / Number Theory / Logic.. It could be three weeks by the time I get back to number theory after our last encounter. That can't be too helpful for driving the material home, can it? Would I have had to look up Euclid's Lemma what seems like a hundred times already, if I were chip-chip-chipping away at M381 every day? Who knows?
Anyway, why am I telling you this? I don't know. It just strikes me as curious, that beavering away in the solitude of our homes, we've probably all fallen into patterns of study quite unique to ourselves. I assume they vary wildly. I'd certainly not be surprised to find that any of my fellow OU students are doing a couple of hours of each course per day. But it doesn't work for me. I'm fairly sure that I started off with the intention of doing it that way. And I didn't make a conscious effort to stop either; but it clearly happened at some point.
Until this year, I'd not had two courses at the same time, so I've never had to tackle differing topics concurrently. I opted to do MST121 and MS221 with an overlap, starting one in the autumn and the other in February, but it wasn't quite the same. Not only were there long periods of one course only, but they also complemented each other in terms of content. Then of course, M208 was a 60-pointer, so it was not an issue there either. In fact, that's the one thing I find attractive about the upcoming level 3 pure maths course; at least in terms of scheduling, there'll be no need to work out how to go about it. Though, I'm not interested in any other way than that, and I'm so glad I started with the OU when I did, so I'm still on for M338 Topology next year before it goes bye-bye.
Neil H
Pro: I get to keep my mind on one area of maths, e.g. Complex Analysis, for a few days without disrupting my flow by having to get my head around Church's Thesis slap-bang in the middle. Then, within Complex Analysis itself, I get to cover an entire unit, which basically equates into a single topic, residues, Laurent series, or whatever, to its conclusion before switching to something completely different. And these courses are different! Psychologically, this way also helps me feel like I'm getting somewhere, you know? Because I can tick off another completed unit fairly quickly. I'm well aware that this is silly, because technically, I should progress at the same pace either way, but it feels effective at least. A schedule placebo of sorts.
Con: I am prone to not remembering diddly when I get back to one course after maybe a week on the other one. This is worse with M381 because of the fact it alternates Logic / Number Theory / Logic.. It could be three weeks by the time I get back to number theory after our last encounter. That can't be too helpful for driving the material home, can it? Would I have had to look up Euclid's Lemma what seems like a hundred times already, if I were chip-chip-chipping away at M381 every day? Who knows?
Anyway, why am I telling you this? I don't know. It just strikes me as curious, that beavering away in the solitude of our homes, we've probably all fallen into patterns of study quite unique to ourselves. I assume they vary wildly. I'd certainly not be surprised to find that any of my fellow OU students are doing a couple of hours of each course per day. But it doesn't work for me. I'm fairly sure that I started off with the intention of doing it that way. And I didn't make a conscious effort to stop either; but it clearly happened at some point.
Until this year, I'd not had two courses at the same time, so I've never had to tackle differing topics concurrently. I opted to do MST121 and MS221 with an overlap, starting one in the autumn and the other in February, but it wasn't quite the same. Not only were there long periods of one course only, but they also complemented each other in terms of content. Then of course, M208 was a 60-pointer, so it was not an issue there either. In fact, that's the one thing I find attractive about the upcoming level 3 pure maths course; at least in terms of scheduling, there'll be no need to work out how to go about it. Though, I'm not interested in any other way than that, and I'm so glad I started with the OU when I did, so I'm still on for M338 Topology next year before it goes bye-bye.
Neil H
Sunday, 26 June 2011
Ingenious and correct, but...
I got my TMAs back this week. Upper nineties on both counts, so very pleased, and a little surprised. In complex analysis specifically, because, for the first time since starting OU studies, I am finding it hard to convince myself that my answers are right, and am therefore sending off these assignments with no idea of a ballpark result. Of course I hope everything is correct, and wait fingers crossed each time, hoping for that elusive 100%, but try equally to prepare myself for a paper covered in mistakes. It's hard to put my feelings on this subject into words; I'm finding it equally as frustrating as I am interesting.
Nevertheless, M337 recently led me to my number one, all time greatest, mathematical achievement... ever. Albeit an unnecessary one. It was an equation I devised for the Laurent Series asked for in the final question of the assignment. I pieced this equation together from a few flukily spotted patterns and not a small amount of head scratching, over the last hour or so before enveloping the assignment up and rushing it to the post office. Ever since, I have found it frequently on my mind. I randomly write it up on my blackboard, or on my A4 pad, and just marvel at it. Somehow I had come up with this! Pretty sad behaviour to be fair. But still, if this is how I react to coming up with one good equation, well, how must it feel to be someone like Andrew Wiles and crack Fermat after almost 360 years?
When I got the marked version back, my tutor Alan Slomson commented thus: "This is ingenious and correct, but you didn't really need to find a formula of this kind" Yep, ingenious and correct, but totally unnecessary. Somehow that makes me feel even better. Like I went above and beyond the call of duty. Don't get me wrong, I don't think I'm some kind of expert. I'm sure many others came up with something similar or better, but it was one of those moments, all too rare, when you just know that you've devised something special. If nothing else, it's proven to me that I'm getting the hang of the 2D nature of working in the complex plane, and specifically, how useful e can be.
I'm still a long way from owning the subject of complex analysis, but I'm slowly slowly getting there. As before, the two good assignment results have inspired me to up the pace a bit, and put more effort in. But I will have to wait until tomorrow before getting back to it, as I have a job due at 1am tonight. I should have done half of it yesterday (in fact I should have done a third of it on Friday, and another third yesterday), but we know how I work in that regard. Why do today what you can put of until tomorrow? And why do today and tomorrow what you can put off until the day after that, so you have to work all day to finish in time? That's me.
Well, happy studying everyone!
Saturday, 11 June 2011
Rushedicus Assessmenticus
What a week!
We went down to Portsmouth for a few days to make up for the fact that we didn't visit over Easter (it was right in the middle of Kim's exam period). Headed off at about seven Sunday morning, for the long, boring, not to mention expensive these days, drive. Caught up with friends for some drinks and pool, took our parents out for a joint meal for late Mother's Day / early Father's Day, even saw my brother for once, drove to Rhinefield House to try our wedding menu, and a whole lot more. I told the agencies that I was mostly unavailable, but that I'd still do my press conferences (third month now, and not the slightest bit easier!) except Wednesday and Thursday, when I had to do other stuff, including a 6000 word checking job. Not easy without a desk, pirched on the edge of the bed, using the back of an A4 pad on the duvet for the mouse. Just glad there were no internet problems to boot; I often find myself randomly disconnected by my parents' Sky router, or inexplicably unable to connect in the first place.
Oh yes, then there was M381 TMA 02 due in on the 9th. Somehow, I did manage to get it done, and posted it at about 1pm on the 8th; I hope it turned up on time. For the first time, I came this close to actually leaving a question out. All of Question 4 in fact was killing me. I bloody took an hour and a half on a two point question!? Even then I didn't think I'd got it right. There's something at least, that can be said for writing it up by hand, because I end up thinking it through almost as much second time around, and reckon I cracked that one in the end. Not the best ratio of time taken to progress made though, eh?
So, the question I almost left, well, of course I can't go into details, but it was of the form "use (a) to explain (b)". I couldn't actually see how the two were related. Not the best place to start trying to prove something from. I tried just getting down and writing in the hopes that one thing would lead to another and that up from the depths of my subconscious mind, a beautiful proof would spring. It didn't. As of about 11am on the 8th I still hadn't done it, but at least I'd written the rest up. So I said to myself I'd try for another hour, and then give up and go to the post office. Suddenly, inspiration hit. I'm not sure it's right, but it's a whole lot righter than nothing, right? Right. I felt naughty writing some of my final remarks though, as I knew that what I was saying was a bit vague and not fully justified, but I couldn't leave it that close to completion without tying it up. If I redeemed any points from that question, at least that last ditch effort would've been worth something. If I didn't, well, I won't' have lost anything. Confidence in my ability to prove things won't be affected, as it's basically zero anyway.
That said, there was a very interesting question on ISBNs. The numbers are actually based on congruence modulo 11. Who'd have thought!? So anyway, there were a couple of provey questions in that one too. And I'm fairly pleased with myself over the second one in particular. Coming up with a proof of your own, that at least appears to be right, is a great feeling. Especially when it's so rare, as it is in my case. The other week I was chuffed to bits over proving two things in M337 about Taylor Series as requested, taking a side of A4 on each, only to find that they were really five-or-so line proofs in the solutions sections. Still, I guess mine were right in their own way. It's a great feeling nevertheless. It puts me in mind of the scene in Good Will Hunting, where the teacher (Professor Lambeau?) is hitting on some girl, explaining to her how moving and beautiful a proof can be. I wonder if that has ever worked for anyone?
Oh yes, there were more URM-related questions, so I will assume the worst, and expect them to be very wrong. I think, finally, we're done with them now though. Time to celebrate, methinks.
Now, just as last time around, I'm left with a few days to finish the M337 TMA, and of course, have a job to juggle at the same time. The TMA is due on the 15th, the translation on the 16th. It's about 4800 words so I'm hoping to do 1600 a day for the next 3 days, then checking Tuesday, and rewriting into good English Wednesday. The topic sure doesn't look easy: nitrate contaminated groundwater. But at least they sent me a pretty detailed word list which will help. It's looking like I'll have a maths translation for the following week, which I'm quite looking forward to. As well, I'm eagerly anticipating being able to breathe again, with the M337 assignment out of the way. I think this one will not go well; there's just so many theorems at my disposal to potentially use, that I'm doubtful I'll get them right. Especially under the rushed conditions I've left myself, but who knows. Until I really start on it (at around seven tonight, all going to plan), I won't know.
I was worried that this will happen again next time; the TMA schedule so far has been roughly bimonthly, with the courses following one week after t'other. Well, exactly two months tomorrow I'll be getting married. I could really do without having get two TMAs out on consecutive weeks around that. Being busy will be bad enough, but then there's the lack of a desk, or any space in general, and the background noise of TV's and parents - really messes with my Zen thing, man. I didn't really even have anything to lean on this week (my poor M381 tutor has some seriously dodgy handwriting to deal with as a result).
Ultimately, I determined that I'd just take the financial hit, and cancel work for the week if there's a schedule conflict. Fortunately this is not so; both assignments are due the week before. But I'll have instead to contend with the fact that they're due in on consecutive days.
This time, I really must work through them as I study the material. I came close to doing it this time around. Sort of anyway. After about a month of the present cycle, I wrote out a schedule on my whiteboard, one question of each TMA alternating day by day, to get them all finished and written up with a few days to go before the respective deadlines. I should have known that'd be a waste of time, that I'd do it for two days, then forget about it (a glance at the whiteboard shows that I only did it for one day; there's a lonely tick next to day two's M337 question). I assume I thought, hey, I can always go back and do extra the following day right? I still kid myself that this is the right way to conduct myself, after doing it for work for almost four years. I guess I'll never learn. I do however, intend to learn to get TMAs done relatively early.
Whoa, that was a long post! Sorry about that, I got a bit carried away. Congratulations if you actually made it to the end.
Neil H
We went down to Portsmouth for a few days to make up for the fact that we didn't visit over Easter (it was right in the middle of Kim's exam period). Headed off at about seven Sunday morning, for the long, boring, not to mention expensive these days, drive. Caught up with friends for some drinks and pool, took our parents out for a joint meal for late Mother's Day / early Father's Day, even saw my brother for once, drove to Rhinefield House to try our wedding menu, and a whole lot more. I told the agencies that I was mostly unavailable, but that I'd still do my press conferences (third month now, and not the slightest bit easier!) except Wednesday and Thursday, when I had to do other stuff, including a 6000 word checking job. Not easy without a desk, pirched on the edge of the bed, using the back of an A4 pad on the duvet for the mouse. Just glad there were no internet problems to boot; I often find myself randomly disconnected by my parents' Sky router, or inexplicably unable to connect in the first place.
Oh yes, then there was M381 TMA 02 due in on the 9th. Somehow, I did manage to get it done, and posted it at about 1pm on the 8th; I hope it turned up on time. For the first time, I came this close to actually leaving a question out. All of Question 4 in fact was killing me. I bloody took an hour and a half on a two point question!? Even then I didn't think I'd got it right. There's something at least, that can be said for writing it up by hand, because I end up thinking it through almost as much second time around, and reckon I cracked that one in the end. Not the best ratio of time taken to progress made though, eh?
So, the question I almost left, well, of course I can't go into details, but it was of the form "use (a) to explain (b)". I couldn't actually see how the two were related. Not the best place to start trying to prove something from. I tried just getting down and writing in the hopes that one thing would lead to another and that up from the depths of my subconscious mind, a beautiful proof would spring. It didn't. As of about 11am on the 8th I still hadn't done it, but at least I'd written the rest up. So I said to myself I'd try for another hour, and then give up and go to the post office. Suddenly, inspiration hit. I'm not sure it's right, but it's a whole lot righter than nothing, right? Right. I felt naughty writing some of my final remarks though, as I knew that what I was saying was a bit vague and not fully justified, but I couldn't leave it that close to completion without tying it up. If I redeemed any points from that question, at least that last ditch effort would've been worth something. If I didn't, well, I won't' have lost anything. Confidence in my ability to prove things won't be affected, as it's basically zero anyway.
That said, there was a very interesting question on ISBNs. The numbers are actually based on congruence modulo 11. Who'd have thought!? So anyway, there were a couple of provey questions in that one too. And I'm fairly pleased with myself over the second one in particular. Coming up with a proof of your own, that at least appears to be right, is a great feeling. Especially when it's so rare, as it is in my case. The other week I was chuffed to bits over proving two things in M337 about Taylor Series as requested, taking a side of A4 on each, only to find that they were really five-or-so line proofs in the solutions sections. Still, I guess mine were right in their own way. It's a great feeling nevertheless. It puts me in mind of the scene in Good Will Hunting, where the teacher (Professor Lambeau?) is hitting on some girl, explaining to her how moving and beautiful a proof can be. I wonder if that has ever worked for anyone?
Oh yes, there were more URM-related questions, so I will assume the worst, and expect them to be very wrong. I think, finally, we're done with them now though. Time to celebrate, methinks.
Now, just as last time around, I'm left with a few days to finish the M337 TMA, and of course, have a job to juggle at the same time. The TMA is due on the 15th, the translation on the 16th. It's about 4800 words so I'm hoping to do 1600 a day for the next 3 days, then checking Tuesday, and rewriting into good English Wednesday. The topic sure doesn't look easy: nitrate contaminated groundwater. But at least they sent me a pretty detailed word list which will help. It's looking like I'll have a maths translation for the following week, which I'm quite looking forward to. As well, I'm eagerly anticipating being able to breathe again, with the M337 assignment out of the way. I think this one will not go well; there's just so many theorems at my disposal to potentially use, that I'm doubtful I'll get them right. Especially under the rushed conditions I've left myself, but who knows. Until I really start on it (at around seven tonight, all going to plan), I won't know.
I was worried that this will happen again next time; the TMA schedule so far has been roughly bimonthly, with the courses following one week after t'other. Well, exactly two months tomorrow I'll be getting married. I could really do without having get two TMAs out on consecutive weeks around that. Being busy will be bad enough, but then there's the lack of a desk, or any space in general, and the background noise of TV's and parents - really messes with my Zen thing, man. I didn't really even have anything to lean on this week (my poor M381 tutor has some seriously dodgy handwriting to deal with as a result).
Ultimately, I determined that I'd just take the financial hit, and cancel work for the week if there's a schedule conflict. Fortunately this is not so; both assignments are due the week before. But I'll have instead to contend with the fact that they're due in on consecutive days.
This time, I really must work through them as I study the material. I came close to doing it this time around. Sort of anyway. After about a month of the present cycle, I wrote out a schedule on my whiteboard, one question of each TMA alternating day by day, to get them all finished and written up with a few days to go before the respective deadlines. I should have known that'd be a waste of time, that I'd do it for two days, then forget about it (a glance at the whiteboard shows that I only did it for one day; there's a lonely tick next to day two's M337 question). I assume I thought, hey, I can always go back and do extra the following day right? I still kid myself that this is the right way to conduct myself, after doing it for work for almost four years. I guess I'll never learn. I do however, intend to learn to get TMAs done relatively early.
Whoa, that was a long post! Sorry about that, I got a bit carried away. Congratulations if you actually made it to the end.
Neil H
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