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/sci/ - Science & Math

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4594880 No.4594880 [Reply] [Original]

>tfw when physics exam average score is a 52%
>tfw i got a 45%
>tfw professor doesn't curve

>> No.4594887

Sounds like a shitty professor. Not for the lack of curve, but for the apparent lack of any decent teaching ability.

>> No.4594894

every test on every subject should be curved

>> No.4594898

no big deal. just gives the prof an opportunity to adjust the final grade later on

>> No.4594901

>scoring below the average on a test
why are you even here?

>> No.4594914

OP here, Fuck /sci/ I don't know what to do.

I'm breezing through calc 3 and discrete math, but babby's first physics is kicking my ass. I'm just fighting to hang on to my C, and my uni is on tougher GPA system so a low C is technically is a 1.67.

Anybody have any tips for studying physics? I already do all the problem sets on my own and work through examples, but it just isn't as intuitive like pure math is for me

>> No.4594924

>Take a statistics exam
>Everybody gets around a 50%.
>Some faggot gets a perfect score and throws off curve
I know this was you, /sci/. Fess up.

>> No.4594927

>>4594914
maybe you just don't have the talent
stick with what you're good at
mathematics is a very honourable field, you don't have to do physics

>> No.4594932

>>4594914
if pure math is your thing, you probably suck dick at applied math. im serious. that can of course be changed

there is an old soviet era calculus book and physics book id recommend to you but i cant remember the authors names at the moment. let me look. the physics book is very, VERY detailed on how to apply math to the problems

>> No.4594934

>>4594914
I'm studying for my physics final right now, what are you having trouble with? I could use some practice.

>> No.4594942

>>4594932
mir publishing books?

>> No.4594953

>>4594932
This is true. I'm a senior student in pure maths and have been on NSERC (Canada's overlord government kind of grant) for years but I recently got 35% on a calc midterm. The fuck.

>> No.4594963

>>4594942
Yes!

>> No.4594964
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4594964

>>4594932
>>4594927

Maybe you two are right.

I mean, I try and do most of the derivations on my own to get the equations that are tossed at us on our equation sheets. In discrete math I'm rocking the number theory proofing (end of text challenge questions, nonetheless), but finding a simple equation for torque in a system is beyond me.

>> No.4594967

>physics
>average score 52

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

>> No.4594988

>>4594963
Pishkunov is the author of the calc book probably. I liked it better than Spivak. It's somewhat like Kline in that it's intuitive but he doesn't ramble on and on like either of those guys.

It's still long and covers stuff I doubt many US math undergrads have seen so I doubt OP will have time to digest it. Still I agree good book.

>> No.4595004

>>4594934

Right now I feel good with what were finishing up now. (Fluids, heat engines, and just a clusterfuck of basic thermodynamics)

Solving dynamics problems with torque/force/newton's laws is just a huge weak spot. I understand the concepts and the math is easy, it's just getting the equations to represent the scenarios that kills me.

>>4594988
Bookmarked it, thanks for the recommendation.

I've been slowly trekking through Spivak in my spare time and it's amazing, It just takes awhile for it to sink in and get to that "Aha!" moment.

>> No.4595005

So you have meh tier spatial intelligence, probably.

>> No.4595009

>>4594924
Oh, this reminds me
>Thermo class
>Consistent 50% average for tests throughout the class
>Except for this one bitch who always gets 90s
>Day of the final
>Prof. walks over to her
>"You really don't need to take this, you have your A"
>"Oh that's fine, I'll do it anyways"
Fuck people smarter than me. She destroyed the curve once again on that last test.

>> No.4595024

>>4594988
>search for this
>its $400 on ebay
>volume 2 is $500

>> No.4595026

>>4595024
>*amazon

>> No.4595031

>>4595024
Because Soviet-era Russian books translated into English are rare as fuck now.

You can find a pdf/djvu if you look hard.

Or just buy it and brag to your friends that it's the same book Perelman used.

>> No.4595052

Is it really hard or is your class full of lazy, stoner dumbfucks that party all the time?

>> No.4595111

You think that's bad? I got a 2.5 on my first Statics test (ME student). The content of that test was ridiculous, you just had to use three different equations to solve everything. The average on the class was 1.85, if I recall correctly.

Some professors just want to be the 'hard' professor, so they do shit like that.

>> No.4595113

what area of physics are you doing?

You said babby's first, so what, dynamics, electrostatics, and that stuff?

>> No.4595178

My AP chemistry professor in high school was the only teacher I ever had who curved smartly.

If the class average test score was below a 75 (middle-C, the theoretical average average), he would add a constant number of points to every student's test grade to bump it up to 75.

If the class average was 50, every student got 25 points.
If the class average was an 80, nobody got any points.

One time, the class average on a test was 32 and I got an 85, giving me 128.

>> No.4595243

Are you shitting me?

My physics average is 92%, the lowest test score I've ever received was 78 (The first one), the mid term being a 93%

maybe you just suck really horrendously.

I mean shit, just today I breezed through the test on Wave Motion 30 minutes, and that was a 37 question test.

What exactly about it is so hard?

>> No.4595244

>>4595243
Tell me you're trolling.

He's trolling, right, guys?

>> No.4595248

Yup. You're a failure.
Congrats.

>> No.4595247

>>4595244
He's talking about Babby's first physics, not goddamn thermodynamics

>> No.4595246

>>4595243

There are very hard questions in any discipline of physics. If a classical mechanics test was one problem in which the professor asks you to solve the 3 body problem everyone would score zero.

Your class is easy, while OP's class is more difficult.

>> No.4595250

>>4595243
It hugely depends on the exams, not just the material. In high school physics I never got under a 95% and in college I haven't scored above a 75%.

>> No.4595251

>>4595244

No, he's just a guy that does his homework, does more homework, applies it elsewhere, and gets an A with ease.

That or he's a natural physicist.

>> No.4595253

I'm about to take Physics next Fall and my school offers College Physics and University Physics. College Physics is not required to take University Physics (only Calc I is) and so I'm thinking about taking it. The problem is, I've never really taken a Physics class before other than HS, and so I'm not sure whether I should take College Physics first. What should I take? I'm willing to work my ass off if I take University Physics but I want to make sure the material taught isn't a straight continuation of college physics and I'll feel lost. N

>> No.4595338

http://www.economist.com/node/21552214

>>One example is grade inflation, the tendency for comparable academic performance to be awarded higher grades over time. In Britain the proportion of A-level students given “A” grades has risen from 9% to 27% over the past 25 years. Yet other tests find that children are no cleverer than they were. A study by Durham University concluded that an A grade today is the equivalent of a C in the 1980s. In American universities almost 45% of graduates now get the top grade, compared with 15% in 1960. Grade inflation makes students feel better about themselves, but because the highest grade is fixed, it also causes grade compression, which distorts relative prices. This is unfair to the brightest, whose grades are devalued against those of average students. It also makes it harder for employers to identify the best applicants.

>> No.4595345

>>4595338
I would argue that it is mostly in the arts department.

i dont see how you can inflate engineering/science type courses

>> No.4595346
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4595346

>>4594880
I can't fucking stand it when people complain about grade inflation at the top universities like Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford etc. The courses have stayed the same, the average student at those schools has become much better, ergo the average grade increases.

I can't speak for shitty schools, but 'grade inflation' is not a problem at top schools.

>> No.4595348

>>4595346
post some data analysis to back these claims

>> No.4595349
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4595349

>>4595009
>Class average is always 50-60 in one of my classes
>Ive gotten 100, 100, and 99 on the first 3 exams, probably going to do the same for the final
>I don't do the retardedly tedious homework that is worth no points,but serves as the "study guide", and only lightly study the day before
>He gave a 1 point curve on the last exam
>mfw he was trying to curve it up all along
>I'm that guy

Feels good.

>> No.4595354
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4595354

>Going to a university where they actually have curves

Wow. I don't think my university has ever curved marks in its history. It has a reputation to uphold.

>> No.4595355

>>4595348
It's axiomatic... Look at acceptance rates across history, look at SAT avgs. 20 years ago I'd say 1/5 on /sci/ could go to Harvard, now probably 1/100

>> No.4595357

>>4595354
Curves are there to make up for a failure on the professors part, to avoid hurting students grades due to shitty teaching.
No, it isn't (and shouldn't be) super common, but it is going to happen anywhere.

>> No.4595358

>>4595357
Maybe that's why. My university doesn't employ monkeys.

>> No.4595359

>>4595253
Same here, I'm taking University Physics 1 in the fall. I never took physics in high school, so this is the first real physics class I will ever take.

If I'm doing well in Calc 1, what should I expect in University Physics?

>> No.4595361

>>4595358
People make mistakes, even your magical professors at your god-only university
You are either a troll, or you have a hell of alot to learn in life.

>> No.4595362

>>4595359
Calc 1 won't teach you shit about forces and motion. Take a bridging course or buy a high school physics text book and memorize everything in it.

>> No.4595364

>>4595355
again, post some real analysis and not your impressions

i'm not out to bust your balls, but if you feel so strongly about this you ought to be able to come up with some mean scores for a panel of schools

>> No.4595367

>>4595361
>People make mistakes

True statement, but no professors make a mistake throughout the entire semester.

If a curve needs to be put in place, that professor needs to be taken off the teaching roster.

>> No.4595370

anyone got that soviet pdf text?

this piqued my curiosity since I'm taking differential equations right now

>> No.4595371

>>4595354

I think it highly depends on the course. For general math/science requirements, the material is very standardized and these courses generally don't get curved. But for specialized courses like higher end science/engineering courses, there is usually a huge variation of grades from year to year, hence grades are curved to make up for that.

Also what Uni doesn't curve?

>> No.4595373

>>4595367
Your university has the majority of your classes with only one exam? what?

>> No.4595376

>>4595373
I have no idea what you're asking.

>> No.4595381

>>4595376
You are implying exams should never be curved.
Then you said the professor would have to fuck up an -entire- semester, directly implying your classes only have 1 exam for the entire course.

You aren't too bright, are you?

>> No.4595388

>>4595381
Why the personal attack? I assumed curves were only put in place at the end of the semester, when you get your final mark over the course of the semester. I don't know, as I said, my uni doesn't have them.

>> No.4595392

>>4595388
Spoilers: Your uni does have them, you have just either not noticed, or managed to avoid the large amounts of classes that do.

>> No.4595398

>>4595392
I've been studying for 6 years, and not once have I encountered a class that has been curved, nor have I talked to anyone who has had their grades curved. I'm just going by personal experience. I might ask the enquiry office tomorrow, though. I'm kind of curious now.

>> No.4595418

>>4594887
/thread
>>4594894
Why?

>> No.4595432

>have shitty marks
>either complain about the professor being unable to teach, or actually intelligent people "destroying the curve" for you
>never even consider that you are probably retarded