As fun as MA111 has been, I have come to realise that the subject is being taught in a way that is suitable for crammers. Maybe it's designed that way because it's only an undergrad unit or maybe it's to improve the unit's pass rate. With the current four year average pass rate at barely over 55 percent, I'm guessing the latter.
The prescribed text does a great job of examining concepts in detail and dissecting problems in a step-by-step manner. What's alarming though, is that most of this detail is lost/ignored when the same is discussed in both lectures and tutes. All we're being taught in class are short-cut procedures to obtain the same answers. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE short-cuts. They got me through high school just fine. The problem, however, is that by limiting ones self to studying whatever is taught in lectures and tutes, students will not be able to explain most concepts intuitively.
Since I'm studying Maths to help me grasp proofs in my intended grad course units more easily, I know that I will have to study everything in our prescribed text even though our MA111 tests will not cover such details.
Captain Obvious, over and out.
