 |
|
devilmunchkin
|
|
first circle of the inferno
Jul 2001 time: 05:19
|
|
no no. i was just asking. this is pretty much the first time i've look at this thread in awhile.
|
|
|  |
 |
|  |
 |
|  |
 |
|
TCO
|
 |
Richmond, VA
Jan 1970 time: 00:19
|
|
Thanks for your post. I was starting to wonder if your entire posts were tongue in cheek. (I.e. you knew what "quant" meant, etc.)
1. I didn't take the derivatives course. It was my buddy who audited it. (He had desk accross from me in our lab.) He was a pretty gifted math/science type. (postdoc in chemical physics...) So of course, he was attracted to that type of stuff.
I really don't know the exact material covered. (Presumably it was an overview of the different types of options that are out there. And some options pricing theory. Sorry...I'm just guessing here. I do know that it was the second course in a series. John had to "catch up" from what was in the first one.)
2. My gut feel is that the kids here who are taking several AP classes are getting the equivelant of Austrian Gymnasium training. Granted, we have a pretty sharp bunch at this site, that is not representative. In fact Austrian/German schooling system may be superior, especially for what I would call the second tier of kids. (The lower half of Gymnasium, lets say.)
My sister attended an Austrian private school for a year (in 11th grade). Admittedly not a premier one. She thought overall that the public school we attended was mroe rigorous. Admittedly we were at one of the best schools in the country (Washington D.C. suburbs) and taking the "smarty track" courses.
As far as I can recall, some of her observations:
German was rather tough for her. Because of the language learning curve. but for a native speaker would not be as tough as an "upper track" English course. I.e. the essay-writing and level of critical thinking for literary analysis was higher at home.
Latin was a ball-buster. Moving into a 3rd year foreing language course in a foreign language course yourself. Well, she just couldn't amke it through that. But the course content was simlar to what one would learn in the US. It's pretty much a classical (get it hahaha) type of course.
English was of course a breeze for her. The level of mastery of a foreign language by her Austiran classmates was superior to that one would find in US in reverse.
Math was actually a slight step back. She was a year accelerated in the US system. (As are all the kids who end up taking AP calculus.)
History wasn't too tough. Pretty similar to the level of difficulty that she had had in World history in previous 2 hs grades at home. But she did miss out on a more rigorous type history class (AP American History) that she would have had that year at home. OTOH, 12th grade history, actually civics but in the history curriculum, was a joke (at home).
Overall was a slight negative for her academically. (both in rigor and in getting a little sidetracked from the inevetable gaps involved in switching in and out of a different system.) But she gained a lot of intellectual and social confidence from the exercise. And learned German pretty well...
3. (specific issue) My mom took calculus in Aust high school. Was about what one would get in first year US college calc or AP calc. According to her it didn't cover what one would get in second year of US college math training: 3rd semester (multivariable) calc and diff e q s.
|
|
|  |
 |
|
TCO
|
 |
Richmond, VA
Jan 1970 time: 00:19
|
|
Roland,
My Collins G/E dictionary has the following translations for "calculus": Infinitesmalrechnung, Differential- und Integralrechnung.
It's the stuff that Newton and Leibniz invented. You know: derivatives, integrals. Slope of a line tangent to a curve, area under a curve. That crap.
Last edited by TCO on 14-05-2002 at 22:09
|
|
|  |
 |
|  |
All times are GMT. The time now is 05:19. Apolyton Time is 00:19. |
top of page
|
| archivepost |
|
Forum Rules:
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
|
HTML code is ON
vB code is ON
Smilies are ON
[IMG] code is ON
|
|
|
|
|
|