Quote:
Originally posted by Stompy
I wish they'd give a practical application for these methods as they taught them. Perhaps I'd retain a lot of it better if I actually saw HOW it's actually used.
A lot of teachers plop this stuff in front of you and say, "This is a derivative, and this is how you work the problem," but they never actually give you a link to a real world issue of when it would normally be used. It's the age old question of, "When am I actually going to be using this?"
One situation where I heard a lot of this is used is in 3D Graphics programming, which I want to try and get into as I'm going through it all.
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Sorry, but this is kind of a rant, and not directed specifically at you. I just need to get it off my chest.
The job of your math professor (unlike, possibly a highschool teacher) is NOT to make you interested in the subject, or tell you exactly why you need to know it. You are taking the course because you signed up for the course, and the professor is going to teach you the course. "If you don't think it's of any use to you, then don't take it," is the generally accepted college course mentality (even if it's a required course). Now, of course, if it is a required course, you can bet your ass that you will need the material for, let's say, all the other courses that it's a prerequisite for! If you can't learn just to learn, then maybe you have a problem with motivation. I find it very childish when people say, "I'm not going to learn this because it has no use to me."
Phew, ok, end of rant
As for when you use calc... well, in pretty much <i>anything</i> with "science" or "engineering" in the title. You won't get far in these courses if you can't do a simple (and many times complex) derivative and integral.