linear algebra

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Math major here. Took LA in college and did well but never really got it. Had no trouble with calc AB/BC/MV, etc. LA is oddly hard.

Whether your kid is going to pursue higher math or not, I would recommend holding off on LA.

If she is going to pursue higher math, then she is better off taking LA after she has some other college courses under her belt and can do it right.

If she is not going to pursue higher math, then stats will be WAAAY more useful, easier, and interesting.

I forgot to add, I also found that LA did not really resemble lower-level algebra, so your kid's reason for wanting to take it may not hold. Maybe suggest she borrow a textbook from the teacher and take a look at the first couple chapters?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Math major here. Took LA in college and did well but never really got it. Had no trouble with calc AB/BC/MV, etc. LA is oddly hard.

Whether your kid is going to pursue higher math or not, I would recommend holding off on LA.

If she is going to pursue higher math, then she is better off taking LA after she has some other college courses under her belt and can do it right.

If she is not going to pursue higher math, then stats will be WAAAY more useful, easier, and interesting.

I'm not a math major and didn't take math past calculus, but I think it depends on the kid. Our child at the Blair magnet took MV, LA (theoretical version), Dif. Eq, and Magnet Stats junior year and complex analysis and two other college-level math classes (I don't remember which ones) senior year and received high scores in all of the classes, but that child developed the ability for abstract math early. We still encouraged that child to retake MV, LA, etc. but not calculus in college.

Our other child, not at Blair magnet, was an excellent student and was a STEM major in college but struggled with calculus as a senior in HS. This child retook calculus in college and after that had no problem with math in college. This child just developed their abstract math ability later.

Agreed that stats is more useful than MV for most students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My Blair Magnet kid took both MV Calc and LA her senior year. It was 2020 and she repeated LA in college as she felt she did not get the full course second half of senior year.

My Blair kid's math teacher sent an email stating there are two versions of LA at the Magnet. One was theoretical. The other was more computer-science-focused. My child took the theoretical version of LA, which we were told is more like a college class for math/engineering majors.

Regardless of what classes they pick, I agree that these kids should retake all or most of the college-level math they took in HS when they get to college.

Yes, LA at Blair is a semester, and the teacher has said that they don't go into all the college topics with full depth. Mine is planning to take that in college (as well as Complex, same situation on that). Calc and MVC are covered in-depth at Blair. I don't think students need to retake these if the do well on the UMD MVC cumulative exam. Mine liked LA better than MVC, but they did take MVC first. I don't know if that had any impact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My Blair Magnet kid took both MV Calc and LA her senior year. It was 2020 and she repeated LA in college as she felt she did not get the full course second half of senior year.

My Blair kid's math teacher sent an email stating there are two versions of LA at the Magnet. One was theoretical. The other was more computer-science-focused. My child took the theoretical version of LA, which we were told is more like a college class for math/engineering majors.

Regardless of what classes they pick, I agree that these kids should retake all or most of the college-level math they took in HS when they get to college.

What were the names of the two different versions? DC could find one named Linear Algebra under math courses, (and I assume it is more theoretical?), and was wondering about the other. I wonder if they stopped offering two versions? Which year did your DC do linear algebra?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My Blair Magnet kid took both MV Calc and LA her senior year. It was 2020 and she repeated LA in college as she felt she did not get the full course second half of senior year.

My Blair kid's math teacher sent an email stating there are two versions of LA at the Magnet. One was theoretical. The other was more computer-science-focused. My child took the theoretical version of LA, which we were told is more like a college class for math/engineering majors.

Regardless of what classes they pick, I agree that these kids should retake all or most of the college-level math they took in HS when they get to college.

What were the names of the two different versions? DC could find one named Linear Algebra under math courses, (and I assume it is more theoretical?), and was wondering about the other. I wonder if they stopped offering two versions? Which year did your DC do linear algebra?

I was only able to find one version in the schools course catalog, but it is often incomplete.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My Blair Magnet kid took both MV Calc and LA her senior year. It was 2020 and she repeated LA in college as she felt she did not get the full course second half of senior year.

My Blair kid's math teacher sent an email stating there are two versions of LA at the Magnet. One was theoretical. The other was more computer-science-focused. My child took the theoretical version of LA, which we were told is more like a college class for math/engineering majors.

Regardless of what classes they pick, I agree that these kids should retake all or most of the college-level math they took in HS when they get to college.

Yes, LA at Blair is a semester, and the teacher has said that they don't go into all the college topics with full depth. Mine is planning to take that in college (as well as Complex, same situation on that). Calc and MVC are covered in-depth at Blair. I don't think students need to retake these if the do well on the UMD MVC cumulative exam. Mine liked LA better than MVC, but they did take MVC first. I don't know if that had any impact.

Is it one year (two semesters) in other schools? Do the other schools cover more material or does Blair compress the same content as other schools into one semester?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My Blair Magnet kid took both MV Calc and LA her senior year. It was 2020 and she repeated LA in college as she felt she did not get the full course second half of senior year.

My Blair kid's math teacher sent an email stating there are two versions of LA at the Magnet. One was theoretical. The other was more computer-science-focused. My child took the theoretical version of LA, which we were told is more like a college class for math/engineering majors.

Regardless of what classes they pick, I agree that these kids should retake all or most of the college-level math they took in HS when they get to college.

Yes, LA at Blair is a semester, and the teacher has said that they don't go into all the college topics with full depth. Mine is planning to take that in college (as well as Complex, same situation on that). Calc and MVC are covered in-depth at Blair. I don't think students need to retake these if the do well on the UMD MVC cumulative exam. Mine liked LA better than MVC, but they did take MVC first. I don't know if that had any impact.

Is it one year (two semesters) in other schools? Do the other schools cover more material or does Blair compress the same content as other schools into one semester?

Blair's offering is through the magnet program so it's a safe bet it's more rigorous than what's offered at the regular schools.