We recently began to look at inverse functions. This is a topic that you have previously seen in precalc. However, we will now look at them from a different perspective. What concepts from precalc do you feel you can carry over with you that will assist you in calculus? In what ways will these concepts help you?
Yesterday was also a first for using PowerPoint as a method of instruction. What is your feeling about this? Do you think it will benefit the class?
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52 comments:
I think that remembering how to take the inverse of a function will help us. I also think that knowing the relationships between the graphs of functions and their inverses will help because everything can be explained by a graph.
I liked the PowerPoint thing because it covered all the material that we need for the section. It was also pretty cool because we could take notes and talk at the same time. So we learned and had fun at the same time.
Another thing: the PowerPoint was really easy to follow and I understood everything the first time.
I think that inverse functions are easy enough to remember, so the use of powerpoint was moot. If we had attempted to tackle a harder subject using the powerpoint I think we would have been much less successful, I prefer you normal teaching methods, minimal writing and jumping right into examples.
I actually do not remember anything about inverse functions from precalc, except some things that have nothing to do with math at all. I remember things from precalc after we go over them, which happened when we started to go over inverse functions, but I don't remember specific concepts on how to attack an inverse function in calculus.
I enjoyed to Powerpoint because it was easier to take notes and see problems all the way through. If we are allowed to move our seats in order to decrease the amount of pain to our necks that would be greatly appreciated. As long as we still do examples on the board and whatnot I think this is great.
Examples help. But I think we also need to know what we're doing before we get into examples.
I agree with Shohom.
Well, the basic concepts that we learned in precalc will hopefully help me to know how to do these problems. I know how to get the inverse function and in AP calculus there are more things you need to do to the problem than just finding the inverse. So knowing how to find the inverse will benefit in being that we do not need to learn how to do that all over again and we can just step into learning how to do more with the problems.
Also, with the powerpoint presentation, I feel like some people couldn't catch on as quickly as others but it is deffinitely easier than listening and writing stuff down. It is easy to follow and helps more than finding where the information is in the book then copying it from there. It allows for more class time which is good because we need as much time as we can get in this class! I say to stick with the powerpoint, even though it means your gonna have to do more work..but I'm sure you wouldn't mind!
Inverse functions have always been pretty mysterious to me, but using the Power Point dude yesterday helped me understand them a lot more than I ever have. From precalc, I remember a lot of the trigonometric properties, log functions and graphing utilities. New uses of my calculator that I learned in precalc last year also helped me in Calc. Plus, the general feeling that precalc/trig was a little bit of higher math than I was used to helped to stimulate my brain in the math area. Precalc was almost an intro to Calc, just a lot easier and with less concepts.
The PowerPoint thing was very very helpful, especially because I'm more literary than spacial. So reading about math makes math make sense, and the PowerPoint did that. I thoroughly enjoyed the PowerPoint experience and would use it again, 5 stars. I do think this will benefit the class much more as well as myself.
Shohom is tops in math and I usually go to him for advice.
So much of the knowledge Mr Campbell has given me last year can be reused in this section. For example, in precalc i learned how to find the inverse of a function. I will be able to use this when finding the derivative of an inverse.
I feel the powerpoint presentation was a good idea. It was a much easier way to copy notes. I do feel that the entire class period shouldn't have been spent coping notes though. We definitely should have done more example problems from the book
Well, considering we learned all about inverse functions last year in precalc, I'm pretty sure I am going to be able to use all of that information when dealing with inverse functions in this chapter. I can take what I learned last year and use it to make learning the new information much easier.
The whole powerpoint thing didn't really help me out too much yesterday. I liked the whole idea of copying notes from the powerpoint, but I think we took too many notes. I don't know how much those notes are going to help me out. I think it is easier for me to learn from doing practice problems, rather than taking a whole bunch of notes.
I remember inverse functions from precalc and they are not that difficult to understand. I learned the guidelines to finding an inverse in precalc so it helps because it is the same in calculus. I liked the PowerPoint because it is easy to read and understand. The only problem I had was there were too many notes and not enough problems. I think that doing more PowerPoint presentations in the future will benefit the class because it shortens the amount of information so we only learn the important contents of the lesson.
I remember the relationship of the graph of the function to the graph of the inverse functions. Inverse functions have to be one to one. Also inverse functions are actually math problems compared to what we have been doing.
I liked the powerpoint because it was easier to follow. I found myself paying attention more because I could actually understand what you were teaching.
Diro loved sqaure root day.
THe power point was long but seemed to make the information easier to understand. Because of this i think it will benefit the class if it was used every once in a while. I remember switching the y and x for inverse functions in precalc and it seemed like that is what we were doing the other day so that could help. This class probably makes it more complicated but the stuff i learned in precalc will probably make it easier.
I think that finding and checking the inverse of a function will come in handy. Since I already know how to do these things, it will be easier for me to do more difficult problems. Also knowing how to reflect a graph. This will give me a good idea of the domain and range of an inverse. It will also help me to have a visual image of the graph. This is useful when i am doing the vertical and horizontal line tests.
I think that the powerpoint was good. But like Anthony said I prefer your normal teaching without a lot of notes and a more examples. Also I think that the powerpoint slows down class a little to much.
I do not remember much from PreCalc. I will not be able to comment on what topics from PreCalc we will use in Calculus. I hope that inverse functions will help us further our studies in Calculus.
I liked the PowerPoint from yesterday's class. I feel that it is easier to understand the material if we first had the material explained in word form, rather then just jumping into complicated examples.
I also agree with Anthony, you should use PowerPoints for all the stuff we learn, because using it only for easy stuff is stupid and defeats the purpose of the PowerPoint in the first place.
We can carry over a lot of the information that we have learned in precalc into calculus.I had learned the basics about inverse functions in precalc which has helped me as we bagan inverse functions in calculus. Yesterday was a good review. I really got a lot out of the powerpoint and it helped me further understand the material. I hope to vastly expand my knowlege of the wonders of inverse functions.
I do not remember many concepts of inverse function anyway, so reviewing and doing some more problmes will help me a lot. And I like that you use the power point.
Inverse functions are something I actually do remember from PreCalc. I remembered switching x and y but didn't remember how to graph. Yesterday's class was very helpful. The powerpoint was much easier to read than notes on the board. I felt like I understood more than I usually do and was able to follow them much better. Those notes will also be easier to study than those on the board.
I agree with Shohom
I think the powerpoints would work if they were shorter, yesterday's powerpoint was so long that I didn't have time to let everything sink in because by the time I was finally done writing we were on to the next slide.
Albie, I think that Mr. Campbell's normal teaching only helps people who are geniuses at math like you. Some people don't get math that way. So we should figure out a system to teach both ways so that everyone learns, not just the minority brain mutants with telekinesis. Like Albie.
In PreCalculus, I understood inverse functions very well. It was incredibly easy for me, (switching the X and Y values, horizontal line test, etc.) Looking at them from a different perspective will be challenging for me, but I am willing to learn more in depth methods. Simple concepts of solving for X and Y that we learned in precalc will definately carry over in Calc and hopefully help me as we move onto more difficult problems.
Yesterday when we used the powerpoint, I was able not only to understand more, but take clearer notes. Easy things that I thought that i already fully understand became pieces of new knowledge for me. I definately think that it will benefit the class in a positive way. I agree with Shohom!!
P.S. I think we should actually start the review days that we always talk about in these blogs but never have. A once a week overview of everything we have learned would also (like the powerpoint) be incredibly beneficial to the majority of the class.
When I learned inverse functions in precalc I felt like I understood the material. So far while learning it in calculus I understand it, but I know it will get harder and then I'll have no idea whats going on. So hopefully that doesn't happen and I'll be able to keep up. A concept that can carry over from precalc to calculus is probably the basic idea that you just solve for x and then switch x and y and there you have your inverse function. This will probably help me a little while learning it in calculus because at least I have the general concept and basic foundation which I can hopefully just build upon. I did enjoy learning from the slideshow. It makes the material more organized thus easier to understand. So hopefully we will continue to learn this way because I think it may benefit the class a little even though the material we are learning is ridiculously difficult.
I agree with Anthony.
I think it would be most effective if we used PowerPoint to explain difficult topics and then did a lot of exapmles on the board.
I agree with Albie that the PowerPoint slowed the class down, but I think it was for the best. I think that the material was a lot easier to understand when it was spelled out for us.
From what i remember inverse functions were not too bad last year. However, I don't remember too much about them so i cant really carry over anything to assist or help me. Using the powerpoint method was a little different. I liked it and thought it helped but at the same time i thought we wrote too much. When using the textbook you get the same information out of it, its just less writing.
I agree with shohom!
I agree with Shohom.
I agree with kelly that it was easier to pay attention with the PowerPoint because everyone is focusing on it. There are not as many distractions when everybody is doing the same thing
I agree with Anthony because if we were on a more difficult topic we would have really struggled with it. We have to do more practice problems>
I also agree with Lydia that we should start reviewing ASAP. I feel that I do not even remember what we learned at the beginning of the year, and it would definitely be helpful for the AP Calc Test
I think Shohom's idea is good that in the harder topics we start with a power point to get as much knowledge about it before trying to solve problems. This will probably help the overall understanding of the harder topics.
I must admit i don't really remember alot from precalc but hopefully the more we review i will be able to remember more. I think that graphing will help us alot in this section and seeing how the function has an inverse based on what it shows on the graph. I hope we review more before the test.
I thought the powerpoint presentation was a little much and there was alot more words than numbers. I think it helps me more when you show the steps of the problem on the board. I feel like i can follow the examples better and it will help me to remember on the problems on the test. I liked the idea of the powerpoint just because it switches things up instead of just the same learing out of the text book.
-Lauren Cole
Inverse functions are one of the only things I actually remember how to do from precalc. I think they are easy to understand because the graphs are pretty self-explanatory. I am however, confused sometimes as to how to find the domain.
I like the PowerPoint because it was something different rather than just looking at the textbook. A lot of words about math confuses me and I feel like I can follow better by seeing actual examples. I did find that it was easier to pay attention to the PowerPoint.
I agree with Shohom(and whoever else said it). Powerpoints would definitely be helpful when explaining harder topics because when we just do examples on the board, I have no idea what we did to get the answer.
I agree with Joe when he says that the powerpoint was much better because it was easier to read. I sometimes struggle to understand what is written on the board
Another big issue that I think needs to be addressed is the fact that when Mr. Campbell does do an example on the board, it's simple and easy for those with significant brain damage like myself. We need to do practice problems with varying levels of difficulty. Because you can't (you = Mr. Campbell) expect people with brain damage to see easy and then do hard. I agree with you that this class needs challenges but if the challenges are so great that a large portion of the class fails, it's either too great an assertion for us to undertake, OR we don't understand it enough to accomplish it correctly. For me at least, I know I have difficulty with a combination of these handicaps. So the style of the class needs to reflect the needs of the students.
I must admit i don't really remember alot from precalc but hopefully the more we review i will be able to remember more. I think that graphing will help us alot in this section and seeing how the function has an inverse based on what it shows on the graph. I hope we review more before the test.
I thought the powerpoint presentation was a little much and there was alot more words than numbers. I think it helps me more when you show the steps of the problem on the board. I feel like i can follow the examples better and it will help me to remember on the problems on the test. I liked the idea of the powerpoint just because it switches things up instead of just the same learing out of the text book.
-Lauren Cole
Review is definately needed. We need to start actually doing the review days that we always talk about on the blog but never act out in class. I don't remember anything from the beginning of the year and ANY type of review would be incredibly helpful.
I think powerpoints that have less on them will work wonders for our class as a whole. They make everything easy to pay attention to and explain things fairly directly. I am all for powerpoints as long as there is less writing, more examples, and every example must be followed by correct.
I also agree with Chris who agreed with Joe: Mr. Campbell, your handwriting is nearly illegible 90% of the time. I understand your numbers, but not the letters.
Yeah. We definitely need a review soon.
i agree with lydia!
I agree with Devin because taht's whats happening to me. eveytime we have a quiz I do alright, and then for the test its like a million times harder. For tests, you tell us we shouldn't be freaking out when we see trig. functions, but the problem is we do because we rarely do extrememly hard problems in class like the ones that appear on the test. its annoying because some of us want to understand it, but we just aren't able to. Review is in order, just liek everyone else has been saying.
I agree with Joey that the PowerPoint is easy to follow and understand, but there were too many notes and not enough problems. It was okay that there weren't many examples for this material since it was previously taught; however, for future topics we would need more.
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