hate methods, will i hate calculus? ... oh &physics too

[vexx]

Hi,

So i might be doing biomedicine next year, but this year i really didn't like methods.. So will i like calculus? if so, why? or why not?
Are they really similar? I know it's like spesh, but i never did spesh.. just wondering what i'm in for since i'm a little afraid i'll hate it like i hate methods..
i didn't like methods because it was boring, constantly repeating the same thing, and just didn't find anything interesting.. i find methods fairly simple, haven't really done much the entire year as there nothing really don't understand, i worked quite well last year though making this year more of a breeze (pretty much just an extension)..  its just i hate the repetitive nature of it, and everything we do is so boringgg and pointless.. it also can be annoying with questions on stuff i know the concepts of, but just can't do because they try and trick me D:

Yep those who have done it, let me know!

Thanksss

Vexx

edit, what about physics for biomedicine, haven't really done physics since back in the day of year 10, what sort of person likes this sort of physics? it seems quite interesting, but not sure as i only know the outline!

[boysenberry]

A good idea would probably be to visit a library and borrow the textbook that you may end up using for the physics component of the course. Do a bit of reading, see if you like it.
 
As for your question, will you like physics? Well, do you like biology? From personal experience those who like biology tend to dislike physics (and vice versa). In fact as anecdotal evidence, my physics teacher hates biology and my biology teacher dislikes physics (at least in comparison to the other sciences) and most of the students from my school are like this. Though not sure if that's just a phenomena in my school, anyone observed similar trends?

[TrueTears]

Well personally calculus bores me because of it's repetitive nature and I doubt it'd be any fun for you since you'd be probably using calculus as an applicable tool, so I would say that you'd be doing alot of repetitive work which sounds like it might bore you.

[Russ]

If you didn't like methods then I don't see you enjoying calculus. Regardless of how repetitive it is (I didn't find it that repetitive), if you don't enjoy maths then it's not going to be the highlight of semester 1. I suppose the upside is that the assessment is simple, there aren't any tricks or confusing questions. The calc1 exam I sat last year is attached, you can have a look and see for yourself.

And Physics for Biomedicine...it's not the same as maths, there's a lot more conceptual work and I enjoyed it more/found it easier to do well in.  A lot of it is VCE level so you won't find it too difficult for not having done physics before

Though not sure if that's just a phenomena in my school, anyone observed similar trends?

All "real" science teachers hate biology, so the biology teachers return the favour

[Juddinator]

umm can someone tell me why that exam which Russ attached is pretty much Specialist maths stuff that would take well and truly under 3 hours to do???

[Souljette_93]

umm can someone tell me why that exam which Russ attached is pretty much Specialist maths stuff that would take well and truly under 3 hours to do???

LOL yeah it is pretty much spesh stuff, i feel like i can do almost all the q's. Anyone who's doing spesh next year should attempt it as part of their revision..

[Russ]

Because if you did spesh, you're not allowed to do Calculus 1. You have to do Calc2 or Linear Algebra.

You also don't get a calculator, which makes it a little harder I guess.

[vexx]

Thanks for replies, looked at that exam for calc and it seemed pretty straight forward which is good, hopefully i wont mind it as much then..  

Hopefully i can also like physics since i like biology, aww i don't want to dislike another subject hehe.

With physics; whats a good book to read that will introduce me to these topics to see if i may like it or not?
studytemple has heaps of physics books, so i may just use that (they dont have the prescribed book 'college physics')
is there a large biology component to physics for biomedicine? when you say its not the 'same' as maths, what do you mean Russ, how much maths is involved - similar to the amount in chemistry or more?

[shinny]

umm can someone tell me why that exam which Russ attached is pretty much Specialist maths stuff that would take well and truly under 3 hours to do???

Not sure if this goes for all uni courses, but my exams have always had pretty much no time pressure. We're given 3 hours to do 100 multiple choice questions each exam. Uni's aren't as strict as VCAA on imposing time limits and such to develop a nice bell curve. They just want to know how much you actually know.

[Russ]

Well since I'm posting exams, here's my physics one from last year to look at. You can see that it's a lot more than just "calculate X", there are a lot of "explain your answer" etc., where you have to demonstrate a conceptual understanding.

If you want a textbook for an introduction...pick anything. I didn't use the College Physics textbook once (I didn't buy it, don't ever buy textbooks before semester starts), the course content is pretty generic to all physics courses. Most of the information is contained in the lecture slides you're given, the only reason to consult the textbook is if the explanations don't make sense to you.

There's no biology in the subject, you won't have to know anything about cells or tissues etc. but the content is related to human function. So when you do fluid mechanics, it's discussed with examples from blood pressure, capillary flow etc. The maths is there but yeah, it's more like chemistry where it's assumed and you only use it to manipulate your equations etc.

Not sure if this goes for all uni courses, but my exams have always had pretty much no time pressure. We're given 3 hours to do 100 multiple choice questions each exam. Uni's aren't as strict as VCAA on imposing time limits and such to develop a nice bell curve. They just want to know how much you actually know.

This is also a big factor, most of my exams have been paced so that if you work steadily you'll finish it all in the time limit. The concept of time pressure and planning your reading time etc. isn't really an issue (the only times I've been racing the clock is when I go overboard on a single question and then don't have much time left to consider the other questions)

[shinny]

There's no biology in the subject, you won't have to know anything about cells or tissues etc. but the content is related to human function. So when you do fluid mechanics, it's discussed with examples from blood pressure, capillary flow etc. The maths is there but yeah, it's more like chemistry where it's assumed and you only use it to manipulate your equations etc.

Hmm, I personally don't like physics much but haemodynamics was something I actually enjoyed. I'm sure you'll be fine with it too vexx since yeh, it's taught with around a biological framework rather than a theoretical 'block and inclined planes' manner. And really, since you're intending to get into Med eventually anyway, it's something that you'd have to know in Med regardless of whether you enjoy it or not. I've heard bad stories of doctors screwing up due to a misunderstanding of haemodynamics >__> Can't say I've encountered much use for calculus yet though (I can't actually remember how to differentiate anymore o_o), so if you don't like it, just try and get through it because it's probably not all that useful. It's more of a specialty field for applying it to research. There's heaps of statistics and probability in Med though so some people can find that quite dry...

[Russ]

Oh don't worry, there's plenty of block/inclined plane stuff

The first year subjects where you think "how does that apply"...you'll see the relevance later because they keep popping up as important points in other subjects. Don't worry about it, they're really not that bad (and you'll probably still be on the THIS IS UNI high and want to study it)

[vexx]

oh awesome thanks guys, i guess i'll look forward to something a bit different (if i end up doing biomed)

[shinny]

Oh don't worry, there's plenty of block/inclined plane stuff

The first year subjects where you think "how does that apply"...you'll see the relevance later because they keep popping up as important points in other subjects. Don't worry about it, they're really not that bad (and you'll probably still be on the THIS IS UNI high and want to study it)

Ah damn. You made it sound like it was all applied Well thing in uni is that the course isn't clear as to to boundaries to which you have to study something unlike VCE. So if something isn't challenging enough, just read further and get a more complex grasp of the material.

[vexx]

^uni is going to be awesomeeeee.

ok so i have an ebook 'Physics for Scientists and Engineers' by Knight, which has the same concepts as the ones we learn (i think).. so will flick through it over the holidays, quantum physics sounds fascinating. i've read about string theory before in the past which was really interesting, but i doubt i'd be studying dimensions (asides from 1 and 2) and the like at uni.. does anyone on these forums actually study this? like the real physics people?
=getting ahead of myself