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How hard/"interesting" is MA100 Mathematical Methods ?

It's in the title :biggrin:

Please answer as fully as possible for those who know, I really don't know if I should take it... Is the grounding it provides in Maths indispensable for the following years ? Also, how does ST102 compare with Quantitative Methods (Statistics) and Quantitative Methods (Mathematics) ?

Reply 1

2late

13

You better take it. Who am I going to annoy throughout the year with complex questions?

I bought one of the books required for MA100 as I'm pretty sure I'll be taking it. Ive started reading through 'Calculus:Concepts and Methods' and it seems easy going... at least the beginning part, although Ollie knows better =)

Reply 2

davemarkey

2

MA100 is quite difficult - i found it very interesting. I didn't use the textbooks much. The lectures are very good - but you have to make a lot of notes if you don't want to use the books.

As for ST102 - i found this extremely difficult. I found the work (after the 1st term of easy stuff) very confusing and difficult. The lectures were a bit out-of-control with students messing about etc. Lets just say that it was my lowest mark in the 1st year by a long way.

Do MA100, do ST102 if you really want to. :smile:

Reply 3

Johan C

OP

13

Thanks dave ! What A-Levels did you have ? Anyone else ?

Reply 4

davemarkey

2

Johan C

Thanks dave ! What A-Levels did you have ? Anyone else ?

Maths, Chemistry, Physics (AAA)

Basically, go for MA100 if you want to do any maths-type modules later on. :smile:

Reply 5

Johan C

OP

13

And Econometrics, it seems.

Reply 6

username9303

3

I agree with Dave, if you're going to do anything that involves maths in your second/third year then you do need to take MA100. Similarly if you intend to take anything statistic based then ST102 is essential.

With regards to how interesting and how hard they are, I'd say the following:

MA100: Is quite interesting, and the linear algebra part of the course is pretty straightforward if you learn the methods, and is very gratifying when you do many steps of a certain procedure to a matrix and come out with the right answer. Plus with matrices, there are always tests to check you have the right answer at the end. The lectures are pretty interesting too, and as long as you work through the exercises each week, and pay attention in the classes for tricks etc. about certain methods, then you'll do well. Also, like Dave, I found the text book for the calculus to be pretty useless, the notes most certainly suffice, and likewise with the linear algebra, although not to such a great extent. The problem with linear algebra is that there are many different methods to do the same thing, and often the one you are taught in lectures is not the one in the text book, which does unneccesarily confuse you.

ST102: You need a good memory for this course to be honest, as you'll find that you need to learn many different statistical tests, and remember the critical regions, signficance blah-de-blah and some other stuff for each of them. The course books are in my opinion sh*te, and the best way to learn the stuff is as follows: first term use the lecture notes you are given, the topics are pretty straightforward so you could probably use the books to help you; second term buy the Heinemann A-Level Statistics books from S3 to S6 (links below) and they have every single thing you need to know in the second term in perfect detail and with millions of examples and exercises for you to work through. Everyone who bought them that I know agreed that they made a massive difference.

Hope that helps :smile:

Links to books:
S3: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Statistics-Bk-3-Heinemann-Modular-Mathematics-Edexcel-AS-Level-S-/dp/0435510843/sr=1-1/qid=1157892126/ref=sr_1_1/026-3141401-9857226?ie=UTF8&s=books
S4: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Statistics-Bk-4-Heinemann-Modular-Mathematics-Edexcel-AS-Level-S-/dp/0435510851/ref=sr_11_1/026-3141401-9857226?ie=UTF8
S5: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Statistics-Bk-5-Heinemann-Modular-Mathematics-Edexcel-AS-Level-S-/dp/043551086X/ref=sr_11_1/026-3141401-9857226?ie=UTF8
S6: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Heinemann-Modular-Mathematics-Edexcel-AS-Level-Statistics-6-Heinemann-Modular-Mathematics-/dp/0435510878/ref=sr_11_1/026-3141401-9857226?ie=UTF8

Reply 7

Johan C

OP

13

Great ollie ! Rep on the way for you :smile:

Reply 8

2late

13

olliemccowan

I agree with Dave, if you're going to do anything that involves maths in your second/third year then you do need to take MA100. Similarly if you intend to take anything statistic based then ST102 is essential.

With regards to how interesting and how hard they are, I'd say the following:

MA100: Is quite interesting, and the linear algebra part of the course is pretty straightforward if you learn the methods, and is very gratifying when you do many steps of a certain procedure to a matrix and come out with the right answer. Plus with matrices, there are always tests to check you have the right answer at the end. The lectures are pretty interesting too, and as long as you work through the exercises each week, and pay attention in the classes for tricks etc. about certain methods, then you'll do well. Also, like Dave, I found the text book for the calculus to be pretty useless, the notes most certainly suffice, and likewise with the linear algebra, although not to such a great extent. The problem with linear algebra is that there are many different methods to do the same thing, and often the one you are taught in lectures is not the one in the text book, which does unneccesarily confuse you.

ST102: You need a good memory for this course to be honest, as you'll find that you need to learn many different statistical tests, and remember the critical regions, signficance blah-de-blah and some other stuff for each of them. The course books are in my opinion sh*te, and the best way to learn the stuff is as follows: first term use the lecture notes you are given, the topics are pretty straightforward so you could probably use the books to help you; second term buy the Heinemann A-Level Statistics books from S3 to S6 (links below) and they have every single thing you need to know in the second term in perfect detail and with millions of examples and exercises for you to work through. Everyone who bought them that I know agreed that they made a massive difference.

Hope that helps :smile:

Links to books:
S3: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Statistics-Bk-3-Heinemann-Modular-Mathematics-Edexcel-AS-Level-S-/dp/0435510843/sr=1-1/qid=1157892126/ref=sr_1_1/026-3141401-9857226?ie=UTF8&s=books
S4: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Statistics-Bk-4-Heinemann-Modular-Mathematics-Edexcel-AS-Level-S-/dp/0435510851/ref=sr_11_1/026-3141401-9857226?ie=UTF8
S5: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Statistics-Bk-5-Heinemann-Modular-Mathematics-Edexcel-AS-Level-S-/dp/043551086X/ref=sr_11_1/026-3141401-9857226?ie=UTF8
S6: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Heinemann-Modular-Mathematics-Edexcel-AS-Level-Statistics-6-Heinemann-Modular-Mathematics-/dp/0435510878/ref=sr_11_1/026-3141401-9857226?ie=UTF8

S3-S6? Oh dear, back to A level. :tongue:

How hard/"interesting" is MA100 Mathematical Methods ?

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