First Test

To be honest, I was somewhat stressed-out over the first test. I tried to start studying reasonably far ahead of time, but kept getting thrown off track. I'm not sure if it was a bit of laziness or an inability to properly fight distraction, or both, but staying on task proved difficult. Maybe my trouble focusing came out of an abundance of preparation by means of the problem sets and the first assignment.

Now that, just this evening, I have received my marked test back, I do think that the homework prepared me well. It feels as if through Danny having us do exercises in class, our regular problem sets, and the assignment, we're really set up for success in this class. The regularity of the marked work required of us annoyed me to some extent at first. I was looking for time off 236! But, after throwing myself into the necessary rhythm of the course, I find that doing less work at once, but doing it more often is less of an annoyance. This is because I'm now used to it, and I really don't mind the problem sets in particular, because they're short, but still a valuable nugget of a learning experience.

And so, back to the test itself, I'd have to say I'm pleased with how it went. My mark was not perfect, but I got a grade I'm quite happy with. The markers were generous, fair, and their feedback made me think about the questions after getting the test back. I asked Danny about a couple notes the marker left on a certain question. This lead to Danny going over the slight issues with my proof, which turned into another chance for me to learn. After we finished our discussion, I really felt like I understood a part of base cases and their relationship to the induction step and induction in general to a greater degree. Instead of just knowing the steps of the tool of induction, and how to use it, we get a handle on the details of what makes induction tick. It's actually very cool stuff.

The Start

Unfortunately, this blog has been created later than I wanted. Upon seeing mention of something called a "SLOG" in the course syllabus, my first thought was "What the hell is a SLOG?" After I got past the unusual terminology, I discovered what seemed like an even more unusual idea: marking university students' reflection on work of a mathematical nature. Caring to this extent about our subjective opinion and personal story, rather than just if our proof had the right steps our or answers being correct - that's something I've never seen before. And I didn't expect it to happen, either.

But between 236 problem sets and all the other regular assignments and work I've been having to do, I slipped on following through with engaging in my end of this unique but welcome idea. Well, here it is. I'm glad that I took the plunge, especially since I'm not much of a blogger nowadays. It's fun. I may tread backwards and reflect on some of my past 236 stories and struggles from the problem sets and assignment, and I hope to post shortly either before and/or after the first test to reflect on it.