Powered by MathJax From GCSE Maths, to Rocket Scientist...: Groups, a Gentle Introduction

Monday, 6 February 2012

Groups, a Gentle Introduction

Well, I attended my first day school on saturday, for M208.  It was at Aston University, where I handed in my part 1 of TMA01 (graph sketching exercises).  We ran through the strategies at the day school, so I believe that I have managed to pitch the solutions in the right way.  It just boils down to whether I have made silly accuracy mistakes which tend to creep in for me, when a TMA solution takes 15 + pages to write down.

I had also completed a final draft of part 2 of TMA01, however, having now attended the day school, there are a couple of changes that I will now make to my answers.  This was prompted by the tutor's advice regarding actually proving a statement, rather than picking one example, and showing that it is true.  Having leafed back through my draft, I realised that I had made the odd mistake in this regard.

So the day school attendance has already paid dividends, and I am looking forward to the rest.

Well, I began my study of GTA1 (Group Theory A, unit 1), yesterday.  And, so far so good.  I whizzed through sections 1, 2 and 3 in about 5hrs, which has left me the rest of the week, to enjoy the videos that accompany this unit.

I say enjoy, because the videos are a relic of the 80's, with the archetypal O.U professors giving lectures, adorned with kipper ties, mullets and the sort of wooden acting that one would find in a local Am-Dram production, in my village.

I don't pick out these points as criticisms, I actually find them rather charming; and I have been looking forward to watching the videos, since the course began.  I hope they keep them for future courses, because as a child of the 70's and 80's; I find them nostalgic and compelling to watch!

It does lead me to wonder, what those professors look like today?

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