DS thinks he can teach himself to pass an exam in a week. AIBU to think he is wrong?

[user1494154933]

This is going to sound ridiculous and I wasn't going to post, as you'll probably call me stupid or irresponsible, etc.

My son is now 18. He isn't a 'genius' or anything like that. He did ok at GCSEs but didn't try hard at all. I used to try my best to get him to revise for him exams, he refused to and said it was pointless and exams don't help etc. which is ridiculous because as much as I do agree it's about memory, you clearly do need to know, anyway, he did ok and got accepted into sixth form, he decided not to go and got a part time job but did a part time photography course in the evening (he is still doing that).

I don't really know how it came about but I think I brought it up about how his exams were important and does he agree now he has matured and he was saying how he doesn't agree because exams aren't showing how intelligent you are, etc. and anyone can do them if they learn the exam technique. Last year (around december) he was telling me how he was going to prove it, he booked himself into the Maths AS exams for this summer (last year you can do these ones I believe). He hasn't learnt anything yet and I keep bringing it up (he spent £150 odd pounds for the exams (private candidate) and will sit them at his college he goes to part time) and he is telling me 'to wait and see'. He says when he has a week until the exam he will start learning the technique of it? I could slightly understand if a different subject, but he seems to think for Maths it works the best. I really don't understand his whole thinking behind this, but can't wait to be like WTF when he doesn't pass...

AIBU to think this is just stupid and not possible?

The Dutch use the colon to mean divide. We've got a Dutch student teacher at school atm and she's always forgetting to put the line in the middle of our divide sign.

And the Danes use the divide sign (with the line in between the dots) to mean minus/negative. Though I've never seen it used with a number. Just in biochem diagrams with an arrow, to mean 'inhibits', etc.

Dd has just said she used the formula for that question, and she took ages because she had to use the grid method to square 59. She says the content of the questions was fine, but the numbers were nasty for people who are less confident with arithmetic (like her apparently if she's still using primary school grid method to multiply!)

Yes noble, there are a lot of factors in that question, there aren't usually that many though. All of my class manage to factorise by trying the factors, although some of them are a little slower than the others.

Not sure Noble. Interesting isn't it!

Ah see decimals scare people but I think they are ok if you know the tricks. Like when multiplying, ignore them then count the number of dp
In the original question and stick a decimal there. Surds are a bastard though!

I would have gone straight for the formula regardless - always felt most straightforward. I kind of want to see the paper and have a go myself!

For me factorising is less error prone than doing the formula by hand with those numbers - I just couldn't be bothered.
Am I right in thinking that modern calculators make it really easy they way noble is talking? I still have my trusty fx-82. (DD2 has a calculator as recommended for school but I haven't looked at the fancier bits yet)

I've got this calculator, which students will need for the new A-level and to take it from me you'd have to be prising it from my cold dead hands.

www.sciencestudio.co.uk/casio-fx-991ex-classwiz-advanced-scientific-calculator.html

To solve a quadratic on it, just go to the solving polynomials option, select quadratic, type in a, b and c, et voila, not only the solution, but the turning point too.

Kids will have to buy it for the new A-level because they'll no longer be provided with a formula booklet with the cumulative binomial probability tables in it. This is the first non-graphical calculator that will do them for you.

Ooh, noble I haven't seen one of those yet. I'm buying one soon, for the new spec, but currently using this one which I find fancy enough for now. I want a new one now though, and I definitely won't be lending that one out when kids forget theirs.

very funky!

I had an equation solving calculator in my a level 5 years ago, was great. I used to take two in so I could have one in radians and one in degrees. Can't offer my services for fp1, I'm afraid as no teaching knowledge myself, but it's v kind of you to mark the second as well noble . Hope the rest go okay for your son, op!

Awesome I think that's what my DD2 has (y7) - I haven't studied it much yet. Trying to get my head around the fact that using a calculator like that one isn't just cheating! luddite

You're two calculators behind me MsAwesomeDragon, before the fancy new one I had this www.amazon.co.uk/Casio-FX-991ESPLUS-SA-UH-FX-991ESPLUS-Scientific-Calculator/dp/B0034BAQS8?tag=mumsnetforum-21

Amazon tells me helpfully that I bought it in May 2014. Yes that's integration on the screen, it also does numerical differentiation and summation of series. It also solves quadratics.

Some of my y12s have that one noble, but they don't seem to use any more of the functions than we do on my version. I've only got the one I've got because that's the one we sell in the school stationery shop, so all the kids have that one. Dd's school sell an even worse version, it's a texet one I think, not a Casio and it's crap. Dd has one like mine, and the one we bought from her school in y7 is now in my pile of "you can borrow this if you don't have your own, but it's a bit crap" calculators.

dd has one like Nobles. She felt bereft without it today I think!

Holy shit I need one of those calculators noble.

That's pretty life changing. I'm still using the fx82.

And now I feel ridiculously sad for saying every part of that sentence.

I've found that kids, despite supposedly being digital natives, are actually a bit crap when it comes to calculators and if you don't show them where the functions are and how to work them, they won't actually ever look for themselves.

Yes, I find that too. I blew the minds of my y10 class yesterday when I showed them the table function today. They had never even thought about looking at what the other modes did.

Biggreygoose That's not ridiculous, that's an entirely reasonable response to that calculator! It's all shiny too.

But does it come in different colours? Mine comes in pink or blue (of course, girls shouldn't have to use boring grey).

Aaaaand ordered.

Everyone in the office will be jealous.

big What's your job that you need such a funky calculator?

Yes for GCSEs; but definitely no for A-levels. They are on a completely different challenging level altogether. I found my degrees easier than A-levels.

I've ordered two. One for me and one for DD. I'll have the nicest calculator in the maths department :)

I was sold on it when I was calculating the equation of a regression line and it gave me a and b on the same screen (along with r). You don't have to go back into the menu to get the other value!

That actually means very little to me as I've never taught stats, and my own A level didn't involve stats at all. But dd says "oooh, that will save me valuable seconds"