I know the same story. I'm not sure what it is, but people do have a real fear of math. I graduated from the UW's ACMS ( Applied Computational Mathematical Sciences ) department which mainly focuses on scientific computing, as is obvious from the name, so I do know something about Math at the UW.
First off, let me say that UW students are not the cream of the crop. They're not daft, but the UW admits a very wide array of people. Many of them absolutely terrified of math. I don't know why this is, I looked at the test and it took me roughly one minute to complete the test in my head. However, I do know some very, very bright people who wouldn't touch math with a 10 foot pole.
Mainly, it is my liberal arts friends who have this attitude ( and I really do think it is an attitude problem ) and freeze when they encounter problems such as these.
I suppose that my point, is really that just because these kids scored low on your test, doesn't mean that they are stupid. I think they are just scared.
On a separate but related note: Until I was 14 I was in public school in Utah, and when I came to Washington in the 8th grade I was 2 to 3 years ahead of my peers in math ( this was the most advanced level offered to my grade at my school ). There really is something very wrong with math education in WA.
I have had a few friends take your class ( I don't know if it really was your class )and they've all said that it was a very hard class and they learned a lot. Unfortunately, I didn't actually have any friends take it because they were generally interested in it, they actually took it because they needed the credit. I think it's a 'Natural World' credit.
I actually wish that I had taken a few years of atmos. Given what I chose to study, I think I would have liked it. There are lots of numbers to be crunched in the weather. :-)
First off, let me say that UW students are not the cream of the crop. They're not daft, but the UW admits a very wide array of people. Many of them absolutely terrified of math. I don't know why this is, I looked at the test and it took me roughly one minute to complete the test in my head. However, I do know some very, very bright people who wouldn't touch math with a 10 foot pole.
Mainly, it is my liberal arts friends who have this attitude ( and I really do think it is an attitude problem ) and freeze when they encounter problems such as these.
I suppose that my point, is really that just because these kids scored low on your test, doesn't mean that they are stupid. I think they are just scared.
On a separate but related note: Until I was 14 I was in public school in Utah, and when I came to Washington in the 8th grade I was 2 to 3 years ahead of my peers in math ( this was the most advanced level offered to my grade at my school ). There really is something very wrong with math education in WA.
Incidentally, here's a link to the description in the UW Time Schedule http://www.washington.edu/students/crscat/atmos.html#atms101
I have had a few friends take your class ( I don't know if it really was your class )and they've all said that it was a very hard class and they learned a lot. Unfortunately, I didn't actually have any friends take it because they were generally interested in it, they actually took it because they needed the credit. I think it's a 'Natural World' credit.
I actually wish that I had taken a few years of atmos. Given what I chose to study, I think I would have liked it. There are lots of numbers to be crunched in the weather. :-)