UNI blues

[shivan]

G'day all. Some of you may know but most wont that i recently applied to go to UNI to do a bachelor of geoscience.
Unfortunatly i never completed yr12 and my maths wasnt up to their standards so i was denied but offered a pathway course, which if i complete will allow me to go onto my bachelor of geoscience.

Well i just finalised my enrollment monday night, it should have been done earlyer but they messed the mailing list up and forgot me 8.(
I should mention this is an off campus course as iam a full time dad so cant get to class's. On tuesday i started looking at the 2 subjects i have for this trimester. Started getting used to the website and getting my reading material. When i finally had a look at the second subject (maths) i realised there was an assignment due the next day 8)

Managed to get it done and submitted (i was actually lucky as it was due monday but had been extended due to late enrollments) after a vast struggle to shake off the cobwebs and try to recall information i havnt used in the last 15 years

Iam now just hanging out to get the results and praying i have not failed allready, wow this is only the first two days, what have i got myself in for

 

[ChrisM]

Goodonya Ian
Never too late to learn.
If only we paid more attention when we were at school...

 

[Nugget]

I've done quite a few certificates over the years (Not through UNI though) so I know what your going through, it's especially tough when you have a family and other life commitments that require so much of your time. All I can say is keep at it and think of the end game. I'm sure you will be fine, all the best for your assignment mate.

 

[Mystyk59]

Good on ya mate, Wish you all the very best of luck with your first assignment , my other half is doing her Human resources degree from home so understand what it is like
keep at it mate

 

[shivan]

Thanks guys, its funny i allways hated maths but i actually had a bit of fun going over it and was supprised the bits and pieces that were still there. Chris i just wish i would have attended a bit more
I have done a few courses and certificates since leaving school but most of them just required a bit of common sence and to show a bit of practical skills. This has been the first course that i have really had to think about in a while though.
Just hope i manage to stay on top of things.

Good luck to anyone else out there studying.
Ok now back to my book on critical thinking 8)

 

[WalnLiz]

Great stuff Ian...Man are you going to be busy...studying all the technical stuff, and then having to get on here to answer all our geological questions. .Hope it goes great for you mate. Cheers Wal.

 

[joe]

Well done Ian takes commitment and sacrifice but at the end of it all youll thank yourself. Keep at it work out a routine make time for your family and youll get there. I have one more semester before completing my masters (ITsec). Already been offered entry for Dr. Information Technology but cant justify another 6 years and 40k.

 

[kemjak57]

Good luck mate, Hats off to you. It will be a tough road for a while but when you commit you will get there. Keep your eye on the prize. Cheers, Rick

 

[Goldbuzzhashit]

Keep your chin up and keep up the time management, plenty of time to party later, I'm telling you this because I have personal knowledge of this, all the best champ, it flys the time.

 

[elrodeo]

Hey Ian good on ya mate for having a go.
I enrolled in an engineering diploma but they didn't get the numbers so was cancelled.
The misso has just started a double degree in law and business and I'm trying to get mid year entry into Earth Science ( Bsc )
It seems like maths is the key element for these courses as I know someone else who is a mature age student doing the course and they have said that maths is a big part of it.
Looking forward to getting back into study but still have to jump the hoops and get accepted.
Keep at it mate , it gets easier !!

 

[Dozer]

Good luck Ian, one step at a time and you will get thru it.

 

[shivan]

Cheers Dozer, it has been a bit of a struggle so far. The maths is what is killing me at the moment. Been doing quadratic equasions, logerithum and all sorts of other funny named types of math that i barely remember looking at back at school

By the way if anyone out there is any good at quadratic equasions i have 1 problem i need a hand with :lol:

 

[ChrisM]

Hey Ian.
Looks like you got your work cut out for you.
Keep at it mate and the light will eventually come on.
Why dont you post the equation so on the forum.
I believe in this forums braintrust there's bound to be someone able to explain it for you.
Cheers
Chris

 

[shivan]

Its all a learning experience. Most of what iam going over i think iam getting

The equasion iam stuck on is:
1/2x - 2x = 3/2

I need to find x
I know i need to trun it into a quadratic equation to solve so i need to get it to look like: ax^2 - bx - c = 0
but for the life of me cant get the fractions out because of the 1/2x.
In all our text books and lecture notes i cant find any examples that use fractions.

 

[Diggerdude]

Post it up Ian, I got 20/20 in my quadratics assignment last week . My assignment on derivatives this week is a killer, it's due tomorrow, I did one load through the highbanker this morning now it's homework time . ( that's why I'm on the forum avoiding it lol )

DD

 

[Gold miner]

Got this off the net....

This is an equation! Solutions: x=-1.

http://www.algebra.com/services/rendering/simplifier.mpl

 

[shivan]

Thanks gold miner, that is a great site, but it looks like it is soving it as a normal algebraic equation. Where as i need to turn it into a quadratic equation first to solve.

a quadratic equation will have 3 parts ax^2, bx,c so i need to get something like x^2 - 3x - 5 = 0
I only seem to be able to do the first step which is to minus 3/2 from both sides which gives me:
1/2x - 2x - 3/2 = 0 from there i think i need to start squaring things so i get x^2 at the front but the fractions are killing me, thaught about converting to decimal but dont think that is allowed

 

[Gold miner]

Hmmm dunno!!!!

How about this?

http://www.math.com/students/calculators/source/quadratic.htm

 

[Diggerdude]

G'day Ian, that equation will not from a quadratic. I think you may be reading it wrong. From looking at the test you sent me , q10 wants you to factories the quadratic but q12 only requires you to solve x. So -1 is correct. There a several lots of working you can to get this but this is the way I did it.

1/2x - 2x = 3/2.(to get rid of the /2 on the right hand side you multiply everything by 2)

x - 4x = 3. (which equals)

-3x = 3. (to get rid of the -3 you divide both sides by -3)

x = -1. (which leaves you with)

Hope this helps

DD

 

[shivan]

Cheers DD, i must say now iam confused 8.(
I managed to turn it into a quadratic by timesing everything by 2x from the 1/2x which gives:

10-4x^2=6x/2 then get rid of the other 2 by timesing everything by 2

20-8x^2=6x from there i think i trasnspose the 20- 8x^2 to get

0= 8x^2 + 6x -20 From there i just have to factor down and solve, but now iam not so sure......

As this week was all about elementry functions i just assumed thats what i was doing.