... and it seems that, since starting back into mathematics, I am having a difficult time grokking concepts as presented by Certain Modern Textbooks ... to the degree that I keep buying other books in hopes of finding one that will make Calculus clear to me.
I have found a couple of ancillary "help ya out" books that have proven to be of some assistance (I particularly enjoyed How to Ace Calculus: The Streetwise Guide), but if my ultra-shoddy performance on my most recent Calculus B exam is any indication, I am still having considerable difficulty getting, holding and keeping things in my head ...
... and that is frightening. I used to be really good at this stuff. Is my brain just too atrophied and old (last week I was diagnosing myself with early-onset Alzheimer's)? Or is there something wrong with these textbooks?
... one of the difficulties with the textbook we are using for class is that (in my opinion) it drops one from worked examples straight into fairly subtle and sophisticated problem-sets, with few or no elementary exercises in between. In explicitly eschewing "plug and chug" it often leaves me -- a student who often requires getting comfortable with "plug and chug" first and only then departing from it -- adrift at sea, staring helplessly at the solutions and wondering how a mere human might have arrived at them.
... it is also true that I have forgotten how to study effectively. My practice since this past summer has been to wake up extra early and work on mathematics in the morning before going to work. This doesn't seem to be working out as well these days. Right now I am rather lost in Calculus B and am considering withdrawing. I'd hate to follow through with that.
I feel like my whole head needs a massage.
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