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Math 1LS3

 
Math 1LS3
Published by sinthusized
04-25-2009
Published by
Elite Member
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 1,034

Author review
Overall Rating
90%90%90%
9
Professor Rating
80%80%80%
8
Interest
70%70%70%
7
Easiness
90%90%90%
9
Average 83%
Math 1LS3

I think this course was very easy. We started at a very basic level (probably grade 9 math) with the linear equation and moved up from there. The last unit, integration, was the only major new thing but it wasn't too bad.

Your mark was the better of :

4 tests, lowest dropped and all together worth 60 % and a 40 % exam OR

4 tests, lowest dropped and all together worth 10 % and a 90 % exam.

(So you can still get a 12 if you only write the exam).

Hmm it's best to stay on top of your work. Getting caught up and teaching yourself takes up a lot of time and it's just more efficient to go to lecture. This is a very easy course and I recommend it if you are not planning on taking math 1AA3.

To study for tests, I recommend going over assignments and if you need extra help, then go to the recommended problems in text book... but that isn't really necessary unless you have missed a few lectures. That being said, if you plan on attending all lectures, the text book is not necessary. (Courseware is, and is a good tool because it has practise tests, exams, solutions and assignments.)

I had Dr. Loveric, he was great. My highschool math teachers skipped more steps than he did so there was not much confusion during class. Generally, I heard positive reviews of all the professors who taught this course.

Jason036, TheMist all say thanks to sinthusized for this post.

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Old 05-06-2009 at 10:22 AM   #2
Cristina_n13
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This class and I had a love-hate relationship.
I had Dr. Lovric, who was an absolutly amazing professor, however I missed a couple of tutorials/lectures and decided to go to some of the other professors' classes. Both of the other male professors (Dr. Imran & Dr. Agarwal) I disliked. They were very disorganized with their notes, made quite a few clumsy errors and didn't correct themselves, and to make it worst had thick accents. They're accents wouldn't have been a problem if it wasn't for their horrible teaching styles. The lady professor (Dr. Eftimie) was a lot better because she was a lot more organized and her notes were more clear/concise. Dr. Lovric however was the best.

Lectures with Dr. Lovric consisted of him teaching us very little theory, showing us examples and then going over these "True or False" statements which showed up all over tests/exams directly from his notes.

The textbook ("Modeling the Dynamics of Life") some found useful, others found terrible. I really thought it was a good thing to practice out of. The questions for each chapter start off really easy then get more difficult towards the end. I'd suggest if you were doing textbook problems to get all the way to the end because doing the first lets say 20 questions could be quite misleading, making you think you're set for the test/exam. There were a few questions on the tests that came straight out of textbook questions, just with different numbers.
On top of the textbook, another required course material is this workbook. Everyone I spoke to (including myself) found it extremely useful. It basically covers everything you need to know for each test. Make sure you've done and understood each and every question from the workbook before the test becase I've found there were qutie a few questions that were on the test straight from the workbook (the numbers did not change).

The 4 tests (as mentioned above) consisted of many questions are directly from class examples, the more difficult textbook questions, and workbook questions. The tests didn't have too much theory (except for the True/False statements) and sometimes (rarely) asked you questions like "what kinds of stability does a graph with this equation show". I'd recommend going back and picking up your tests from your TAs to see the mistakes you've made because a few questions were the same on the exam as on the tests. The averages for the tests for Term 2 of 08/09 were 67%, 69%, 55%, and 58%. It wasn't THAT hard to do well, but there were some questions which really got you. Also, many people found that the tests were quite tough to complete within 1 hour. (As the semester went on, the amount of questions/time remained the same, but it seemed that many people were better able to time manage)

The exam I found to be harder than the tests, with questions that required a lot more work, thinking, and a better background in math. We were given 3 hours for something the length of 2 tests. There wasn't any time constraint for this, like the tests, but the questions were tougher. I'd highly recommend NOT relying on your exam to be worth 90% of your mark.

Overall, if you go to classes, stay ontop of your work, and do as many problems as you can, you will do fantastic in this course.

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Old 05-08-2009 at 12:55 AM   #3
sinthusized
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Umm it sounds like accents are NOT part of the problem then... just teaching style, like you mentioned. If they didn't have accents... the teaching style is still the same.
I am tired of people complaining about accents in course reviews. I had Dr. Agarwal for a substitute lecturer and I don't think his accent hindered from teaching at all as well as other profs with accents... You know why? They speak English! People should get over accents or deal with it instead of complaining. It's something that you can't really help. Maybe it's you? Get some friends with accents or watch movies with ppl with accents to become better at understanding accents ... those are some suggestions.

Last edited by sinthusized : 05-08-2009 at 01:02 AM.

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Old 05-09-2009 at 10:42 AM   #4
Cristina_n13
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Honestly, when they have thick accents you can't understand people that well.
As easy as it is for you to say, "go watch movies where people have accents" or "make friends with people with accents" I think that some people just aren't used to accents in the first place, and hearing them comes tough. I honestly didn't mean to offend anyone, but if you were to hear my best friend's grandma speak who was born and raised in Scottland, since you're not used to her accent, it would take you a few months to understand. It's a fact. Its not that I didn't understand them but I mean if someone lives out somewhere where it's a majority white people (because honestly not everyone comes from Toronto/Missisauga) and they aren't that great at the subject in the first place, having someone that it takes them a while to understand can be a problem.
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Old 06-10-2009 at 02:51 PM   #5
Mz.Morra13
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I had Agarwal... and though he did put his best efforts in, I found him to be terrible.
He was extremely disorganized and difficult to follow.. and yes he'd try to be funny by using 'monkey' as a variable but really..? stick to X it's easier to write than a squiggle.
A word of caution..
this course starts off VERY slow.. to the point that you feel it's not necessary to go to class. However once the second half of the course starts it picks up VERY fast. Like.. we learned integration by parts in one class lol, and math 1A03 spent at least a week on it. It is very possible to get a 12 in this course but make sure you get Lovric as a prof.. GO TO CLASS...and keep ahead on your assignments.
My biggest regret is not going to class... cuz unfortunately its not like regular math they actually throw in life sci questions which you need to be in class for when they go through examples. that's what i felt at least. The topics covered themselves are straightfoward if you attend class and keep up. My biggest regret is not keeping up and not going to class after the 2nd midterm..

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Old 06-10-2009 at 02:54 PM   #6
Mz.Morra13
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Oh man Cristina I agree with you about not relying on the 90% thing..which is what I did. There are so many things i regret about this course lol.
You also gotta watch out for your t.a... some people i know got screwed over because where they could have got part marts were given no marks whatsoever (i think that's what happened on my exam.. arrgh).
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Old 06-25-2009 at 11:17 AM   #7
Krusenik
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Krusenik View Post
math 1ls3 is a piece of trash course, i took it instead of math 1a03 last year. If you have any respect for math, dont' take this course. If you just need a calculus credit take this trash course.

Math 1LS3 teaches you things that are completely useless even for life science, I assure you...things like cobwebbing, you will never need to manually calculate or ever apply. And if you ever do, you'll learn it later on. You don't learn any real calculus until half way through the course and you barely cover integrals which is what you really should learn.

Even my professor said he doesn't know why we're learning some of the things we're learning like cobwebbing.

So in summary, this course is bad and if you've received an email trying to convince you to take 1ls3 instead of math1a03 because you are in life science or w/e, reject it. Take math 1a03 if you want to learn more calculus, it also doesn't put a bar restriction for math 1aa3 if you ever need to take that course. You need to get a 10 in math 1ls3 to take math 1aa3. But if you can get a 10 in math 1ls3, you're probably better off in math 1a03.

TAKE MY ADVICE you won't regret it, not taking math 1ls3 is dodging a bullet in your university career.
An honest review of a useless course that you shouldn't take unless you hate calculus and just need the credit to get by.

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Old 07-01-2009 at 07:42 AM   #8
Kareko
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k so I alternated between prof Agarwal and Loveric, personally I found them comparively good but for different reasons. Prof Lovric is better if you want slower, life sci type feel, he goes over examples more slowly and if you struggle at all with math concepts he's probably better for you. Prof Agarwal I found to make it feel more like a math course, the pace was a bit more brisk and even though the course had dragging material you feel like you learn more useful stuff.. or so I found anyways.

as for the course itself. the actual content is essentially useless for half the course, designed to give approximations for those unable to do simple calculus..which is redundant since you need advanced functions to get in to the course anyway. you dont get to limits till about halfway through and the truely new material is only limited and at the end.

on the plus side if you do the courseware work and go to lecture- or possibly not depending on how good your math is- it is very easy to get a high mark..this is a bird math course.
of note you do not need to buy the textbook really, courseware is sufficient.

the course breakdown is very lenient and the course isnt hard, however if you are hoping for a useful course or plan to take further math related courses take 1A03. if you just need a math and want if over with then this is the course for you.
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Old 07-04-2009 at 11:19 AM   #9
Rakim
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can someone give like a unit breakdown or overview?
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Old 07-04-2009 at 11:40 AM   #10
~*Sara*~
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Has anyone done the transition from 1LS3 to 1AA3 right away.. and if so.. how was it, without taking 1A03? Is it too difficult? Cuz I do plan on taking math later on.. but I messed up in grade 12:( .. so I wanna start easy in first year.. Any suggestions? THanks a lot for the awesome reviews by the way
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Old 07-05-2009 at 05:56 PM   #11
sinthusized
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sara_h216 View Post
Has anyone done the transition from 1LS3 to 1AA3 right away.. and if so.. how was it, without taking 1A03? Is it too difficult? Cuz I do plan on taking math later on.. but I messed up in grade 12:( .. so I wanna start easy in first year.. Any suggestions? THanks a lot for the awesome reviews by the way
If you want to continue with math, take 1a03 and try your best. From what other people tell me, 1a03 is a straightforward course and you do more integration (compared to 3 weeks of it in 1Ls3) which I would think better prepares you for 1AA3. (And I've heard very terrible experiences from 1AA3 and so you better be prepared). Taking 1A03 ensures that you don't miss out on anything, even if you get above 10 in 1Ls3, there is a small amount of extra work to do to get caught up. Also, there is the whole buisness of taking 1A03 anyways if you do get below 10 in 1Ls3. This can be annoying because the amount of first year courses you are allowed to take throughout your undergraduate career is in fact limited.

Here is a link though that might explain it better:
http://www.math.mcmaster.ca/lovric/1...rmation.h tml

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Old 07-05-2009 at 05:58 PM   #12
sinthusized
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kaka22 View Post
can someone give like a unit breakdown or overview?

Click "Course Outline" on this page:

http://www.math.mcmaster.ca/lovric/1LS3.html

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Old 07-05-2009 at 07:05 PM   #13
~*Sara*~
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Thanks a lot Sinthu! I guess I'll try and get into 1A03 as soon as a spot opens up.. better be prepared! Thanks again
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Old 07-05-2009 at 07:37 PM   #14
Rakim
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Do we have to take the 1AA3 if we're in life science or something? I'm kinda clueless, sorry.
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Old 07-05-2009 at 07:41 PM   #15
jhan523
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Originally Posted by kaka22 View Post
Do we have to take the 1AA3 if we're in life science or something? I'm kinda clueless, sorry.
No, Math 1AA3 is not required for Life Sciences
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