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MareoRaft / MATH-Calc

UVA MATH-1210 and MATH-1220 (Survey of Calculus I and Survey of Calculus II)
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Problem was too difficult last semester #5

Open ghseeli opened 6 years ago

ghseeli commented 6 years ago

https://github.com/MareoRaft/MATH-Calc/blob/f1bbdb24bd5e05af57f6d3fdc903509b6d3c100a/notesheets-1210/4.4-and-4.5.tex#L43

When I gave this problem to my class last semester, they struggled to grasp that minimizing the distance squared would also minimize the difference. Maybe I just didn't explain it well, but they were super confused. Also, this problem is an example in Stewart, I am pretty sure.

MareoRaft commented 6 years ago

My students were also confused.

But this problem was not on our notesheet last semester. There was a similar problem with different numbers, and the numbers didn't work out nicely. This problem has the numbers work out nicely.

ghseeli commented 6 years ago

Hmmm alright. But still, I question whether this is really an insightful exercise for 1210. I don't think any exams have had problems like this and students get hung up on the distance squared detail instead of learning how the minimization actually works. Maybe try it again this semester with your students, but if it does not work, let's remove it for something else.