First half semester as mature student

Mature student. Such a euphemism for "old bugger". Everything about it feels surreal, since being an old bugger has never been how I see myself.

Studying Again

I recently resumed study at the University of Auckland. Having found that my PGDipSci that I began in the 90s was now too long ago and would have to be restarted, I questioned whether more computer science was actually something I wanted to do. If I want to work as a computer programmer, it might make sense, although, to be honest, just doing that would make even more sense. More to the point, I'm not much interested in the stuff they teach at Master's level in that subject any more, and very much more interested in a lot of other things.

What to study?

So I decided to start a science degree. Starting in the middle of the year is nearly impossible for most of the science subjects, as the first half subjects work as prerequisites, with the exception of mathematics, which is so core to science that every first year paper is offered every semester. Since that is the subject I feel needed the most brushing up, I enrolled in "Advancing Mathematics", a Pure Maths paper for people who want to take maths further, and also "Modelling and Computation", which is Applied Maths. The course adviser actually told me I could go straight to Stage 2 if I wanted, but frankly I didn't feel confident enough in the Pure Maths to do that. I felt it likely that Applied Maths could be a little too easy, given my computing background, but couldn't be sure, and figured that it wouldn't hurt to have a thorough grounding.

First setback

I also enrolled in Physics subject "Sustainable Energy", but when my kids got sick in the second week of the semester, requiring me to miss all lectures, then I got sick the next week, and missed another week, I felt that a 75% of full time course load might be too ambitious. So I dropped the Physics, which was only for interest and non-advancing, and anyway, the textbook was online and I read the whole thing on the bus to lectures. It's interesting, but actually, nah, I'll have my $700 back, cheers.

The courses

My guesses both turned out to be right about maths. I have found the Advancing Mathematics course refreshingly challenging, having not studied any calculus for 20 years. And I've found the Applied Mathematics extremely easy. I decided instead of taking it for granted, I'd "overlearn" it, paying very close attention to every detail. I might as well get one A+ in my academic history. The mathematics side of it is at least interesting, I've never studied difference equations before, and I am one of those people who clicks to mathematical ideas from practical examples, which is what the subject is all about. I think it could end up being a lot more interesting in the long run, and very useful for other science.

Advancing Mathematics is hard! The lectures are at a blistering pace, the examples worked through are extremely tricky, and the amount of subject matter is huge, for the time given. Presumably well prepared school students aren't finding it quite as tricky as me, not having to relearn calculus. Then again, ironically, I seem to find some of the ideas easier than most people, perhaps because I'd forgotten calculus (at least in the detail - I do know what it's for and what can be done with it). So the excruciating attention to detail on limits and inequalities and the minor theorems that contribute to why calculus works were really interesting to me. I remember 20 years ago being very frustrated by them, being in a great rush to find use for maths, and finding the very idea of proving the underlying formulae boring and pointless. This time around, I can see the point, I can see that pure maths is the business of laying out the bleeding obvious in such detail that the things that aren't bleeding obvious can be found.

The teachers

The lecturer, Wendy Stratton, is fantastic. It's a pretty hard thing to make a subject like this come alive, especially at the speed that is required. She has a rare gift in being able to explain the mathematics without losing any precision, and to make students feel involved in the process, without leading them by the nose all the time. Perhaps it's just a streaming thing, that the students are the self-selected higher achievers, but I don't think so. It's almost a cliche that maths lecturers are meant to be boring or incomprehensible, at all times. Not Wendy.

I won't judge the other teacher. When you find a subject really easy, it's hard to keep perspective. She seems to teach at a snail's pace, doing endless examples. I'm probably doing a subject I shouldn't be - the other students seem to find it challenging. Word is that the second half steps up in difficulty, when it comes to modelling lots and lots of problems. I'm thinking I'll end up liking that, so an easy intro is probably a good thing.

Student life

Mostly, I'm missing out on campus life. I just don't have time - childcare and housework is at least 7 hours of every day, and there's an hour of traveling. I park and ride, either on bus or bike, leaving the van in the closest place I can find an all day free park. This is usually Kingsland. For such a short ride, I don't need to change clothes. On some days, when I have only one lecture, I'll just park on a 90 min zone outside the lecture theater and go home afterward. At home I have all the resources from University I need, internet, printer, MatLab, and the hideously large textbook for maths.

So most days I get about 3 hours that aren't lectures, and I spend them basically studying, or doing assignments, which are the best way of studying anyway. Only recently did I discover the SciSpace, which is set up specifically as a study area for science students, with minor kitchen facilities, and have actually found familiar faces to work through the harder problems with. 

Tutorials

Gotta say it, maths tutorials aren't really very interesting. The range of things considered is not wide, and you're either right or lost. They're a far cry from, say, a philosophy tutorial. They actually have a rule in the pure maths tutorials that you get marked down if the tutor doesn't hear a hubbub of voices from your group. This is necessary because otherwise people tend to study silently on their own. It's the kind of subject where that works. It actually requires a lot of effort to discuss the problems, since usually you're just putting on display how you're lost or stuck, and those who aren't lost or stuck are thus being delayed by you.

Why do they insist on it, then? This has changed since I studied years ago. It seems that pure mathematicians have finally realized that there is value in social interaction, even in their subject, that a group does actually find things faster, and learn better. I'm not sure, but I have a humorous impression that this might be an amazing theorem that one of them stumbled upon recently, and that they are struggling out of their autistic shells under the power of the logic that drove them in there in the first place. 

Applied Maths tutorials are all lab computer work. Generally I've cranked out the solutions in 20 mins, and I spend the rest of it helping other people. It's been a good way to meet the other students, actually. Interaction doesn't need to be forced. I finally met another mature student! Not feeling quite so weird any more.

Better get back to my swot.