Blog Post #1. Matthias Ng

1.      1)What is your full name? Matthias Ng

2. Do you have a nickname that you prefer to go by? No

3. What is your height IN INCHES (not feet)? 67 inches

4. What is your age in years? 21 years

5. What time do you generally wake up on any given day? Around 8am
6. What is your favorite candy? Snickers

7. What is your favorite snack food? Almonds

8. Who is your favorite musical artist/band? I like a range of different artists. Recently, I started listening to country and I like George Strait, I also like rap and I like Drake, Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar.

9. Do you have any hobbies/things you like to do for fun? I like going to the gym and I enjoy watching TV and movies. My favorite movie is the Godfather part one.

10. What is your mathematical background? (Not limited to the list below...list other topics if needed)
 High School: Calc. However, I haven’t really done math in like 3 years and I generally feel very lost.

11. What is your comfort level with solving math word problems, math application problems, and

At this point pretty uncomfortable with everything.

Very comfortable (V) comfortable (C) uncomfortable (U) extremely uncomfortable (E)

12. What is your comfort level with math computations and calculations/using formulas and following

steps and procedures? Somewhere between Comfortable and uncomfortable depending on how long I've been doing math for.

Very comfortable (V) comfortable (C) uncomfortable (U) extremely uncomfortable (E)

13. What is your comfort level with any of the following algebraic and precalculus concepts?

Write one of the following next to each topic:

Very comfortable (V) comfortable (C) uncomfortable (U) extremely uncomfortable (E)

Equations: U

Factoring: U

Adding/subtracting/multiplying/dividing fractions/rational expressions: U

Simplifying expressions: U

Simplifying rational expressions (fractions and fractional polynomials): U

Operations on roots and fractional exponent expressions: U

Operations involving whole number exponent expressions: U

Finding common denominators: U

Inequalities: C

Functions: U

Absolute value: U

Linear functions: U

Systems of equations: U

Domain and range: U

Inverse functions: E

Transformations (shifting, scaling, stretching, etc): E

Quadratic functions: U

Completing the square: E

Exponential functions: E

Logarithmic functions: E

Base e: E

Graphing (trigonometric, quadratic, linear, exponential, and logarithmic functions): E

Trigonometric concepts: E

14. Have you taken American university’s math 151 (finite math) class? If yes, was your grade a “b”

or better? No

15. Have you taken American university’s math 160 (applied precalculus) class? NO

16. Which social media formats are you familiar with? All of the below.

Facebook

17. Which social media formats do you use most frequently?  None

18. What is your major? Business Administration

19. Why are you taking this math class? Requirement for Calculus.

20. Will you take other math classes in the future at American University or will this be your only math

class? If yes, which classes do you anticipate taking?

I will be taking applied Calc and I will also be taking statistics.

 
21. What do you hope to learn in this class?  I hope to have a solid foundation so I can move on and take applied calc next semester.

22. Is there anything else you would like me to know about you? I’ve been in the Singapore army for the past few years and I haven’t really done any math for about three years. I just want you to know that as of now, I’m pretty lost.