Tuesday, August 29, 2006
ah 2 tutorials down. 2 more to go tomorrow. somehow i think i need a watch when i really start teaching though. so that i don't dwell on a specific question for too long. went through main points with the class today and not detailed solutions. i mean my impression was that there was no need for any detailed solutions because they would be given to them next week anyway. so doesnt it make more sense to highlight potential problems and general methods for doing certain stuff? i dont know, but we'll see if this is the favoured method of conducting tutorials at the end of the year when the evaluation results come out. haha.
it's been a tiring week thus far. got to finish up grad algebra tutorial by this friday so we can have a group discussion and deliver a better presentation compared to the group today. also got to get the first section of herstein done and ready for discussion by friday. so in some sense, i'm looking forward to the week ending, but also dreading the arrival of friday.
let's see what i have to do:
group tutorial by thursday
start reading up on markov chains
herstein by friday
grad alg by friday
grad alg notes
group notes
matrix comp by monday
engine math webcast by sun
doesnt sound like alot ya. well we'll see.
speaking of fridays, nus extension has sent me a confirmation letter for my korean class. yay! now there a greater plus to look forward to fridays as well.
us open this week. i doubt i'll be able to catch any of the matches during weekdays. so well at least those 6 on the left won't be jinxed by my presence. haha.
anyway, lang proved on monday the simplicity of A_5. The proof rested entirely on just 1 table. It was one of those proofs that after I fully digested it, caused a perpetual smile on my face. it's so cool! haha. sigh if only someone could share my excitement. haha! i love group theory. ok fine, i guess the proof isnt really unique and special in that sense, but for someone who has seen another more complicated proof, it's beauty lay in its, for lack of a better word, simplicity. haha. i really thought that when i attended ccw's course last year. i thought it was one of the most complete, comprehensive and compelling courses i've ever taken. but now, i think lang's course is even better. why? because he uses low level machinery to such good effect that there is no need for elaborate high powered tools. haha. nus would lose a great lecturer too once lang really retires. he's the only finite group theorist in nus anyway. haha.
ok time for me to get down to some work. hope everyone's doing well!
{8:54 PM}
0 Comments:
Post a Comment