Brian Ferentz Presser

[pistachio1999]

This makes sense.....after all we hired a LB to coach Tight Ends and a lineman to coach QB's why not have PP who is one of the best at Defense coach Offense.

I mean our offense goes up against a national top 10 in defense every season, so do they ever move the ball in practice?

 

[grayhair81]

You gotta learn to walk before you can run. Even freshman calculus (often Math 150) is difficult, and college math instructors tend to have assumptions that their students have a solid understanding of algebra, trigonometry, and precalculus. Calc professors tend to jump in feet-first right away and don't spend much - if any - time reviewing what they view to be prerequisites for learning calc. They will often flat-out tell students that if they fall behind early on, that they're better off just dropping the class and take a more basic math course first.

My recommendation to juniors and seniors in high school who are interested in a major where calculus is either a requirement, or something highly recommended, to take all the algebra classes, trigonometry, and precalc (if not full-on calc) before graduating HS. It's much better to learn it in high school because like most anything else, high school classes are easier than their college counterparts. High school calc teachers don't make the same assumptions about their students' prior knowledge like college instructors do, and a fair portion of the class will be review to get everyone up to speed before they dive in to the heavy-duty stuff. Kids do get a smattering of derivatives in advanced algebra and trig, but a week's worth of material isn't nearly enough to prepare a student if they're interested in becoming an engineer. If their high school doesn't offer anything beyond say advanced algebra/geometry/trig, their math teacher himself/herself may be a great resource as they likely do have some sort of a background with calculus, but if they don't (or don't feel comfortable with it), they most likely can make some recommendations as to how to best familiarize oneself with it. Perhaps a summer course at a larger high school, or some online materials would be helpful.

Good post. Biggest problem in HS these days is AP courses. Parents have kids load up on them with the dream of earning college credit on the cheap. Very few AP instructors have a college-level knowledge of their subject area. In the district I taught in <25% of the kids who took AP calc or physics got a qualifying score on the exam.

 

[grayhair81]

There's literally a million other sites on the internet to have those discussions, and these guys choose an Iowa football board of all places.

No one making you read it, Mr. OC.

 

[Frosty7130]

No one making you read it, Mr. OC.

If only we had a board where you could discuss topics that don't fall within the realm of Iowa football, basketball, or wrestling. Where people could get their dopamine rush of political slapfights that everyone else uses sports to get away from.

What ever would we call it though...

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

Calculus is taught because it's absolutely fundamental for engineering, physics, and even medicine. It allows for problem solving that are difficult (if not outright impossible) for other branches of mathematics.

I learned the hard way that it's not a subject anyone can just jump in and pick up like a foreign language or a geography class. I know that it's not a course normally offered for high school freshmen, but at the college level the expectations have jumped considerably. I wish that they tested the aptitude of prospective students for 'tougher' freshmen courses because I really think a lot of them come in woefully unprepared and end up biting more than they can chew.

At many, if not most, colleges/universities these days, in order to place students in the "right math class" - class-choice is predicated upon test scores. Either ACT scores or Accuplacer (a college-board exam) scores are used to assess mathematical competency.

I've seen plenty of students who supposedly took PreCal or Calc in high school ... but as other indicated ... many students are so sloppy (or weak) as it relates to their algebra skills that it's not the actual calculus-content that is the cause of their problems ... but foolish little algebra errors.

 

[obfuscating]

I think zone blocking is more complex because linemen have to make reads and running backs have to read and make quick decisions on where to take it upfield.

Zone blocking was brought about to help against the slants\angles used against man-to-man blocking. Anymore, the zone blocking doesn't happen fast enough (in today's game) and the defense can get more hats to the ball then the offense. Usually the zone will have 2 lineman working together. Blah blah, it's not new, it's not difficult. If the players are having such a hard time with it, then the coaches need to adjust, not keep beating players heads against a wall. Same with the QB's, if it is taking our QB's more than 6mths to understand the offense, then the coaches are at fault.