Sunday, January 10, 2010

Product Rule Source Response

I found the text book to be more helpful because it had less 'fluff' and was more concise. I feel that a good source on the internet could be as helpful if not more so than the text. However, the dealbreaker for me is finding that good source on the internet. It could take investigating up to 5 different sites in depth before I find a solid source. And if it's late on a school night and I have the option of opening the textbook for an easy explanation or digging through the internet hoping to find a good explanation, I choose option a. In the text, the concept is clearly put in a blue box so I know where the meat of the subject is, followed clearly by understandable examples. On the internet, who knows what I will find.
Thus, I choose the textbook because it is more reliable.

Product rule:

If y=uv
then
y'=u'v + uv'

Example of the product rule:

If y=5xlnx
then
y'=5lnx+5x(1/x)=5lnx+x

4 comments:

  1. Hi Dammitimmad,
    I liked the conciseness of your explanation/commentary of the product rule. My only criticism would be that your paragraph could flow a little bit more (its missing some commas and I would be careful using "that" in the third sentence to replace a noun). But these are very minor things. Also, i would recommend starting to use the equation editor to make your mathematical example look a little bit cleaner. These are things I need to work on too. I took a quick look at your mind map and it looks quite thorough. It appears that you used your notes along with the text in order to create your mind map, which is a more constructive review of the material we covered first semester. Thanks for your comments on my mind map too.
    Have a nice day!
    -mc Casper

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  2. Dammitimmad,

    Well written and thoughtful post.

    I agree that searching the internet for a useful source of information can be time consuming. However, I would suggest that in the web search you are critically reading and analyzing the different explanations of the product rule, reflecting on what works and doesn't work for you. In this process you are in fact constructing your own meaning of the product rule. That's what learning is all about.

    The journey becomes the destination!

    Cheers, Bru

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  3. Dammitimmad,

    I agree with Bru's comment about the usefulness of the act of critically analyzing different online resources.

    With regards to the part of your post about the product, I agree that it would look better if you used equation editor. Also, it might be nice to clarify which part of your function y represents u and which part represents v. This will give a more full and detailed example for the readers of your post.

    Nice work!

    SKS

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  4. Thanks Sarah,
    I will try to get in the habit of using equation editor and being more clear.

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