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There is one location right off campus most students are forced to endure: the Math Emporium.
Most students at Virginia Tech have at least taken one class in the Math Emporium, and at least 99.9 percent of those students probably regretted it afterwards. However, some courses are only offered there and are required for certain majors. This makes improving the clunky, awkward system of the Math Emporium a priority in every sense.
Taking to Twitter seems to be the common way for people to vent and freshman Jacqueline's tweet, “LEAVING THE EMPO IS THE BEST FEELING. HELLO REAL WORLD, I'VE MISSED YOU,” just about sums it up. The sad thing is tweets like this show up on my Twitter timeline every single day. That is how unpopular the Math Emporium is, and there are many good reasons for it.
For one thing, the location of the Math Emporium is very inconvenient. It is currently located a few miles off campus at University Mall. Would it not make more sense to build the Math Emporium on campus, where access to it is much easier? The fact is that freshmen make up a majority of the students who take classes there, and less than half of the freshmen on campus own a car. There is bus service to the Emporium every fifteen minutes from Newman Library on weekdays, but it is quite a hassle to have to hop on a bus two to three times a week with everything else going on.
The environment of the Math Emporium is another big issue. The Empo, as many call it, is a huge room with over 500 Apple computers and student tutors who walk around to help out. The student tutors can be hit or miss — some are really helpful, while others are not.
To receive help from a tutor, you must put the red cup at your station on top of your screen. About half of the tutors I have encountered have made me feel like a moron; it makes me not want to utilize my red cup. Some critical students have even nicknamed this red cup, “The Stupid Cup.”
On top of that, the tutors have been known, on more than one occasion, to mislead students on how to execute problems. Only a portion of tutors have a good idea of the math you are performing, and you have to hope the one you get knows your subject material. If not, they are about as helpful as the students sitting around you.
The Math Emporium is for people proficient in mathematics. However, not all students can teach themselves calculus. I will be the first to admit that I am mathematically challenged; I have trouble with math in a standard classroom setting and there are many other students like me who have issues with grasping these types of concepts. I find it ridiculous for the university to think all of its students can teach themselves such a high-level math with little to no help.
The online textbook for MATH 1525, the class I am currently taking, is probably the worst resource I have ever been forced to refer to. It is almost as though the writers thought that if we looked at a picture and read a few sentences, then we will all automatically have an epiphany.
Sadly, this rarely happens, and you are forced to find alternative methods to actually learn the material.
The quizzes make the courses offered at the Math Emporium even more of a pain. For many of the courses offered, the quizzes contain only six questions, meaning that if you get more than one question wrong, you cannot even get a C. Just hope the quiz accurately reflects what you are learning — sometimes they do not.
However, proctored exams are what matter the most, and fortunately, they are the only thing that make sense in this convoluted system.
The Math Emporium was an intriguing innovation doomed to fail from its very beginning. With all of the equipment and employees that reside there, I am sure the university does not plan to tear it down anytime soon. Nonetheless, changes must be made to the Empo to make it a convenience rather than a burden on the entire student population. If the university wishes for the Math Emporium to remain, it must make a change and make it fast.
A version of this article appeared in the Oct 31 issue of the Collegiate Times.
Leave a comment 58 Comments Write a letter to the editor
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Empo math is easy, try taking a real math course
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I rather liked the empo. Was there at least once a week during my freshman year. The only problem I had with it was they use comic sans for everything.
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A few miles off campus? I could walk there from my dorm freshman year in 15 minutes.
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I completely agree, I am terrible at math, and now they're making me teach it to myself? Id say the Empo is good for people who took calc in high school, but for anyone who didn't, good luck!
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quit your whining..it's 1.3 miles from cassel colisseum
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I guess it wouldn't be Virginia Tech without another freshman complaining about the math empo. Oh no, you have to take a bus two or three times a week! And it only comes every 15 minutes! The horror!
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The whining is too damn high.
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Finally! Someone had to say it.
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It's the same way every year: The Freshman who are terrible at math despise and bellyache about the Empo. The Freshman who are good at math think the people who suck at math are whiners. Kinda a vicious circle.
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If the university wishes? Like what we the stdents have to say would actually cause an immediate change. Virginia Tech has thrived for 140 years on doing whatever the hell it "wishes" and I doubt a small percentage of freshman every year who gripe and moan will change that. And you tell me even two or three spots ON campus they could move te empo to. That's not even a plausible solution. You're whole article is flawed sir.
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It just wouldn't be a CT article without a bunch of commenting idiots gargling Virginia Tech's balls and defending everything the oh-so-great-university does.
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I'd say move it into Torgersen or Newman Library. That would be more convenient for many people. Not only freshman take courses at the Empo, some upperclassmen as well. The U Mall location is a bit annoying at times to get to.
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This is one of the most pathetic articles I have read in a long time. AP Calculus in high school was easy, and after hearing from friends who are in MATH 1524, it sounds as if this is a course geared towards non- honors high school seniors. I do think it is stupid that math classes do not have a real teacher, but maybe if the school required Calculus coming in like many of the higher level universities, it would boost VT's reputation and stop student whining. Plus it would eliminate the students who truly do not belong here in the first place.
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I love the math empo classes, because in proctored exams the questions are so predictable. You can get a 100 by just doing the math empo practice quizzes and question system and mastering them, then going to the proctored exam and doing it again.
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It is really ignorant to think that if you are not good at math, then you cannot come to Virginia Tech. The writer is obviously an English buff, and there are many students with many different talents here. That's what makes the school great. It would be completely one dimensional if everyone here was just a math person.
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1017 feet from the closest point on campus
1.18 miles from the most distant dorm
Show me "a few miles" please.
http://goo.gl/maps/EmzyF
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It is definitely not the best way one can learn math but given the current state and government aid, the Empo is one good resource. Don't whine about "not being able to teach yourself", now-a-days you do most of the stuff on your own anyways. Plus, there is the help center right IN the Empo with real people who can teach you also, if you didn't know. You, as freshman, probably haven't developed an efficient way to study. Raise your cup, write down the steps to get to the problem and PRACTICE! You don't need to fully understand. After all, all these classes are just requirements, right?
Oh, and that 99.9% that regret taking the class at the Empo are probably people who thought, "oh, it's a class on a computer? Easy stuff", not quite.
As someone already said, Empo math classes are gimmies compared to actual classroom, Calculus, Math Proofs, etc. classes.
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I'm kind of wondering why everybody thinks this is a whine, I just find this to be an embellished opinion.
99.9% = embellished
a few miles = embellished (if you've never walked there, taking the bus makes it feel a bit more of a distance than it actually is)
As for the opinion itself, I thought it was pretty accurate, although I think the comments on the tutors was a bit harsh. They are human you know.
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Everyone thinks its whining because it is.
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Very very few colleges require incoming freshman to have already taken calculus. VT does have a higher math standard than many top line universities because it requires an Algebra II credit that many schools don't. For example only 3 schools in the ACC require the last time I checked. NC State, VT, and GT.
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I think we've found Andy Rooney's replacement on 60 Minutes... complain, complain.
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If you can't do high school level math (ie. MATH 1525) then you do not deserve to be at this university. Go to community college, then transfer when you are able to do college level work.
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You are whole article is flawed sir
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1525 isn't high school level math dumbass. Take the stick out of your ass or shut the hell up until you know what you're talking about.
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I agree with the chronic cusser. Math 1525 is college level math and much harder than any high school taught course.
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ok smartass much of the material in 1525 is covered in most high school pre-calc classes, 1205 is an actual introductory college level math class
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you clearly went to a low achieving high school
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you two anons are both retarded. are you even students, or just the usual failures that staff this joke of a school?
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You sounds beta as hell, man up....seriously...
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You sounds beta as hell, man up....seriously...
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Honestly, people who complain about the math empo are just bad at math. If you aren't doing well in a class, you shouldn't blame the system. Maybe you should try tutors.
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yoyoyo dawg that's beta man, that's like totally beta n'shiz. just have a beer and chill out man, have some brewskis dawg
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The only thing I do with my Empo class is read the lecture materials and do practice problems until I get them right. It'lll take time, but I've taken harder math classes before. Then again, I also took calc in high school. The only hassle I'd see about buses is when they don't run on the weekends, but there are a few alternatives.
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Read this article by the Washington Post about the Math Emporium:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/at-virginia-tech-computers-help-solve-a-math-class-problem/2012/04/22/gIQAmAOmaT_story.html
I didn't think the math empo was the greatest when I was a student, but when you look at the big picture, you realize that it's not about you. No, you may not be a fan, but you're more than likely to pass your course and never have to return to the empo. Just suck it up and complete the semester.
I would be very surprised if the author of this article fails the course.
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I think its really stupid that you have to check out if you leave the room, it makes sense so that people can't just check in and then leave but you should be able to check out for 5 minutes without loosing your seat.
Also, you should be able to request seats, or at least have a way for people to check in together and get seats at the same table.
Lastly, at baseball games they have this service where you text a number and you send it your seat if someone is causing problem (standing in the way, in your seats, etc.) and they send someone to handle it. The empo needs this, I'm tired of people conducting socials around me.
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Not everyone is gifted with the ability to comprehend and fully understand math. It is a challenging subject. So to everyone (math intellectuals) saying that it isn't, hop off and go do something better with your time. I recommend going to find duct tape. Then tape it over your mouth.
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The issue with this article is the author is complaining about one course that happens to involve the math empo and applying his complaints to the whole empo itself. As a senior engineering student I have found the empo to be a great place to get work done and find myself there at least twice a week. Its location is also much more convenient for myself and many others who do not own a parking pass and therefore cannot park on campus. The empo is a great service to students that is much bigger than just the few online math courses.
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He's got a couple of valid points here. The distance thing may not be an issue for some people while it may be for others, so that's neither here nor there. However, number of questions on tests in many courses
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(continued) (I'm in 1114) don't leave much leeway. For the most part, I've found the staff at the Empo to be condescending, even when just logging me in to take a test. The "please stop wasting my time" attitude makes me even less willing to go an ask for help on a lesson. I found my instructor to be unprofessional, putting "Coffee is catnip for mathematicians" as the signature line in all her emails. This may be appropriate in online forums, but I find this rather inappropriate for a professor's signature line at a reputable institution, especially when students are constantly reminded of the importance of professionalism in email.
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(continued) I do not use the Empo whenever possible. Instead, I have a study group of a few students in my dorm. We regularly find the test questions to be confusing, with our only option on many (which we have come to call "b---s--- problems") to plug the answer choices into the problem to determine the correct answer. The online text is a poor excuse for a learning aid; it is poorly written and somewhat confusing at best, with huge gaps in difficulty between example problems and actual quiz problems. I realize that I am not going to be spoon-fed information in any college course, but the inductive leaps are much larger than any I have found in any of any of my live classes. I would rather Tech re-institute Empo courses as lectures; I am doing far better in my (considerably more difficult) calculus class than in my Empo "elementary" course because of the shortcomings of the Empo system. I realize that the Empo is a solution to a difficult problem, but the whole thing seems half-baked, which is a downright disservice to the students. Other than the circuitous redirecting on nearly ALL university websites, the Empo is the only thing I can really say I completely hate about Tech.
And yes, the Comic Sans font is extremely aggravating. Just use Arial or Times, please.
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I have several comments:
Firstly, I am a math major. Take that as you will.
I hate the math emporium. However, I hate it not because of how it is, but because of how it functions.
I took through calculus III (multivar) at George Mason during highschool, and earned A's straight through. They didn't accept my credit for calc II and III for stupid reasons (math department wanted to give me credit, the accredidation office said no). I am earning a C in calc II this semester--not because I don't understand the calculus, but because I am not skilled at triginometric substitutions for inverse functions. I took my troubles to a math professor at the department, and his response was that HE did not like the emporium. According to him, the reason for the empo is that the Engineering School has to require ALL engineering students to take the same calculus as math majors, and they cannot afford to pay for teachers to have classroom calculus for thousands of engineers every year that will take two semesters of calculus and be done with math forever. Hence the 300 person lectures to go along with the emporium for calculus.
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So glad to see that someone agrees with me and is trying to do something about it!!!
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I like the math empo. It's fvcking quiet and cute girls hang out there.
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Why are people still commenting on a several months old article?
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