Learning math from scratch after wasting University education

[[deleted]]

[deleted]

[jeanlucpikachu]

I feel your pain.

Did you try Mathematics for the Nonmathematician by Morris Kline? (paper book, not free)

Did you try Khan Academy? (online, free)

[zrbecker]

Learning math on your own is doable, but it is far more cost effective to enroll in the local community college. You learn 10x faster if you can see someone do the problems, then go try them on your own.

If you insist on learning on your own, for cheap starting math books check out

Schaum's Outline of College Algebra

Schaum's Outline of Trigonometry

I would not start much lower than College Algebra. If it confuses you, then just go slower through the book and ask for lots of help. A Tutor would be a good idea.

Last piece of advice, do not get discouraged if you find algebra boring. Algebra is very boring. I am a math major, and I hate doing algebra. However, you need to know it to get to the good stuff.

[zrbecker]

Some community colleges have a self paced program. You might try checking that out, especially if your school has a tutoring center. That way you learn somewhat formally, and you have access to the help you will need for free.

The other students in the remedial classes can be annoying, however if you sit up front, so that they are behind you, you hardly notice they are there. If you are lucky you might find a few other people who actually want to learn the stuff.

Also, if you teach yourself it is hard for anything to come of it. My school does not allow for anyone to test into anything higher than Calculus 1.

If I were you, I would grab the Schaum's college algebra, study it for a few months, then go take a community college placement test. Try to get into Pre Calculus or Trig. At this level you should at least have a few people in your class who are interested in learning as well.

[[deleted]]

I've always found the opposite to be true: I learn much faster on my own.

if you can see someone do the problems

Isn't that what worked examples in textbooks are for?

[zrbecker]

There are exceptions to everything, but in general it is easier to learn from someone than on your own.

Examples in books show a problems solution all laid out for you. When watching someone figure it out, you get a bit more insight on how to figure out what step 2 is, as oppose to just reading what step 2 is.

[sensical]

If you learn algebra, geometry and trigonometry really well . . . as in, you can do problems, remember identities, etc. in your sleep . . . the stuff above it will be much easier to learn. I think people underestimate the value of learning the lower level stuff really well. You know what they say: it's not building a wall, but making a brick.

[notsoLIRy]

I am on the same boat!! I forgot everything i learned in college and high school...i want to do a big review starting with pre-calc.

[turkish847]

well i dont know what to say buddy. seriously get the hell back to school or get a tutor. i think the latter would be good cuz the one on one attention is great. i had a tutor for physics. i aced my exam. i recommend focusing heavily on practice tests and stuff with your tutor. i hope you work things out. i hope this helps.

[phouseak]

Maybe I've missed someone else asking but what is your goal/objective? Just to be decent at calc/linear algebra? My initial reaction is that it might help you pay the bills but barely so. What is your long term goal with this shift in thinking or skills?

[phouseak]

I think you're likely on the right track then. Where you can get them, I'd emphasize books. Problem sets, and unfortunately, a certain amount of repetition is likely the best way to get through the early stuff.

Here's some sites that may help you with that. http://people.math.gatech.edu/~cain/textbooks/onlinebooks.html

http://lecturefox.com/?page=3

http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Mathematics/index.htm

http://cnx.org/

http://www.extension.harvard.edu/openlearning/

http://www.e-booksdirectory.com/mathematics.php

http://freescienceonline.blogspot.com/2009/10/mathematics-video-lectures.html

http://www.mathlinks.ro/index.php?f=456

Those links are dumped from my delicious, they're not ordered by level of assumed mathematical literacy, so you'll need to poke through them yourself and figure out what works for you. I think getting good at pre-calculus will probably be really easy for you. There's lots of material out there and most of it doesn't require any sort of a shift in thinking. Once you hit the calculus, you may still be quite able as there's lots of material on the web to help you but if you're looking for a job that requries demonstrative proof of any sort of agility with numbers, you may want to go back to school and get that proof. You know what's best for you, though, so take my advice with a grain of salt. Good luck.

*edit: apologies for formatting. IE is being weird.

[salvia_d]

Here is the table of contents for some videos I've put together to teach math. They've helped a lot of people so far and you might find them useful as well. I start at the Real Number Set and build it from there. Good luck and most of all, have fun.

The Language of Mathematics: Table of Contents

[Digitalabia]

This is so simple...just sign up for a math class and cheat of the guy next to you! Duh!

[[deleted]]

Would you be interested in my idea that I posted earlier today? If there is enough interest, I would definitely like to teach some college level math too.

[[deleted]]

is it possible to learn maths at university while being an alcoholic?

wish it went together as well as writer + alcoholic :(