Online maths courses

Pete2112

Pete2112

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Joined
Aug 1, 2022
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12
Hi, I'm recently retired and looking to advance my knowledge of maths by enrolling with an online course of planned study. I have always had a keen interest in maths although not highly qualified in it. In the mid 1970s I got grade A at GCE O Level maths and after school went on to do ONC and HNC in Building which did take me into calculus. Since then I have read lots of books and have been fascinated by complex numbers, calculus and lots of other maths subjects but realise that cherry picking a few fascinating topics has left many gaps in my understanding as I had been trying to run before I can walk so to speak.
I don't want to do something as rigid and expensive as Open University at this stage, but may consider this in the future. Right now I'm looking for a relatively cheap way to progress initially. Out of all the online stuff I've looked into so far, Brilliant courses are looking like a good option for me. At my age I'm obviously not doing this to further a career, but simply out of interest and a quest for more understanding.
Any advice especially from anyone who has already been down a similar route would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
 
Hello Pete. There are many good options available online for structured courses in Mathematics. You may want to sample a few sites, to see which presentations are a good fit for you. For review, I'd suggest starting with Arithmetic and then Pre-Algebra. Also, my experience shows that students ought to do more practice than what is assigned these days. The brain needs repeated exposure to a concept, before that information can be "hard-wired" in memory. With each basic topic, the goal is to reach the point where you're able to recognize what's involved (i.e., to have a strategy come to mind) as soon as you've read an exercise statement. Math instruction is progressive, so resist the urge to skip ahead. We are here, if you get stuck understanding a lesson or working an exercise. (Be sure to check out the 'Read Before Posting' announcement, for guidelines.) Cheers!

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Pete2112 said:
Hi, I'm recently retired and looking to advance my knowledge of maths by enrolling with an online course of planned study. I have always had a keen interest in maths although not highly qualified in it. In the mid 1970s I got grade A at GCE O Level maths and after school went on to do ONC and HNC in Building which did take me into calculus. Since then I have read lots of books and have been fascinated by complex numbers, calculus and lots of other maths subjects but realise that cherry picking a few fascinating topics has left many gaps in my understanding as I had been trying to run before I can walk so to speak.
I don't want to do something as rigid and expensive as Open University at this stage, but may consider this in the future. Right now I'm looking for a relatively cheap way to progress initially. Out of all the online stuff I've looked into so far, Brilliant courses are looking like a good option for me. At my age I'm obviously not doing this to further a career, but simply out of interest and a quest for more understanding.
Any advice especially from anyone who has already been down a similar route would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Pete,

Why enroll in math courses when you can learn math for FREE on YouTube? I have the answer to your problem. Search YouTube for probably the best math professor online. Professor Leonard is the math teacher you need to know.

In fact, by recommending Leonard to you, I also will start watching his video lessons and taking notes. He is an outstanding math teacher with a natural ability to bring the material down to the level of students. Trust me, you can't go wrong.
 
feliz_nyc said:
Pete,

Why enroll in math courses when you can learn math for FREE on YouTube? I have the answer to your problem. Search YouTube for probably the best math professor online. Professor Leonard is the math teacher you need to know.
Click to expand...
Because learning from videos does not cover everything that you might need. There is nothing wrong with learning on your own (I've been doing it myself for that past 20+ years) but the best way to learn is to take a course. You have time to cover every topic that way and you have a chance to ask questions from someone who is intimate with the field. I'm not saying Professor Leonard is bad (I haven't looked at his series) but YouTube is only a good place to learn some topics, not for a whole course.

-Dan
 
Thanks @feliz_nyc I will have a look and see what Prof Leonard has to offer, however, I can also understand exactly what @topsquark is saying.
As with my previous habit of cherry picking topics from books, I see YouTube as being similar in that you can dip in and out of subjects without adopting any tried and tested structure or program, thus leaving gaps in knowledge as some of the foundations have not been properly laid down.
 
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