Seeking advice on basic mathematics education

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MargaritaMc
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Seeking advice on basic mathematics education

Post by MargaritaMc » Fri Feb 08, 2013 11:22 am

May I give the background to this request first?

Because of long term childhood hospitalisation and the educational policy towards the (non) education of severely disabled children of 50 years ago, I mostly missed out on an education as a child. I was able to educate myself in 'the humanities' but mathematics and science were Terra Incognita. Which is a shame, as I suspect that, naturally, my mind has a bent in that direction.

I am now taking up the task of rectifying this educational deficit and am starting with Maths.

The problem that I am finding is that whatever I am coming across is assuming that the task is remedial - that the student will already have covered the material as a child and need simply to have concepts re-explained. Not introduced for the very first time. The most useful site I've come across is called Maths Is Fun and gives teaching material for maths teachers, beginning at kindergarten level. I'm beginning there, as it explains, for example, what symbols such as '<' and '>' mean. Which I had seen but not been clear about the meaning. But, as it is for teachers, it does assume a background knowledge.

So - has anyone any advice, counsel, experience, that could help me? :roll:

Margarita
"In those rare moments of total quiet with a dark sky, I again feel the awe that struck me as a child. The feeling is utterly overwhelming as my mind races out across the stars. I feel peaceful and serene."
&mdash; Dr Debra M. Elmegreen, Fellow of the AAAS

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rstevenson
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Re: Seeking advice on basic mathematics education

Post by rstevenson » Fri Feb 08, 2013 1:16 pm

I just now Googled for "homeschool math" and got some interesting hits, including sites that provide materials, exercises and tests.

Rob

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MargaritaMc
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Re: Seeking advice on basic mathematics education

Post by MargaritaMc » Fri Feb 08, 2013 1:34 pm

rstevenson wrote:I just now Googled for "homeschool math" and got some interesting hits, including sites that provide materials, exercises and tests.

Rob

Thanks, Rob - that is brilliant :D
Googling 'home schooling' just wouldn't have crossed my mind...
Margarita
"In those rare moments of total quiet with a dark sky, I again feel the awe that struck me as a child. The feeling is utterly overwhelming as my mind races out across the stars. I feel peaceful and serene."
&mdash; Dr Debra M. Elmegreen, Fellow of the AAAS

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MargaritaMc
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Some helpful mathematics resources

Post by MargaritaMc » Thu Sep 19, 2013 10:50 am

Since posting the opening query on this thread, I've discovered the following very good resources and post them here in case they are of use to any other forum members.

http://sccmath.wordpress.com/mat082/
Scottsdale Community College, introduction to very basic arithmetic. I found this to be hugely helpful, in assuming no prior knowledge at all, other than the ability to add and subtract. There are videos here and a free downloadable course text book. There is also an occasionally offered MOOC course, via the Canvas MOOC provider.

http://www.purplemath.com/modules/ordering.htm
" Helping students gain understanding and self-confidence in algebra". There is a linked forum.


https://www.udacity.com/course/ph100
I am currently doing this self-paced MOOC "Introduction to Physics" course, which begins by teaching the elements of trigonometry - and does it in a way that I am actually finding exciting.

Happy studying!
M
"In those rare moments of total quiet with a dark sky, I again feel the awe that struck me as a child. The feeling is utterly overwhelming as my mind races out across the stars. I feel peaceful and serene."
&mdash; Dr Debra M. Elmegreen, Fellow of the AAAS

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owlice
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Re: Seeking advice on basic mathematics education

Post by owlice » Sun May 18, 2014 1:26 pm

Margarita, you might like this article about Harvard MOOCs.
A closed mouth gathers no foot.

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MargaritaMc
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Re: Seeking advice on basic mathematics education

Post by MargaritaMc » Sun May 18, 2014 3:13 pm

owlice wrote:Margarita, you might like this article about Harvard MOOCs.
Thank you, Owlice. A very interesting article. I certainly have been benefitting from a gold mine of wonderful educational resources offered via the MOOC network and would recommend this method of learning to anyone who is unable physically to get to courses. Or even if they can: some of the MOOC providers are superlative.

This is "MOOC List", a directory of all MOOC courses available worldwide.

M
"In those rare moments of total quiet with a dark sky, I again feel the awe that struck me as a child. The feeling is utterly overwhelming as my mind races out across the stars. I feel peaceful and serene."
&mdash; Dr Debra M. Elmegreen, Fellow of the AAAS

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MargaritaMc
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Moving on to more advanced topics

Post by MargaritaMc » Sat Jun 21, 2014 9:02 am

Here are some excellent courses offered by the MOOC platform Coursera, on more advanced maths, on physics and on astronomy.

It is very exciting to be able to go more deeply into the subject matter that the Apods cover - I highly recommend it.

All these courses are free and do not provide recognised qualifications - but there are online courses in astronomy that can result in diplomas and degrees. If anyone wants to know more, do contact me via private message here at asterisk. (Although I don't have much time to read the board nowadays, I do pick up PMs.)

I do hope that this is useful information for other asterisk members who, inspired by the Apod editors, want to deepen their knowledge of astrophysics.


https://www.coursera.org/course/precalculus
UCIrvine. Pre-Calculus: About the Course
Through this course, students will acquire a solid foundation in algebra and trigonometry. The course concentrates on the various functions that are important to the study of the calculus. Emphasis is placed on understanding the properties of linear, polynomial, piecewise, exponential, logarithmic and trigonometric functions. Students will learn to work with various types of functions in symbolic, graphical, numerical and verbal form
https://www.coursera.org/course/precalc (this is the one I will be doing as I can't manage the timing of the UCIrvine course)
University of Barcelona. Pre-Calculus: About the Course
Este curso permite a los estudiantes adquirir una base sólida que permita abordar con garantías el primer semestre de un grado universitario. El contenido sienta las bases para trabajar con números reales, funciones y números complejos, incluyendo el estudio de las familias más importantes de funciones: lineales, cuadráticas, polinomiales, exponenciales, logarítmicas y trigonométricas. También incluye una introducción al cálculo diferencial e integral (reglas de derivación y funciones derivadas), incluyendo también la aplicación simple del cálculo integral para resolver problemas sencillos sobre áreas planas y volúmenes.

El curso está orientado a estudiantes pre-universitarios o personas con conocimientos básicos de cálculo que quieren estar preparados para los cursos de nivel universitario.
I'm either signed up for or have completed the following, all of which are recommended

https://www.coursera.org/course/bigbang
From the Big Bang to Dark Energy. University of Tokyo: About the Course
We have learned a lot recently about how the Universe evolved in 13.7 billion years since the Big Bang. More than 80% of matter in the Universe is mysterious Dark Matter, which made stars and galaxies to form. The newly discovered Higgs-boson became frozen into the Universe a trillionth of a second after the Big Bang and brought order to the Universe. Yet we still do not know how ordinary matter (atoms) survived against total annihilation by Anti-Matter. The expansion of the Universe started acceleration about 7 billion years ago and the Universe is being ripped apart. The culprit is Dark Energy, a mysterious energy multiplying in vacuum. I will present evidence behind these startling discoveries and discuss what we may learn in the near future.
https://www.coursera.org/course/particles2planets
Mechanics: Motion, Forces, Energy and Gravity, from Particles to Planets. University of New South Wales: About the Course
Most of the phenomena in the world around you are, at the fundamental level, based on physics, and much of physics is based on mechanics. You will understand with greater depth many of the wonders around you in everyday life, in technology, in the universe at large. That, in turn, will lead you to look further and deeper into the world and the universe around you. Meanwhile, we think you'll have some fun, too.
https://www.coursera.org/course/solarsystem
The Science of the Solar System. Caltech:About the Course
This course is a scientific exploration of our solar system. You will learn both what we know about the solar system around us but also how we have been using the tools of science to learn the things that we know. You will get to use some of the tools yourself.

Unlike typical solar system classes, which plod from one planet to the next, we will focus our examination of the solar system on four main topics: (1) Where is there water on Mars? (2) What is inside of a giant planet? (3) How can we use the smallest bodies in the solar system to answer the biggest questions? (4) Where might we look for life?

To answer these questions we will learn about details of atmospheric chemistry and dynamics, planetary interiors and magnetism, the geological history of planets, spacecraft exploration, telescopic observations of planets around other stars, spectroscopic determinations of composition, biochemistry of water- and non-water based life, and many more. In short, we'll learn about the whole solar system and about planets in other systems besides ours.

Margarita
"In those rare moments of total quiet with a dark sky, I again feel the awe that struck me as a child. The feeling is utterly overwhelming as my mind races out across the stars. I feel peaceful and serene."
&mdash; Dr Debra M. Elmegreen, Fellow of the AAAS