Beginning Algebra

Published

Anyone else taking algebra and not know what the heck they are doing? I have this class at night once a week and just taking it day by day but our test is coming up and I dont want to fail it. Really wish we didnt have to take course we will never use!

I took intermediate algebra two years ago. I used MATH.COM for practice. The one thing you must do for algebra is practice the problems over and over again. That is the best way to do well. Go to tutoring at your school or find a student in your class who is doing great. Good luck to you.

I had beginning algebra last semester. I'm currently in intermediate/college algebra (8 wk. fast tracks) this semester. Check out http://www.interactmath.com. Pick which text book you're using and it will give you tons of practice problems.

Of course my book is not listed.

I very much recommend www.sparknotes.com ! I had to tutor some kids that were in highschool and I'd tell them to use it for the times that I wasn't available to answer questions. They thought it was a big help. It has pretty much every kind of math listed, the notes are good, and it has quizzes with answers.

Algebra for Dummies is a great help too.

Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

Try http://www.purplemath.com/modules/index.htm for explanations of some of the subjects in algebra. You might also try looking at the website of Math for Morons Like Us http://library.advanced.org/20991/intro.html. jaysma beat me to mentioning http://www.interactmath.com/ , but I used it extensively for my Intermediate algebra and trig stuff. You might just try tapping in and looking at some of the beginning algebra books to see if one models your textbook. Elayne Martin-Gay's books are listed there. She is an algebra professor who has written a number of algebra texts from Pre-Algebra to advanced algebra and made extensive CDs to accompany her books. I loved the way she presented the information--slow and repititious. Also, check the front pages of your textbook where the publisher and authors get to expound on how wonderful the book is. Check to see if there isn't a website that has been set up for your textbook. The supplemental books I used when I took Beginning algebra were Algebra for Dummies, How to Solve Word Problems in Algebra, and Solving Algebra Word Problems. They were extremely helpful. We also had CDs of lectures that went with our books that were very helpful as well. You might go to either the publishers website or a site like Barnes and Noble or Amazon and see if there are supplemental CDs or other help that goes with your book. And, in case you haven't already been told this a hundred times, the trick to learning math is to work as many problems as you can. This is why interactmath.com is so good to use as a tutorial. It will generate similar types of practice problems by just changing the numbers around, will give you the answers after you blow it the third time and show you how to work out any of the problems in a step by step manner.

Daytonite, thanks for taking the time to write that and also all the others who responded, you guys are great.

+ Join the Discussion