Making mathematics fun

[Nehru]

Are there any youtube videos that explain math (trig/calculus) in a fun and easy-to-understand way?

Just wondering because math has been, and still is, a nemesis to many, many people.

[F9]

=impossible

its gonna always be hard, not fun and need lot of work.Thats the only way sadly

[Sensible Socialist]

http://www.khanacademy.org/

Khan Academy has thousands of videos of topics, like Algebra, Geomatry, Trig, Calculus, Statistics, and more. I haven't spend much time on them, but I know a lot of teachers who are using them and students who find them helpful.

[Broletariat]

Wtf guys, math is way cool and fun

/mathmajor

[Nox]

If you don't find maths fun on its own, then why study it?

[Kamos]

Wtf guys, math is way cool and fun

/mathmajor

+1. Maths is one of the best subjects in school. It has none of the subjective bullshit of Literature - that's what I don't like.

[cowslayer]

+1. Maths is one of the best subjects in school. It has none of the subjective bullshit of Literature - that's what I don't like.


Even though I am an avid reader and love literature, the subjective nature of English class really gets me sometimes. And for some reason I always have English teachers that only speak in extremely cryptic riddles, and asking the simplest question will result in a 10 minute long decrypting period.


But still

Natural Sciences > Mathematics

[Kamos]

Even though I am an avid reader and love literature, the subjective nature of English class really gets me sometimes. And for some reason I always have English teachers that only speak in extremely cryptic riddles, and asking the simplest question will result in a 10 minute long decrypting period.


But still

Natural Sciences > Mathematics

Well yeah, I haven't got a problem with reading either. It's all about the school subject. All the time during the classes I'm always wondering, "Why the hell do we need to discuss this for half an hour?"

[cowslayer]

Well yeah, I haven't got a problem with reading either. It's all about the school subject. All the time during the classes I'm always wondering, "Why the hell do we need to discuss this for half an hour?"


Agreed. Most lectures in my political literature class usually start with legitimate analysis and whatnot, but soon degenerates into 45 minutes describing the "feelings" of the narrator, how past experiences may have shaped the main characters mind, blah blah blah...... Pretty much the same concepts and ideas are thrown around back and forth until the bell rings. I know it sounds a lot less tedious than I make it out to be, but seriously it feels more like a therapy session than a lecture.


EDIT: And to stay on topic, many universities now video record their lectures and put them on YouTube. What else is better than free college education? The MIT page has almost 2000 lectures, each about an hour long, mostly all on science and/or math! This has helped me greatly!

Lastly, I have downloaded some good torrents of MathTutor-Chemistry and it helped me pass Environmental Chem. Just go to a torrent site and maybe there will be some videos or ebooks that are what you're looking for. I think that their Math selection of tutorials is larger than other sciences as well.

Good luck!

[The Dark Side of the Moon]

Luckily for me, math is easy, but extremely boring.....:(

[Quail]

I think finding bits of it that are really interesting and focusing on those makes maths more interesting. There are some really fantastic results and proofs that just make you think, wow. I'm doing a maths degree so I have a fair amount of choice over what I study. I do mostly pure maths and I fucking hate statistics with as much passion as I love pure maths. Different topics interest different people.

[o well this is ok I guess]

+1. Maths is one of the best subjects in school. It has none of the subjective bullshit of Literature - that's what I don't like. But man that's what made english class so easy
No wrong answers!

[Aspiring Humanist]

History > All

[La Comédie Noire]

I'd have to agree there is far too much reader response criticism taught in today's literature classes which totally ignores the historical, philosophical, and political portents of most texts. I've proof read so many essays in college that discussed what so and so "should have done" or what they "liked about the book."

My teacher said it was a breath of fresh air when I took the time to critique works from a marxist and historical perspective using actual scholarly sources.

[Ocean Seal]

For what its worth, I think that the reason that learning isn't all that fun is because it's socially reproachable. But as far as associating math with fun to learn things, in my opinion all it takes is a decent textbook and actually getting into it and doing some problems. And go through solving some of the problems with the book, and make a conscious effort to enjoy what you're doing, and maybe you'll end up enjoying it.

But there is an alternative to that though. I know that there are manga's with certain school subjects, I know that there is one for physics.

http://www.amazon.com/Manga-Guide-Physics-Hideo-Nitta/dp/1593271964

Here's one for calculus

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1593271948/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=1593271964&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0FJ087FHFQ466AFD9WJ7

I think that this should make it somewhat more enjoyable albeit it might be more frustrating as it would take longer.

[Os Cangaceiros]

+1. Maths is one of the best subjects in school. It has none of the subjective bullshit of Literature - that's what I don't like.

Man that's why I loved literature. I bullshitted my way through so many classes, it was awesome. I was also extremely good at grammar and syntax...I was the man when it came to the linguistic abortion that is the English language.

Was never a huge math fan, though. When I put my head down and put in the work, I could learn it, but I found it to be extreeeeemely boring.

This thread should probably be in Mutual Aid/DIY or something, too.

[black magick hustla]

i think its more interesting when you solve real problems with it. for example, complexity theorists coming up with correlations between food prices and riots, or trying to solve what elements are produced by supernovaes. or using probability to hustle someone through a card game or dices. i think people hate math because it has nothing to do with their lives, but as i said, i bet a hustler would find probability interesting if it were applied to cards.

[black magick hustla]

i think if people werent afraid of using both sides of their brain they'd realize that all sorts of human made knowledge is interesting and makes you proud of standing in the shoulders of giants

[Le Rouge]

Oh damn! A mathematics topic on revleft while i'm making Calculus exercises! :scared:
Maths are fun... When you understand how they work...

[Rss]

Damn casuals trying to ruin my math with fun. How dare they?

Seriously though, math can be quite rewarding once you get in to it. In many hobbies, math creeps in without noticing.

[StoneFrog]

Well how math is taught at school and in books is really the incorrect way of learning it. I have had some troubles with maths and never did well at school; then i read something on how maths is taught and the differences in how we actually learn maths naturally.

In math classes you normally get given a formula to learn and then some questions to see how well you understand it; yet our natural way of learning is starting with the questions and looking for a way to solve it.

I needed to get better with my basic math skills, i also self taught how to program. (one of the reasons i wanted to get better at math)

I used a website to both better my math and programming skills:
http://projecteuler.net/

it works in a way which you have to figure the solution not memorize formulas etc
Learning for an aim that is not just to know it but to use it dramatically increases what you learn.

[ZeroNowhere]

"The thing [calculus] has taken such a hold of me that it not only goes round my head all day, but last week in a dream I gave a chap my shirt — buttons to differentiate, and he ran off with them."

- Friedrich Engels.

Under communism, this is how maths shall be taught.

[Sir Comradical]

Maths was my favourite subject as a kid. I used to smash everyone in maths drills.

[wunderbar]

http://www.khanacademy.org/

Khan Academy has thousands of videos of topics, like Algebra, Geomatry, Trig, Calculus, Statistics, and more. I haven't spend much time on them, but I know a lot of teachers who are using them and students who find them helpful.

My Algebra teacher showed us a video from Khan Academy a couple days ago, and it was useful (and managed to keep most of the class engaged).

[Seresan]

I was failing math last year with a 35% at midterm because I literally did no work at all. Well, I wrote my name once.

I got a tutor to teach me after school, and I got 80% on the exam.

In my experience, it isn't so much the content that has to be fun.. it's the atmosphere. Just find a setting and a method (visual, auditory, etc) that works well with you and it will get waaay easier. Trig ended up being fun, albeit a bit boring in large quantities.