If I was wanting to improve my math skills, what is the best way?

Question

I have no official maths qualifications, in fact i failed my O grade arithmetic. However, I am now going into 2nd yr Uni, having passed their introductory maths course which included differentiation, logarithms and such. I had a great lecturer, but now when i look over the notes i cant make out the train of thought he walked us thru, nor can i make out my own process of understanding - in other words its gone.
Maths is not intuitive to me - how do I begin to understand numbers and get a "feel" for it?
Any suggestions, except for a brain transplant, cos ive considered it already ! would be gratefully received.

thankyou ha_mer - that was a lovely sentiment! but i do need it as im studying biology :(

Answer 1

Hire me as your online teacher , trust me, that would help. i am engineering student and i know tons of maths

Answer 2

I believe others have provided valuable suggestions. That is, if you have time, go back and redo some of the work; if you have money, you can hire a tutor, etc. But what I suspect is that you want to improve your math skill in a self-paced way. For that, the Internet is a good place to explore.

For example try http://www.algebrahelp.com. It has lessons. It also has a nice "calculator" for you to enter your questions and receive answer automatically.

Also, on the Internet, there are a lot of drawings/pictures for each concept that you want to understand. Very likely, someone would present th concept in a different and easy-to-understand way. Take advantage of that, and good luck.

Answer 3

You have described my learning years through high school
almost identically.
This isn't advice on how to help improve your math skills.
From grade school through high school, I was unable to grasp
even the simplest things about math, don't let your less severe
ability panic you.
I was so poor in math I couldn't go on to college.
Nonetheless, at this time I'm the world's foremost expert in my
field, I lecture at colleges and universities and act as the leading
consultant in my field, which is FRP.
I have five times been offered honorary degrees at prestigious
universities where I've lectured but I turned them down.
You may need to be content with the way things are but with that,
I'd bet from your writing and conception of your problem that you
will do very well in life without being a superhuman math person.

Answer 4

I've heard that learning piano actually helps with math skills. You have to learn 1/2 notes, 1/4 notes, etc. It makes it intuative rather than having to actually think of the relationships. Of course I heard this in reference to children. I don't know if it will still work for adults.

Answer 5

Best suggestion I can give is to understand why the particular piece of math is being used and what physical analogies can be made. Often times, understand why something is important makes it much more interesting and thus easier to comprehend/remember.

Answer 6

Practise and revise as much as possible by link up with other who are going throuth the same as you
Good luck...

Whats 12.000 Lts of fuel going into 25000 Gallon tank how much space will you have? 4.5 Lts per Gallon.

Answer 7

u need to get a bf who is good in math, and have him teach u.
i can be ur bf if u want but im not good in math either.

Answer 8

i dun agree wid ne1...
practice makes a man perfect ..nobody's perfect so y practice.
maths is quality that is intuition and instinctive
if u cant do it themn leave it

Answer 9

study

Answer 10

when you find out let me know... I have been struggling for entirely too long :(