I’m going back to school many years after getting my bachelor’s. I want to get some additional math credits so that I can qualify for a particular teaching license.
The issue is that I don’t remember everything that I learned (e.g., Calc, Statistics) way back then. If I go back and take easier classes, like College Algebra, does that look bad?
Eventually, I do want to work back up to more advanced classes, but I need to start with something accessible.
I’m trying to re-learn things on my own – but I also have a goal of adding at least 9 more math hours during the coming academic year (26-27), so I feel like I need to enroll in at least one class this fall. I don’t know that I can relearn 6 hours of calculus in that time frame (which is why I’m wondering if I should just do college algebra.
If your immediate goal is to get the bachelor’s degree & obtain the license and college algebra is the easy way to achieve it, then sign up for it. Assuming you are comfortable with high school algebra & geometry, how confident are you with subjects like trigonometry and analytic geometry? Are you looking to eventually teach calculus and/or probability/statistics? You may not need to retake calculus or statistics; or you can sit in on certain classes as a Listener. Alternatively, you can take lower-cost refresher classes at a local community college for personal enrichment after obtaining the bachelor’s degree & after earning the teaching license. You might be able to find some complimentary lecture videos to watch online.
Math is cumulative. If there has been a big time gap and you don’t remember the material then it probably makes sense to retake the class. Some colleges have placement tests which may help you find a good starting point.
Congratulations on your self motivation to re-learn rusty math skills! Why would that “look bad”? Its great that you are doing this!! Since you are self motivated, perhaps consider a coursera course Top Mathematics Courses - Learn Mathematics Online
I did something similar. I went back to university for a master’s degree after working for 3 years. At the time I also was wondering about whether or not to retake a couple of math classes.
One thing that I did was to start my first quarter of graduate school with an extra class or two, planning to drop down to the appropriate number of classes within a couple of weeks.
I had been using algebra and calculus on the job, and didn’t think that I needed to retake them. I did start off retaking both linear algebra and probability theory.
The second day in linear algebra they told us to read chapters 1 and 2 of the text book. I read both, thought they were too easy, and read chapters 3 and 4 also. The next day in class I asked the professor how far we were going to go that quarter. I was told “chapter 8”. Since I was already half way there, I took to read the remaining chapters within the next week, and then dropped the course. I did subsequently need to spend a few hours one Saturday afternoon reviewing linear algebra to be properly prepared for a different class that used it. Having bought the book for the class turned out to be a good thing even though I had dropped the class.
Retaking probability theory was a bit easy, but I did retake it. It was very central to everything else that I was going to take for the rest of my master’s degree so I wanted to make sure that I had it solidly in mind. In retrospect, this was probably the right thing to do (it did work out fine and I did get my master’s degree).
There seems to be a big gap between “spend a few hours one Saturday afternoon brushing up” versus “retake the class”. It might not be easy to decide which side of this gap you want to go with for any one particular class. I suppose that “get a tutor” might be a halfway point somewhere in the middle.
Calculus is central to quite a bit, although this will depend on what you are studying.
You might need to sit in on a few classes and just get a sense for whether or not the class is going to be too easy, or if you are catching up on stuff that you have largely forgotten. This is also likely to be a judgement call, and not an easy call to make in any one particular case. I do like the idea of trying some online placement tests and see how you do, or watching some lectures online and see what you think of them.
Absolutely! Congratulations! Brushing up on math skills does seem like a good idea.
To answer your question, maijem11, I’m actually trying to get licensed as an English teacher, but I wanted to add a middle-school math endorsement. Of course, I eventually want to remember calculus and college-level statistics just for the sake of knowing them, but assuming I’m sticking with middle grades instruction, I probably wouldn’t actually be teaching that level of math.
jym626, the reason I said I was afraid of it “looking bad” is because, if I’m at some point applying to a program that wants to see all of my college transcripts, by enrolling in something like College Algebra, I’d be essentially advertising that I don’t remember advanced math. (I mean, that’s true, so arguably it’s not terrible to be open about it!) Thank you for the Coursera link.
I’m pretty highly motivated and I have some books that I’m enjoying going through, so I’m basically trying to decide between continuing on that road (or something similar) and doing a community college course. The advantage of that latter is that it would provide more structure and would help me add to my math credits.
One of the teacher-residency programs I’m looking at applying to down the road requires more math credits than I have, so that’s part of the overall picture. However, there another residency that would let me focus on English Language Arts and add math later, so that’s the other option.
I’ll definitely take that placement test, ucbalumnus; thank you! happy1, I’ll also look into whether our local school has a placement test.
DadTwoGirls, that’s a great idea to sit in on a class and/or look at the textbook. Thanks!
Khan Academy or the like. Do some today. It’s free. Just see where you are at. Practice. Lots of it will probably come back but it’s like training your brain math muscles. There are also other courses and I think there are free classes online from many major universities and ivies. I don’t have a list but I know they are out there. Libraries have math books etc to help you get back in the game.