Posting this in here because it seems more appropriate than "General"... I was required to withdraw from a Computer Science degree at Swansea University nearly 12 years ago because I failed the first year twice in a row ("Required to withdraw" was what my results slip actually said...). It was a proper computer science degree, not "computing" or "IT" or some other more practical degree, and I really really struggled with the maths content. As an example: two's complement notation for binary numbers was covered in one of the early modules of the first year. Here's a short Wikipedia extract on converting to two's complement: I understand base-2 numbering (i.e., binary) but that formula it still makes me want to crawl to a dark corner and weep gently while soiling myself. It's nearly 14 years after I first studied it and this was just one out of many concepts that melted my brain. Currently I work as a software developer (albeit an MI/BI developer, but a developer nonetheless), and I also want to get back into electronics. Therefore I need to really brush up on my maths. I've forgotten an awful lot of what I learned in school: if you asked me to look at even basic algebra I'd probably stare at you blankly. I'm not finding it an impediment per se; if you ask me to do some complicated mathematical functions then I'll use the functions built into Excel or SQL Server. But I'd like to be able to write those functions in the first place, and there's a nagging voice in the back of my mind telling me that I'll never get anywhere in software or hardware engineering if I'm so s--- at what should be basic mathematical concepts. I know there are plenty of good - and free - resources out there on the internet but that's the problem: sorting the wheat from the chaff and finding the good content. I have no idea where to even start looking. This is why I'm turning to you for help . Ideally I want to bring my maths knowledge up to A-Level standard, but I think I need to cover GCSE-level stuff first. I'm prepared to pay for actual A-Levels, but I'm nowhere near that point yet (plus that costs a lot of money, and there are a few things I'd like to go back and study - you have to pick your battles when you're trying to bring yourself out of debt). For the Americans out there, I'm afraid I don't know what A-Levels and GCSEs translate to but it's probably safe to say that we're talking about high school-level stuff. Any links, pointers, advice, etc, anyone can provide will be greatly appreciated.
its commendable you are open enough to post this thread and I wish you luck and I can only offer one suggestion. The one trick in life to get ahead is... As soon as you go to bed, hit the hay and get up at like 3am, study for four hours, then head to work. 3 to 4 hours ever day for 6 months.... you will learn to do any thing. I know a guy done a CCNP and written ccie and is getting ready for I think an April ccie lab doing this and he is holding down a proper responsible job and a large demanding family. Small bites ever day on the math bits that blow brain fuses
That bit stands out to me quite a bit. I've been training as a teacher for the past few years and have recently been acting as a classroom support at my local college for a computing course and the main thing that the professor constantly says to me is that if a student fails part of their course, then the college/university failed to teach them correctly. Surely your professor should have noted that it was the maths portion of your course that you struggled with and offered a short maths course to help boost your knowledge. Although this is very old and in parts a little outdated, I found this book a hugely supportive resource for studying computer maths: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Schaums-Outline-Essential-Computer-Mathematics/dp/0070379904 I also got some good use out of this one: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Discrete-Mathematics-Computer-Scientists-International/dp/0201360616 The list of symbols in that book, located just after the contents section, was a particularly useful quick sheet for when I was looking at an equation and forgot what a symbol meant. Edit: If you're confident with computer maths and only find a few bits confusing, then this one might be of use... just note that it isn't the kindest book with the way it teaches and isn't for the feint hearted with some bits that can be a bit hard to grasp (even my professors find some of the stuff in this one a bit tough): http://www.amazon.co.uk/Concrete-Mathematics-Foundation-Computer-Science/dp/0201558025
Tbaks for all the recommendations so far, folks. I'd totally forgotten about Khan Academy and the books will certainly come in handy. I wasn’t the only one who had issues. During one of his lectures, a professor explained part of the reason why so many people were struggling with the degree. We had weekly tutorial sessions with and apparently a lot of people had complained to this guy that they were really struggling with the maths content (the professor I had as my tutor was the head of the computer science department and not an approachable fellow at all). Anyhoo. A year or two before I started the degree the University had deliberately lowered the entry requirements for because admissions were low. Students shouldn’t have been accepted for the course unless they had passed A-Level maths and preferably physics, but you had students like me who met the minimum number of UCAS points required yet hadn’t studied anything they should know before starting the course. He reckoned that between about 30%-50% of the first-year students in that particular year shouldn’t really have been accepted because they simply didn’t know half the stuff they needed to know and that it would be very difficult to fill the gaps as you went along, albeit not impossible. Much of the first year of this degree involved maths - even the programming assignments usually involved writing an algorithm to solve a maths or logic problem. I took a GNVQ Advanced (aka, Generally Not Valued Qualification) in IT in college because it was supposed to be equivalent to 3 A-Levels and also give more practical skills that could be applied in the work place. The maths content of my GNVQ course was laughable at best: ”Maths? Here’s Excel, use these functions. Also, here’s a 1-page handout on binary. Off you go, fill yer boots”. The reason, according to this professor, that the University had dropped the entry requirements was funding: the university received far more money for a first year student than they did for a second-year student, and therefore a higher level of first-year dropouts was a acceptable. I'm not sure if the money bit was actually true or not; either way, while I appreciated the candour it was a bit of a kick in the nads to say the least. Ironically I did really well in school; I was in the top 10% of my final year, with no grade below C. I even took an extra-curricular GCSE in statistics which was taught for only one hour a week during a lunch hour.
