<p>Hello Everyone,</p>
<pre><code> I just finished my first-year of college. Unfortunately, I faced a lot of trouble in my math course due to problems with high school algebra. My course was differential calculus and my algebra problems would get in my way when I tried to solve Calculus problems. High school algebra seems to be the most obvious of my problems, I am not sure however if there may have been holes in my middle school or my precalculus education.... I am home for the summer, and I would like to take the opportunity to review math concepts. How can I assess myself in order to pinpoint the topics that need review or reteaching? Also, what steps can I take to master mathematical thinking? High school math placed an emphasis on solving problems, my college course however had applications to the life sciences as well. I would like to be able to adopt a mathematician's mindset when solving problems...
</code></pre>
<p>I would really appreciate your help.</p>
<p>Thanks in advance. :)</p>
<p>Thank you very much for your response and the links. How can I master the skill of mathematical thinking?</p>
<p>Practice. Otherwise, you just have it.</p>
<p>I graduate next week with a degree in applied math and statistics. I took a lot of pure math classes. A fair amount of me getting through almost my entire core of classes this year was due to talent, but I put in some work for classes that were a bit tougher. </p>
<p>I was told basically you either get it or you don’t before I took an intro to proofs class. Something about the wiring of our brains. The people who didn’t switched out and the people who did mostly stayed. Some couldn’t finish and switched majors.That’s more for the upper-division level classes, though. I think anyone with a reasonable amount of analytical ability anyone can do well in the calculus series. But yeah, your problems in algebra will definitely be a problem when it comes to calculus. I mostly watched MIT videos to supplement my understanding when I took the courses.</p>
<p>I’d just review through khan academy or something. I honestly don’t think you really need to brush up over the summer just for a calculus class, though…</p>
<p>There isn’t any kind of ‘trick’ to mastering mathematical thinking. It’s something that some people have more of a knack for than others, but it really comes down to practice. Lots and lots of practice. I’m a physics major with a math minor…I’ve got countless hours of practice doing math.</p>
<p>If you’re moving on in calculus, those algebra skills are going to continue being important. I tutor several people in calculus, and the biggest problem they have isn’t usually the calculus itself, it’s the algebra involved in doing the calculus. </p>
<p>Khan Academy is a good place to brush up on algebra skills. MIT Open Course Ware could be helpful. Really though, your best bet is to just work a ton of problems. Get a College Algebra or pre-calculus book, and just work through tons of problems. </p>