Classes start back up for me Monday and I am taking Calculus II so I thought I should brush up a bit at the Khan Academy mentioned in another thread.

A bit of background; I returned to school a couple of semesters ago after a lengthy (over ten years) break. I just barely failed Calculus II last semester at another university. This was partially due to the gap, but also due to an abysmal performance by the faculty. For that reason (among others) I changed schools.

Anyway, I find it amazing that substitution and integration-by-parts are simply methods for reversing the chain and product rules respectively. This was never pointed out in my previous course and perhaps they simply expected us to make the connection ourselves. Whatever the case, we screamed through this stuff and I never really understood the why's to what we were doing. Personally, I find I can remember and apply what I have learned much more effectively when I understand why I am doing something. Perhaps that is a flaw, but there it is.

Anyway, this is an unabashed plug for these youtube videos. For whatever reason, I really feel like I understand this guy better than just about any professor I have ever had. If you are struggling with something math related, I highly recommend you check this guy out.

Best Regards,
Mark

 

What an excellent resource! My hat's off to the guy who put all the work in preparing those lectures. I would have loved to have such a resource when I was a student, as one can go back and easily see a topic over again.

Mark: one of the challenges of being a student, as you no doubt know, is to be able to learn even when the teaching is less than stellar. A good book can be a real help here. I took my basic math from a text that was fair, but it wasn't until I was a senior in college when I found "Differential and Integral Calculus" by Richard Courant. I still think very highly of it. The first volume is all you really need for the material covered in the typical 3 semester basic calculus course.

I've also heard folks speak highly of a calculus book by Apostol, but I've not looked at it. It's probably a bit more up to date than Courant's book, which was first published in the 1930's. Of course, the basic ideas haven't changed since Cauchy's time or before, so Courant still covers things well.

 

Thanks for the book recommendation. I just looked at the university's catalog online and they show to have this book as well as several others by this author. I will be sure to check it out when I go in Monday.

As far as the teaching goes, I just happened to pick a university which bases its curriculum around enrollment, and they have many people standing in line due to their popularity. These lower level courses are what they refer to as "weed out" classes, a practice acknowledged by the faculty and one which I find appalling. I am just happy to have been able to change schools. Its truly amazing the number of young people who think they are "stupid" and turn away from the sciences due to the policies of such schools.

Anyway, enough ranting. I am really excited to be getting back at it and moving forward. Depending on how it goes, ya'll may see me in here frequently asking questions.

Best Regards,
Mark