In recent years, there seems to have been a decline in math and algebra skills in young people. The reason could be from school closures, poor teaching, new math, covid, or whatever. As a former college professor and as a current tutor, my consensus is that many students are very weak in math fundamentals leading to difficulties in algebra. Students can’t be expected to focus on the topic of the day when they are focused on trying to figure out how to multiply two numbers vertically. They can’t see the trees because the grass gets in the way….
In many schools, math is taught in a very different way than it was years ago. Rigor seems to have been replaced with teaching tricks, shortcuts, and other methods that are often useful only in particular situations. General topics such as cancelling, order of operations, and fractions are generally weak. The use of calculators to multiply things like 7 x 7 can lead to an inability to judge the rough correctness of an answer.
In any case, the Dr. Algebra web-site aims to help students catch up, or excel by presenting topical lessons in several different ways. Lessons are organized more or less by topic and include links to previously studied or related topics. Individual lessons are generally setup as follows:
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- Neatly presented topics. Detailed coverage of a single topic.
- Examples. One or more videos showing worked out examples on the particular topic of interest. A common complaint is that there are not enough examples in regular class so we try to include lots.
- Worksheets. Printable problem sets on the topic
- These are not available for all lessons yet.
- Solved Worksheets. Solutions to the worksheets. Many problems are worked out using multiple methods.
- Video lessons. These cover the topic in a fun way using a whiteboard and verbally reinforce the printed lesson.
- These are not available for all lessons yet.
- Online Quiz. This section will be coming soon.
If there is a topic that you would specifically like to see, please request it here:
Click Here to go to “Pre Algebra Topics”
Click Here to go to “Algebra I Topics”
Enjoy
Dr. Algebra