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How do you feel about the possiblity of studying mathematics? It is quite possible that you do not feel as confident as you would like. If you have not done any mathematics recently, you may feel that you need to refresh your memory or there may be a specific topic that you never really fully understood.
Other prospective students have said: “When I'm faced with a triangle, I never know which trig ratio to use.”
“I'm alright until I get to the point where a question asks me to use logs to solve a problem, then my mind goes blank.”
So, the first thing to remember is that you are not alone! Many students who return to study after a break are worried that they do not have the skills or knowledge that they need to cope with the demands of the course. The important thing to remember is that you can brush up your skills and there are many sources of help for you.
This unit aims to help you start this process with the following:
Through a number of activities, you will be taught how to reflect on the maths you need for your course, in order to identify which areas you will need to concentrate on.
You will be provided with a list of references to further reading and sources of help, which can help you improve your maths skills.
The mathematical skills assumed by different courses in the Faculty of Mathematics and Computing, Faculty of Science and Faculty of Technology, vary greatly from course to course. Students are strongly recommended to start by reading the Sciences Good Study Guide (ISBN 0749234113) as preparation for whichever course they are going to study. This guide is an excellent place to start but you may have found that the section on maths does not go far enough for you. Equally, you may have discovered that you don't feel completely confident about some of the maths skills assumed by your course materials.
To find out more about how to plan your improvement in one or more areas of mathematics look at Reflecting on mathematics.