Degree level maths tutor

[Ineedatutor]

I'm looking for a tutor who can teach me the level of maths I need for my upcoming degree.
I'm 41. Did well in school and enjoyed physics but always thought I was bad at maths. I got my c at gcse and forgot it about. Got a degree and a job.

A couple of years ago I changed role. My new role is very maths and physics oriented, very technical and specialised. I have managed to get through the maths up to this point by dint of much hard work but I am now starting a degree that my work require. The first module is the higher maths. We did differentiation last year and a friend helped me but I didn't entirely get it. This year we will be doing integration as well and I really want to have a good strong grounding so I don't feel out of my depth or left behind. I would prefer a face to face tutor. I've tried looking online but the ones in my area face to face don't go up to degree level. Maths wasn't my world for so long. I'm finding that I do enjoy it but I'm reaching the limits on what I can reasonably teach myself. The degree providers were originally a vocational provider and they seem to be struggling to communicate the academic content hence why I'm resorting to tutors and outside help!

Does anyone have any suggestions or know of any tutors in the North East that might cover this stuff??? I've always got good marks and I've had to work so hard but it's getting to the point where I'm going to need a proper tutor to help me through!
Or even failing that if anyone can recommend a decent textbook that might help explain this stuff it would help.

Have you had a look at the free courses in OpenLearn just to help you feel a bit more confident in what you're doing?

Could you ask around at your local uni? There may be maths students or students further on in your course who would tutor you? See which books are on their recommended list.

I did use openlearn when I first started but i had forgotten about it. Ill have a look thank you.

I did wonder about a message board or something at my local uni. I might go to the union and see if theres anything. I'll have a look at booklist too. Im worried about me not being able to understand any of it. All my learning has just taught me that I barely know anything

Integration and differentiation were on my a level maths back in 2005. Have you tried looking at the further maths a level and seeing if that aligns what you need to cover? Then you just need to find a further maths tutor!

Really though if you’re getting a degree the course provider should be teaching you. Can you not ask them for additional help?

My son has just finished an MMath at Oxford and is tutoring sixth formers individually online. He explains things really clearly and they seemed to enjoy it and do well. Would you you like to DM me or can you put an email address on here that I can pass to him?

*seem

The course provider has moved over to distance learning due to covid. There is one maths tutor. He is a nice chap but I get the feeling that it's so easy for him he doesn't understand why other people don't get it. The whole provider is made up of of very clever, very technically minded men who have dreadful communication skills and are not teachers in any sense of the word. Its a strange set up but this course is so niche that there is one provider. It was originally a wholly vocational role but in the desire to professionalise everything they have shoehorned a load of unnecessary academic stuff in. They'd have been better off starting from scratch with new providers but it's a done deal now. Any complaints or less than stellar feedback are brushed off with 'you clearly don't know how a degree works'. Despite 99% of us already having a first degree. Its very patronising and unsatisfactory but I have to work with it. I've got no choice.

And I will contact further maths tutors thank you. I need to see the full syllabus, at the moment im only sure its got integration in!

Someone like your son would be ideal George but i really really struggle with online. Im much more comfortable face to face.

You are surely paying a lot of money (or your employer is) already? If the teaching isn't good enough complain.

The degree has been made a requirement by the organisation that decide what we need in order tk be declared competent in our role. They refuse to consider other providers. Hence complaints to the provider are roundly ignored as they literally have no competition! Like I say it's incredibly unsatisfactory but I have to go with it. It doesn't stop us complaining. I send feedback forms after every module telling them what I think of them as does everyone else.

I agree that an A-level tutor should be able to help you with a fair bit of it – pretty sure differentiation and integration are in standard A-level maths, not just further maths. A lot of university science and social science degrees will have some maths in the first year or two, so anyone at the local university who tutors on those could probably also help, and be used to people who need to use maths for their main subject, rather than wanting to study primarily maths.

It's not fancy looking, but when I taught a similar maths module, many of the students found archive.uea.ac.uk/jtm/contents.htm quite useful. Differentiation starts in unit 10, integration unit 12. I'd review differentiation if you can before you do integration; they're effectively the opposite of each other, so conceptually they fit together (and after you've done an integral, you differentiate it to check your answer).

My DS needed some help with an aspect of his course at uni. He emailed his tutor and she gave him a few names to approach.

I understand that you feel face to face would be better but both of my a-level students have chosen to stay online as they feel it works better. I have supported a few adults through GCSE and they have commented on my calm and patient approach. Worth a thought?

Op my OH was a lecturer in Engineering maths at uni up to PHD level he said if you PM me your email addy he will be able to give you some guidance on which text books to look into

Maths is basically like learning a new language so you have to get the basics nailed down. I'm sure you've already realised that!
Have you looked at Khan Academy? It's a brilliant resource and it's free. The guy is amazing, not only for his skill at explaining but also for his ethics in making education accessible for all.

Integration is the inverse of difefrentiation, so you really do need to understand that first.
However the good news is that they're both single A-level maths, so look for an A-level maths tutor.
Bad news is that it will cost £40 an hour probably, possibly more, but I would expect you to find it really helpful.

Can you articulate what actually is the issue? Is it you can't visualise it, or is it remembering the processes, or what?

Thank you Issey. I'll pm you.
I think my main problem is that I didn't get a good grounding in maths at school. When I started 3 years ago I couldn't even add or subtract positive and negative numbers. Im really astounded when I see how far I've come. A friend of a friend kindly took the time to teach me differentiation. I could do it but only when it was presented exactly right. I understood the rules easily but once the questions were phrased slightly differently I couldn't follow it because I don't have a thorough understanding of it.

I cant always tell what's being asked of me.
I'm good at following the rules once I know them but identifying what kind of question it is is tricky.

My first degree is applied and in the applied sections of my course I excel. Its the theoretical maths and pure physics stuff that seem to stump me.
I don't mind paying for a tutor. My work pay for all my courses and in the end I'm going to be a qualified expert in a very niche field so it's worth all the personal input.