Originally Posted January 21, 2011

The basis for business math comes in the form of Finite Math. Mostly algebra based with some geometry thrown in for good measure, I’m on chapter 1.2 and finding that it’s not about studying.

More than anything else it seems to be about going back into my long-term memory and dredging things up that I thought I forgot but are there, lurking in the recesses of my mind.

You know, like y=mx+b, which I worked on for hours before it finally clicked and I was able to graph a chart of dates and values by making X=0 instead of X=1995 (the year) and then scaling up from zero instead of trying to just “figure it out” – I’m glad I’m doing it and I’m doing every possible extra exercise in the homework and online because I know this is one of the fundamental formulas that I will probably use the rest of my life.

Of course, I’m not 100% sure of that because after this come math classes like Stats and Econometrics. Which may have their very own formulas. Ok, I’m *sure* they have their very own formulas, that I just don’t know yet.

I like the Pearson CourseCompass site with My Math Lab. It gives you multiple assignments and other things the instructor puts in to help really get the material. As long as you just do the work and keep doing it until you understand it, I really think that I was all wrong about math as a child.

Because it’s not the math that killed me, it was memorizing the equations. That was always so difficult. Now I don’t have to because the formulas will be included with the test. That means I can focus more on what formula is appropriate in a situation, which is WAY easier.

Update (5/23/11)

I’m 8 weeks into the course…maybe 9…and we’ve covered SO much. From finance math to Truth Tables and I’ve been really enjoying it all. My downfall seems to be reversing the numbers 2 and 5 or forgetting to carry over a negative sign while doing matrix calculations.

This is a great class, and I’m glad I chose it over calculus. I may still need to take calculus and that’s fine (part of me really wants to minor in math with my econ major when I transfer in the Fall). The thing is, I don’t remember ever having to really work to understand something before. Working makes understanding that much more awesome when the light bulb moment happens.