What makes this course different from previous courses?
In most math courses in the past you have likely been taught mechanics of mathematics; the computational tools like adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing. These are definitely important things, but they are not what math is. To use an analogy, “learning math” by learning these mechanical skills, would be like trying to learn a foreign language by reading a translation dictionary. The vocabulary is important, but reading a dictionary is dry and dull and still doesn’t teach you any of the important aspects of the foreign language (eg grammar, culture, history, etc).
Thus, this class is going to embrace the other aspects of mathematics you may not have had to learn in the past (or at least, not learn as deeply). This means that this class will often seem fundamentally at odds with what you think of when you think of a “math class”. My hope is that you will find this class more engaging and helpful; but regardless of the outcome, the techniques that will be discussed will be very different than what you have experienced in the past. I would recommend that you try to come to this class with an open mind and not treat this as “just another math class”. With any luck, that will be a good thing.