I really enjoyed Maths when I was at school. I liked puzzles and mysteries, and Maths was both of those things! I didn't pursue Maths beyond GCSE, but I have always enjoyed documentaries, programmes and books about the application of Maths to areas of science and discovery - such as astronomy, cartography, art, engineering, physics, and - you guessed it - computer science!
Eventually I was no longer content with just knowing about Maths, I wanted to 'do the Math'!
After [many] years away from school I had done nothing more complex than working out prices, so I thought what better place to start than Maths GCSE... I did an intensive correspondence course in Higher Level GCSE Maths and it was intense!
In 5 months I had to learn EVERYTHING again! I had to submit weekly assignments, which were graded and returned with comments - just like being back at school! There was a the tutor allocated to me, and he was available via email, or we could talk in the evenings if I was stuck with anything.There were many - literally - sleepless nights when I would be puzzling over concepts and tackling questions, but I loved it! My brain felt alive again for the first time in years! It really gave me the bug for learning and continuous self-improvement! I hadn't covered Quadratic Equations when I did GCSE Maths, and it was Quadratic Equations that captured my imagination the most!
The great thing about doing GCSE Maths as a mature student was that I was doing it because I wanted to! I had a goal that I was working towards. I knew what I wanted to do with my newly acquired knowledge.
I am applying my knowledge of the GCSE Maths concepts learned to programming. You don't need to go back to school to learn about Maths or programming, because there are so many great (and free) resources online!
Here are the websites / resources that I use on a regular basis:
Kingsley Ijomah
Virtual Nerd
Khan Academy
Codecademy
Enjoy!
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