Math is unavoidable. Whether you’re looking to get more comfortable with numbers or brush up on your skills, we’ve put together a list of online courses that everyone should take from beginner to advanced. Regardless of your academic or professional degree, you would benefit from trying out these courses to sharpen or acquire new skills.
Everyone uses the basics of math such as addition and multiplication. However, as you move forward in both your educational and professional career, you’ll notice that there are a wide variety of topics of math that surpass “the basics”.
Who Should Take These Courses
Given that math is used in nearly all professions, here’s who we recommend these courses to:
- High school students who are looking to sharpen their skills or SAT/PSAT and other nationwide exams
- High school and college students who want an introduction to a course or extra practice
- Professionals looking to take their math knowledge and apply it to real-world, career-enhancing scenarios
- Anyone who wants a better understanding of math, regardless of skill level
If you're not a fan of math, here are a few reasons why it's important:
- Everyone from a cook, farmer, mechanic, or musician needs mathematics in their everyday life.
- A strong foundation in math keeps the mind alert and focused. Solving math problems creates neural pathways in the brain that keep the mind sharp.
- As society becomes increasingly technologically advanced, math is needed to create and maintain the very technologies and machines we depend on today.
Algebra
Algebra is one of the first subjects that you’ll encounter in your educational career. It is considered a foundational math, as you will see these topics throughout math courses. With that being said, a strong foundation in Algebra would make it easier to tackle higher level courses in the future.
For those who have little-to-no experience with Algebra, we recommend:
- Learning Algebra: Pre-Algebra from Lynda
- Introduction to Algebra from edX
The math section makes up one-third of the SAT/PSAT exams. Algebra is prominent in these sections. For those students looking for math practice to prepare or increase their scores, we recommend:
- Test Prep: PSAT from Lynda
- SAT Math practice from Khan Academy
Anyone pursuing a bachelor’s degree would benefit from:
- College Algebra from Udacity
Statistics
Statistics is an important math course because it is one of the most applicable subjects. Every profession will encounter data that needs to be interpreted. Graphs, charts, and word problems can be expected from statistics courses.
To get a feel for what statistics is about, we recommend:
- Statistics from Udacity
- Basic Statistics from University of Amsterdam
For those excited to apply their previous knowledge of statistics to real-world scenarios, check out:
- Intro to Descriptive Statistics from Udacity
- I "Heart" Stats: Learning to Love Statistics from edX
Calculus
Calculus discusses topics such as volumes, areas, and integrals. Given the various levels and specializations of calculus, it is probable that you will comes across some topics on your educational journey.
Here are three classes for students who are anticipating an AP Calculus exam or for those college-bound students who want to become familiar with the subject:
- On-Ramp to AP* Calculus from Weston High School
- Calculus 1A: Differentiation from Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Calculus 1B: Integration from Massachusetts Institute of Technology
For those at the college-level, we recommend:
- Pre-Calculus: Trigonometry from University of California, Irvine
- Calculus One from The Ohio State University
- Single Variable Calculus from University of Pennsylvania
Math for Professionals
Pursuing a master’s or professional degree will require a heightened knowledge of math. You can expect to use your foundational knowledge and apply it to business scenarios in the career world. You’ll need to be comfortable applying algebra, statistics, and calculus concepts to real-world scenarios.
Whether you’re looking to have a leg up in professional school or specialize your knowledge, we recommend:
- Business Math from Lynda
- Maths Essentials for MBA Success from Imperial College London
- Real Estate Investing: Pro Investment Analysis from Udemy
As you can see from our list, math is present at every educational and professional level. Even though math is considered one of the most difficult subjects to grasp, the benefit of most MOOCs is that you can learn in the comfort of your home and at your own pace. Anyone can benefit from enhancing their math skills either for practice or professional development.
