What is "Discover Math"?

Discover Math is a virtual classroom for anybody who wants to learn math in way that is, I hope, interesting and challenging, and very different from the traditional math instruction that you probably encountered in high school or college.

In this “classroom”, you willl learn through investigation and discovery rather than through lecture and examples. There are no worksheets, practice problems, or tests. I have tried to remove the drudgery that is in most traditional math courses so you can focus on learning what math is really about.

You can learn at your own pace. You can learn by yourself or in collaboration with others. You can assess your progress, but you never have to worry about grades!

While I certainly hope you will learn the math in these courses, the bigger hope is that you will learn to enjoy learning (again). Even more than that, I hope that you will discover that math is not a horror to be endured and forgotten the way it is for many people now, but a wonderous set of ideas that help us understand the world around us or that are just plain beautiful and fascinating.

(Ok, you should be asking yourself..."What does this picture have to do with math?" The answer is, "A LOT!", but I am not giving away the rest of the answer yet.)

How does the Discover Math virtual classroom work?

Pick a course you want to learn. Go to your course on this site, download the materials, and get ready to use them.(Single Variable Calculus is available now. Multivariable Calculus, Precalculus, Algebra II, and Geometry will be added shortly.)

There’s no registration or sign up. You don’t have to provide any personal information (or any information at all!). I am not tracking your progress (I don't collect or want that information). I am not "grading" your work.

There are no "teachers" here. This class is for people who are self-motivated enough to learn math on their own (or with like-minded others).

Seriously, just download the material and get learning.

How much does Discover Math Cost?

Discover Math costs you nothing. Zero. Nada. Zip. I don't want your credit card information, or any other form of payment. I am not going to try to upsell you anything or make you watch any annoying ads. Nor am I collecting your data and selling that. I am not looking to make money from this.

If you are a skeptic, you might ask, "Ok, what's the catch?"

At the risk of sounding naïve, my hope here is to make you realize that math doesn’t “suck”, that learning can be enjoyable, even as it is challenging. I started creating these materials when I was teaching. Having now retired, I could have just let this material fade away, or I could put them out for people to use. I chose the latter.

That said there are a few of “catches”:

a) If you feel comfortable, send me an email periodically to tell me of your progress and experience(s) with the material. (You can remain anonymous if you wish.) I am always happy to hear good things, but I also happy to hear constructive criticism. I am always working on making these courses better. Remember though, please make your constructive criticism constructive and specific. ("Investigation 3 in Module 5 is not clear on Step 3." helps me improve the material, but “This stuff is all crap!” does not!)

b) If you feel you gained something from this course and want to make some type of payment, don’t pay me. Instead, make a donation in whatever amount you see fit to your local food bank or homeless shelter in your name and/or the name of Discover Math.

c) One last thing…all the stuff here is free to use, but don’t turn around and try to sell it or otherwise make money off this material. That just wouldn’t be right, eh?