Math Tutor: DVDs
I recently viewed two Math Tutor DVDs which I received as part of the TOS Crew. Math Tutor provides Math DVDs on various subjects in order to help students succeed in Math. The two I received from them were The Texas Instruments TI-83/TI-84 Calculator Tutor and The Pre-Algebra Tutor Vol 1.
The Texas Instruments TI-83/TI-84 Calculator Tutor DVDs is a 3 DVD set which contains 8 hours of tutorial instruction on how to use the TI-83 / TI-84 calculator. I am not familiar with this calculator myself and was not aware of this being a calculator that most students are required to own. I was told by others that starting in Algebra classes that students are expected to use this calculator and then to continue to use it in their college math coursework. If this is true, then it is important for students to be comfortable with and know how to use the full features of their calculator. This DVD set does an exceptional job of taking the student through simple knowledge of how the calculator is setup and continuing on to the use of the calculator’s functions for various applications. You can view the topics that are covered in this DVD set here on the Math Tutor website. This DVD set appears to be very thorough in teaching the functions and use of this specific calculator. Since we do not own this particular model of calculator, I was not able to follow along and try things out on a calculator. However, it seemed that having this DVD set would be very helpful to anyone owning this calculator themselves and needing it to use for their course work.
The other DVD set was a little more useful to our family as homeschoolers because I have a daughter who is currently beginning Pre-Algebra this school year.
The Pre-Algebra Tutor is a 5 hour math tutorial within a 2 DVD set. As is the case with both DVDs sets I received for review, I was very impressed with the quality of teaching throughout the tutorial. The material is presented by instructor who writes the information down on white boards while he is talking so that the students not only receive an auditory but visual instruction. He begins by asking the student to watch the whole section in its entirety before going back to watch it again. The second time he recommends that the student stop the DVD at appropriate times in order to take notes and work out the problems. The instructor presents the material in a very simple and easy to understand manner which makes the ideas and concepts easy to grasp and takes away from the typical anxiety and frustration that students seem to have with learning new Math concepts.
You can view the contents of this DVD set for yourself at the Math Tutor website here.
If you go to to http://www.mathtutordvd.com/public/department90.cfm , you can even learn about the instructor, Jason Gibson. He lists his background and education at that location on the Math Tutor website. While you are on that web page you can even check out sample videos from each of the DVD sets from links on the right side of the page so you can get a glimpse of the vidoes before deciding to purchase one of the Math Tutor DVDs.
This is the second time I have received DVDs from Math Tutor and I continue to be impressed with each one I watch. This is one of the few instructional DVDs that I would consider purchasing for my children in order to help them learn math concepts. In fact I am thinking of purchasing the next volume of the Pre-Algebra DVDs for my daughters. I have a friend who is learning the concepts that are presented in the Pre-Algebra DVDs and I know this would be a great help to her as she struggles through learning the material for her math class. I really liked how the instructor built upon the various topics first defining and setting up a foundation before going further into each topic. I wish I would have had this type of instruction when I was learning math when I was in public school.
The Texas Instruments TI-83/TI-84 Calculator Tutor DVD set can be purchased for $26.99 on their website here.
and The Pre-Algebra Tutor Vol 1 DVD set can be purchased for $26.99 on their website here.
If you decide you are interested in learning more about these DVD sets. Please check out the Math Tutor website as well as my fellow Crew member reviews here on our blog.
Note: I received this product for free as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew in order to provide an honest review for my readers.
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