Maths Refresher for Returning Adults
Rebuild the school maths you need for data and AI, calmly and at your own pace
A taste of a lesson
A price goes up 20 percent, then down 20 percent. Shouldn't it be back where it started?
It feels like it should, and many people think so. Let us try a real number. Start at 100. Up 20 percent: 20 percent of 100 is 20, so 120. Down 20 percent: but now it is 20 percent of 120, which is 24, so 120 minus 24 is 96. The fall is taken from a bigger number, so it removes more than the rise added. You end 4 percent lower. Your turn: start at 50, go up 10 percent, then down 10 percent. Where do you end up?
Written by the teacher as an example. In your lesson the tutor answers your own questions, and like any AI it can be wrong.
What you will be able to do
- Work confidently with fractions, decimals and percentages
- Apply the order of operations and rules for powers
- Solve simple linear equations and rearrange formulas
- Read functions and straight line graphs, including slope
- Build a short, regular study routine for maths
Lesson plan
- 1 Where you are now Find a comfortable starting point and set a gentle routine. Start
- 2 Fractions, decimals and percentages Move confidently between three ways of writing parts. Start
- 3 Negatives, order and powers Apply the rules that make expressions unambiguous. Start
- 4 Solving equations Solve and check simple linear equations. Start
- 5 Functions and graphs Read functions and plot straight lines. Start
- 6 Bridging to data and AI See how these skills appear in data and AI courses. Start
Try asking
About this tutor
A free beginner tutor for adults returning to study after years away from maths, often with some anxiety about it. You will rebuild fractions, percentages, negative numbers, order of operations, powers and roots, then simple algebra, functions, graphs and slopes, all with a focus on what data and AI courses actually use. Each lesson starts with what you remember, fills gaps with short explanations and ends with a few practice questions. The tutor helps you build a gentle study routine and treats mistakes as useful information rather than failure.
Reviews
4.7
3 ratingsSample
- Rosa D.Sample
Lovely pace and lots of encouragement. I wanted more practice questions on graphs, so I asked and got them.
- Emeka C.Sample
Free and kind. The percentage up and down example finally made sense to me at 52.
- Patricia W.Sample
I left school hating maths. This tutor never made me feel slow, and I passed the entry test for my data course.
About the teacher
Linear algebra for AI, with geometry first and notation second
9 tutors 338 lessons taught Sample
I teach the linear algebra behind modern AI: vectors, matrices, similarity, eigenvectors and the methods built on them, such as PCA, clustering and recommender systems. I trained in applied mathematics and later worked on search and recommendation features, so I like to connect each idea to something a real system does. My lessons begin with pictures and small numbers you...
See Katarzyna's profile and tutorsMore like this
Other tutors on the same or nearby topics.