I came across Jason's material when I started going back to school for what would eventually become an electrical engineering degree. I loved his teaching style so much I ended up getting most of his DVD tutors. Word problems tend to be the bane of algebra students' existence. As anyone who has taken algebra knows, most people hope to never see one on an exam and hate doing them as homework problems. But, if you go on to take chemistry, physics, or engineering classes, you know that word problems will eventually be the only kind of problems you see, and many times, the word problems you see in algebra are just really easy chemistry and physics problems. So, the earlier you learn how to deal with them (if you have plans on going beyond algebra) the better off you will be. When I tutored people I would always tell people taking algebra, if you plan on going into higher-level science or engineering classes, do some of the word problems, even if they are not assigned, because practicing the easy ones will help you in the long run.
Jason does a great job of breaking down how to set up and solve word problems. He includes a good mix of problem types starting out with simpler concepts like problems that just involve numbers, then getting into those that involve averages, coin and money, and age. Then he gets into the kinds of problems that are chemistry and physics problems like those involving mixtures, distance, rate and time, levers, work, and more. The set is only 6 hrs long so you do not get exposed to all of the possible word problem types, but the strategies that Jason gives you for solving them can really be applied to any type of problem. These problems are not as challenging as the hardest problems that you will likely come across, but it gives you a good foundation for how to approach any word problem and will be invaluable if you are going into higher-level classes.
Jason does a great job of breaking down how to set up and solve word problems. He includes a good mix of problem types starting out with simpler concepts like problems that just involve numbers, then getting into those that involve averages, coin and money, and age. Then he gets into the kinds of problems that are chemistry and physics problems like those involving mixtures, distance, rate and time, levers, work, and more. The set is only 6 hrs long so you do not get exposed to all of the possible word problem types, but the strategies that Jason gives you for solving them can really be applied to any type of problem. These problems are not as challenging as the hardest problems that you will likely come across, but it gives you a good foundation for how to approach any word problem and will be invaluable if you are going into higher-level classes.
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