PurpleMath.com offers online math tutoring, lessons, quizzes & worksheets
Title
Purplemath
Description
Elizabeth Stapel: The primary developer of Purplemath and the author of its lessons is Elizabeth Stapel. Though she now has a master's degree in mathematics, she never would have believed while growing up that she would one day be a math teacher. In grammar school, her two worst subjects were math and phys-ed ("physical education"). For her high-school years, her parents sent her to a religious school where the prevailing philosophy seemed to be that women needed to be married, not educated. (Yes, those kinds of places still exist.) Upon graduation, her parents put her to work at their church and then at their religious business. After five years of barely paying her, her parents finally had no further use for her and allowed her to try college, so she enrolled at the local state school. One of her first classes covered early-high-school algebra.
Ms. Stapel quickly discovered that, though she often found math to be difficult, she had a taste for the subject. She started helping fellow students through the university tutoring service, later becoming a grader for the math department. While grading homework for many professors' classes, she observed common problems that students have and common mistakes that they make. When she tutored, she again encountered these areas of difficulty, and was able to learn which techniques generally helped the students to succeed. These techniques were often those that Ms. Stapel had used to conquer her own confusion when earlier taking these same classes herself.
As a graduate student, Ms. Stapel worked in various tutoring and teaching capacities, and learned to incorporate her success techniques into her instruction. These are the same tips and techniques that she weaves through her in-class instruction and the Purplemath lessons.
Languages
English
Additional Information
Related Domains
External Links
- Alexa: PurpleMath.com
