Free Tutoring in Math/Programming

post by Patrick · 2011-09-29T13:45:19.348Z · LW · GW · Legacy · 18 comments

I enjoy teaching, and I'd like to do my bit for the Less Wrong community. I've tutored a few people on the #lesswrong IRC channel in freenode without causing permanent brain damage. Hence I'm extending my offer of free tutoring from #lesswrong to lesswrong.com.

I offer tutoring in the following programming languages:

  1. Haskell
  2. C
  3. Python
  4. Scheme

I offer tutoring in the following areas of mathematics:

  1. Elementary Algebra
  2. Trigonometry
  3. Calculus
  4. Linear Algebra
  5. Analysis
  6. Abstract Algebra
  7. Logic
  8. Category Theory
  9. Probability Theory
  10. Combinatorics
  11. Computational Complexity

If you're interested contact me. Contact details below:

IRC: PatrickRobotham

Skype: grey_fox26

Email: patrick.robotham2@gmail.com

18 comments

Comments sorted by top scores.

comment by EvelynM · 2011-09-29T16:22:39.920Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

The reference I've been suggesting for Python is http://learnpythonthehardway.org/

A way I've found effective for learning beyond the basics, is to tweak existing programs. github.com has a massive amount of code for you to look at, to copy and change, searchable in many ways, including by programming language.

Learning programming is similar in difficulty to the project of becoming a clearer thinker, and as useful.

Replies from: handoflixue, Patrick, MarkusRamikin
↑ comment by handoflixue · 2011-09-29T19:53:25.185Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Second the recommendation for http://learnpythonthehardway.org/ - three of my friends are teaching themselves coding off of that

↑ comment by Patrick · 2011-09-29T17:28:07.379Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

It has the advantage of being more well defined though ;)

↑ comment by MarkusRamikin · 2011-09-30T11:02:43.504Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Any recommendations of a good tutorial of Python 3?

EDIT: Thanks for the responses.

Replies from: EvelynM, shokwave
↑ comment by EvelynM · 2011-09-30T14:48:21.445Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Swaroop writes well, and covers both Python 2 and 3: http://www.swaroopch.com/notes/Python

↑ comment by shokwave · 2011-09-30T14:17:38.040Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

The very same site, and take a little longer to look up the differences between what The Hard Way uses and Python 3. As I recall it's mostly syntax stuff (like the changes to print), all the major changes are beyond the scope of the book (at which point you'd probably be able to teach yourself Python 3?).

Replies from: EvelynM
↑ comment by EvelynM · 2011-09-30T17:30:22.174Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Yes, starting with Python 2 won't make it more difficult to pick up Python 3.

comment by jsalvatier · 2011-09-29T14:18:51.508Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

I already have a tutor (studying proofs; through lesswrong no less), but I am still grateful for the offer and may ask you about it in the future. How well does math tutoring work over the internet?

comment by Alexei · 2011-09-30T01:12:33.638Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

This is somewhat tangential to the main topic, but I'll be starting to write a sequence of introductory articles (on my own blog) to Unity3D engine and game design. If any of you are interested in learning this, I would be happy to hear what you want to learn specifically and any other thoughts you might have.

Replies from: None
↑ comment by [deleted] · 2011-12-12T18:23:37.718Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

I just started using unity 3D and would be glad to see what you can come up with.

Replies from: Alexei
↑ comment by Alexei · 2011-12-13T03:14:07.904Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

You can follow the progress on Twitter, or just watch this url. Right now it's empty, but I should have an update there before the end of the week.

comment by EvelynM · 2011-09-29T19:07:24.322Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

I've been studying with Patrick for a while, and am grateful for his clarity of thought, and patience, with my either rusty or novice math skills.

His enthusiasm and optimism are inspiring and encouraging.

comment by MarkusRamikin · 2011-09-29T16:02:28.295Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

I wish I had more than one upvote to give this.

comment by fortyeridania · 2011-09-30T06:07:54.568Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Thanks for this wonderful offer!

comment by Epiphany · 2012-11-02T02:26:23.556Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Update: My boss assigned me a multiple week project, so being replaced is not likely in the very near-term.

Please help. I might be getting replaced by an ad agency very soon. I am the only IT person (an in-house web developer) for a small business, and the boss no longer has the time to do his own research to decide which projects I should do in order to make his site more competitive. What I need most are ideas for a quick example program that I can put online to show my capability and some code grooming. I read a book on PHP security (Essential PHP Security) before I started writing PHP, I tried reading a code quality book but discovered very little new information in the first three chapters (Code Craft - I guess code quality was common sense to me or that book wasn't challenging), have worked closely with an SEO, and I just bought Design Patterns by the Gang of Four (haven't gotten too far in yet though), so I'm probably looking better than a lot of other web developers, but I must acknowledge that I taught myself PHP/MySQL with no mentor and this might mean that I'm in need of grooming and do not realize it.

Would you, or anybody else reading this, be willing to help me decide what to make for my example, tell me what improvements to make to the code when it is finished, and criticize my resume?

comment by [deleted] · 2011-09-29T19:57:53.415Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Haskell, C, Python, Scheme but no Clojure? Why is that?

Replies from: Patrick, Vladimir_Nesov
↑ comment by Patrick · 2011-09-30T03:48:45.476Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

These are the languages I know. While Clojure is interesting, I haven't had the chance to learn it, and I would feel guilty offering tutoring services in a language I don't actually know how to program in.

That said, if you want to learn Clojure and take advantage of my tutoring services, the closest equivalent is scheme.

↑ comment by Vladimir_Nesov · 2011-09-29T20:26:52.861Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Is it perhaps to provoke rhetorical questions?