These resources are meant to complement (not replace) your lectures and tutorials. Some things may be explained differently or use different notation – if you are unsure of where to start or what to read then please get in touch and we will be happy to help!
Study Skills for undergraduate mathematics
If you are studying any subject at university which has a significant mathematical content (e.g. maths, actuarial science, engineering, physics etc) then this guide contains helpful hints and tips for optimising your study skills.
You can read it from cover to cover or dip into the sections you need. You can find the online version of the booklet at this link.
Scholar resources
The Campbell Maths Gym, in collaboration with SCHOLAR, have produced an online resource which covers many foundational topics that are key to a strong grounding in mathematics and statistics.
Each topic consists of a combination of key points, worked examples, interactive activities, exercises, short instructional videos and the opportunity to self-test. You can follow the whole course or dip into topics as needed.
See our introduction video for a quick tour of the resource.
Access is available to anyone with a Heriot Watt University email address and can be found here.
Mathematics for Success
This course covers many fundamental topics and is open to anyone who wishes to use it – see full details below!
“Mathematics for Success” is an interactive self-paced university-preparation course which aims to bridge the mathematics requirements into Heriot-Watt (Malaysia) program. The course consists of five essential mathematical chapters, where each chapter comprises a few modules. For each module, there are three designed activities, namely pre-recorded videos, reading materials as well as some exercises helping students to master the topic.
Please send an email to k.ong@hw.ac.uk (Dr. Ong Kai Lin) and express your interest. The course was created in a VLE platform called Open Learning.
Chapter 1: Functions
- 1.1 Introduction to functions
- 1.2 Composite and inverse functions
- 1.3 Exponential and logarithmic functions
Chapter 2: Differential calculus
- 2.1 Introduction to differential calculus
- 2.2 Product and quotient rules
- 2.3 Chain rule and combination of differentiation rules
- 2.4 Higher order derivatives
- 2.5 Implicit differentiation
- 2.6 Application: sketching functions
- 2.7 Numbas practices
Chapter 3: Integral calculus
- 3.1 Introduction to integral calculus
- 3.2 Integration using partial fractions
- 3.3 Integration by parts
- 3.4 Integration by substitution
- 3.5 Application: differential equations
- 3.6 Numbas practices
Chapter 4: Complex numbers
- 4.1 Introduction to complex numbers
- 4.2 Basic arithmetic of complex numbers and Argand diagram
- 4.3 Modulus, argument and polar form
- 4.4 Exponential form
- 4.5 Numbas practices
Chapter 5: Sequences and series
- 5.1 Introduction to sequences and series
- 5.2 Infinite series, partial sums and sum to infinity
- 5.3 Binomial series
- 5.4 Recurrence relations
- 5.5 Numbas practices
External Websites
These websites cover a variety of topics
- HELM booklets are an extensive set of booklets covering many topics in mathematics and statistics – they are aimed at engineers and scientists. Each booklet has notes, worked examples and exercises.
- The mathcentre is a wonderful resource organised into many different topics and applications. There is a combination of notes, videos, example and quizzes.
- Khan Academy is a site based on the American school system and covers topics from pre-school to early university level. This also has a combination of notes, videos, examples and quizzes.
- The statstutor pages lead you through many common statistical topics with a selection of notes, videos, examples and quizzes.
- NRich has resources to prepare you for university mathematics and the use of mathematics in different subjects at university e.g. engineering, biology, chemistry and physics. These pages recap school mathematics for specific subjects.