I recently completed a course on Coursera called “Introduction to Mathematical Thinking”. The course is offered by Stanford and is taught by Dr. Keith Devlin. I enjoyed the course very much, and it gave me a good perspective on what it would be like to study mathematics. While the course was fun, it did consume a good portion of my weekends and the assignments were no small feat! In the beginning I learned a lot about truth tables in regards to implication, equivalence, and negation.

The next parts of the course started to integrate proofs. After each lesson, I would get an assignment to work on on my own. After each week, I took a test based on the previous materials. This test usually contained a couple proofs which I needed to evaluate. One of the most useful skills I learned throughout the course was how to write and evaluate/grade proofs. I learned about the methods of induction and contradiction and through a multitude of examples I was able to write my own proofs!

The last week of the course was called “Test Flight”, and this is a very fitting name! I was provided with 10 problems that I had to write proofs for. Once I completed the proofs, I submitted them and started grading other people’s work. In turn, they also graded my work.

I am very glad I chose to take this course even though it was a challenge! I think the experience of looking at other people’s thoughts, ideas, and their approach to different problems is invaluable!