As far as tutoring goes I kind of do not even see that helping. Yes your examples did help a lot.
You do not realize it, but your first statement above contradicts the second. My provision of that example constitutes "tutoring".
This response is going to be wordy, but here are some of the benefits that I'm thinking that you would get from face-to-face tutoring.
The tutor could readily "get inside your head" by asking a quick series of questions designed to ascertain your misconceptions or lack of foundational material. We could do the same thing for you here, but the very nature of exchanging information back-and-forth via posts would be a waste of your time because it could take days just to finish a single exercise. Spreading out information over long periods is not a good way to learn; the brain needs frequent reinforcement, to retain information (i.e., long-term memory versus short-term memory).
The tutor could observe exactly what you're doing, as you work. Pointing out basic mistakes (or patterns of mistakes) would happen in real-time; this would enable you and the tutor to cover much more material in the same amount of time that it would take us here.
A tutor can help you to sort your way through all of the clutter (eg: symbols, properties, formulas, and concepts that all share similar terminology and descriptions) to focus on the task at hand because they would have access to your course materials, notes, and actual work. Forcing you to focus on the exact skills and information required for each exercise helps you to "see" the specific pieces needed and how they are related.
Having someone sitting next to you allows you to ask questions
spontaneously, as they occur to you (just like in a real classroom); people posting messages for help on bulletin boards generally forget a lot of what confuses them, by they time they reach a computer and log-in.
Sometimes, people are not able to put a finger on exactly why they are confused, even to such an extent that they are incapable of forming any specific questions about it. A face-to-face tutor could help you understand why you are confused.
A tutor equipped with scratch paper can quickly cover a lot of material (by providing you repeated examples); doing this on the bulletin board could take hours to reproduce because drawing diagrams and coding mathematical typesetting is labor intensive. It is simply easier to scribble the same information using paper and pencil versus posting it.
I'm sure that there are other benefits, but I would sum up all of the benefits by saying something like, "Face-to-face tutoring is the best way to nip problems in the bud and get you where you need to be; this gives you the best return on the investment of your valuable time."
I really [want] to learn how to get the answers on my own, most of it I can do in my head; the problem comes in when I am asked to show my work.
Here is a good example of why a face-to-face tutor would be useful, while you're working on assignments. I understand that you have trouble showing your work, but I do not understand why. At this point, I can only surmise. Is it notation that escapes you? Do you not understand the meaning of some symbols (eg: uncertainty regarding the difference between symbols that represent variable numbers versus constants). Is it the manipulation of symbols that you find difficult (as in, perhaps, you're shuffling symbols around without understand why)?
Now, you must consider these questions, and post answers. Then, I will need to analyze your answers, to determine whether I'm confident that I now understand why you have trouble showing your work. If I'm not confident, I will need to post additional specific questions (designed to gain better insight into your specific situation). After that, you will need to respond to my new questions, and, by the time we're both on the same page, the original point of our exchange might be unclear. In other words, we might need to start anew.
A face-to-face tutor could determine (within a few minutes, at most) exactly what you mean when you say that you have trouble showing your work on exercises for which you've already determined the answer mentally. You could then move forward without delay or confusion.
So far I have passed every class with an A or a B
but this class does not make me feel very smart
Again, there seems to be a contradiction with these two statements. Nobody needs to feel smart, when studying mathematics. Whether you're aged 16 or 60, the process of learning math is a process of making mistakes, recognizing them, fixing them, and learning from them. That's how Albert Einstein did it.
Do your best to eliminate notions that you are somehow "deficient". In fact, based on some information that I've seen regarding the University of Phoenix, I do not hesitate to blame (at least, in part) these types of student feelings on poor on-line course design and execution. If you start to become frustrated, take a break and do something fun.
And, I am confident that you will feel better, after experiencing some intense face-to-face tutoring, getting back up to speed in this course.
We are willing to continue helping you on these boards, with any specific questions about symbols, terminology, formulas, definitions, concepts, et cetera.
Just keep in mind that the volunteers here do not generally have a lot of time to reproduce lectures or lessons on broad topics. The best way to get tutoring on these boards is to be as specific and complete as possible with each exercise. Show any work that you can. Describe what you're thinking. Start a new thread, for each new exercise or topic of discussion.
Cheers ~ Mark :cool: