MathHelp.comReviews 68

I was using Purplemath.com for a self-paced GRE prep & general math learning/review. It had been 40 years since I took an algebra class. I was very generally happy with it until, without warning, they decided to limit the number of self-tests one can take. In other words, 3 strikes, you're out. The "warning" that came up said that that was all the attempts "my instructor" allowed. Excuse me? Learning is not one-size-fits-all and I have no instructor other than theirs on the videos and myself. The reasoning behind this change I will never understand but I suspect it is because I complained about some of the lessons. Like so many math instructors I have had in the past, they reach a certain point and just assume the student can solve the problems on their own so they do not show the solutions. This assumption has sunk many a struggling math student. They need to understand that they probably do not have a great number of students who are already good at math signing up for their courses and they should assume nothing. They should also understand that there are those who have vision and other limitations that need to be accommodated. I am aware of mine and know how to work around them, but now PM has made that impossible. How can they justify limiting how and how much one can use their pay service and how do they justify changing their policy mid-subscription with no warning? What is one to do when they have exhausted their allowed attempts? What if they planned, as I did, to do the entire course over again no matter how long it took? I had invested a great deal of time in this course but have now cancelled it, which means I will lose all my results and will have to find another course and basically start over. Since I was at the tail end of the course, this is incredibly inconvenient for me. One last thing, to all white board users: please get new markers! It kills me that otherwise polished presentations are given using dry-erase markers that do not work.