1. General

In January to March, the Korteweg-de Vries Institute for Mathematics organises an online course Mathematics B. The aim of this course is to bring the participants to the Dutch vwo (pre-university) level in the areas of functions, differentiation and integration.

Evaluation
The course has been rated very well. The 2020 course participants graded the Winter e-course with an 8 out of 10. 

"I would just like to share that I am extremely satisfied with the course. The online environment worked very well and was very clear." - participant Winter e-course Wiskunde B 2020

Digital environment for learning, practising and assessing mathematics

We offer an interactive digital learning, practice and assessment environment where you can work individually to master the mathematics topics. After the start of the course on 18 January 2021, you will work with the course materials following a fixed weekly schedule. The course materials consist of online content such as theory chapters, explanatory videos and assignments. In addition you will receive a course reader (in pdf) as a reference work. In the digital environment you can practice the parts you find difficult multiple times. In addition, you can ask questions in an online forum where answers are posted daily, and there is the possibility to ask questions to the lecturers personally twice a week via a live chat (most likely on Tuesday afternoons and Friday mornings). Finally, an online exam preparation meeting will be organised on 22 March 2021.

Whom is the course intended for?

• The course is intended for prospective students who want to start a university degree programme in The Netherlands, but who do not meet the mathematics entry requirements for this degree programme.
• Important: In many cases, passing our Mathematics B exam is sufficient to meet the Mathematics B entry requirements for degree programmes at the University of Amsterdam or other Dutch universities. However, because admission of students is the responsibility of the individual degree programmes, it is strongly recommended that you check with the admissions officer of the intended degree programme that you will indeed be admissible with a certificate of the Korteweg-de Vries Institute for Mathematics.
• If you don’t formally need to take the course to overcome a math deficiency, but simply want to acquire more Mathematics B skills, then there is no obligation to take the exam.

Please note that the Korteweg-de Vries Institute for Mathematics also offers a Winter e-course Mathematics A.

2. The course materials of the Winter e-course and required prior knowledge

You will get access to an online learning, practice and assessment environment at the start of the Winter e-course Mathematics B. All course materials will be available in the online environment but in addition you will also receive the course reader ‘Mathematics B’. This course reader will be made available in pdf at the start of the Winter e-course.  The costs of the online study materials and course reader are included in the course fee.

The topics that will be covered during the Winter e-course Mathematics B are the following:

• Functions and their equations
  • Functions and graphs
  • All kinds of equations and inequalities
  • Domain and range
  • Trigonometric functions
  • Exponential and logarithmic functions
  • Limits and asymptotes
  • Parametrised functions
• Calculus
  • Differentiation and applications
  • Integral calculus
• Geometry with coordinates
  • Lines and circles
  • Vectors and inner product
  • Parametrised curves

Required prior knowledge:
Due to the ambitious goal of the course, it is very important that your math entry level is sufficient. To check whether your prior knowledge is sufficient or whether you need to update the prior knowledge through self-study, we recommend that you do the exercises in the “Prior Knowledge Mathematics B” learning environment below. If you have mastered this material and can complete the exercises correctly, you can assume that you have sufficient mathematical skills to start the Winter e-course.

3. Where and when?

The Winter e-course starts on 18 January 2021 with an online kick-off meeting for all course participants. Then you start working with the course materials according to a fixed weekly schedule. We strongly recommend that you follow this weekly schedule closely, as there is the possibility to ask questions about that week’s assignments in the weekly live chat sessions.

Because we offer a digital learning, practice and assessment environment, you can follow the course from anywhere, in your own time. The exam preparation meeting and exam will also take place online.

Registration:
Registration opens on Monday, 23 November 2020 at 9:00 am CET. Registration closes on Sunday, 3 January 2021 at 11:59 pm CET.

Please note: registration is not without obligation. Therefore, read the cancellation conditions under section 5 carefully before registering.

Dates:
Start Winter e-course: Monday, 18 January 2021 (online kick-off meeting, exact times TBA)
Dates Winter e-course: 18 January to 22 March 2021
Date of exam preparation meeting: Monday, 22 March 2021 (online, exact times TBA)
Date of exam: Thursday, 25 March 2021 (online, exact times TBA)

Exclusively for students who took the exam on 25 March 2021 and did not pass it, there will be a resit on Wednesday, 7 April 2021.

4. Registration and course fee

The costs of the course are € 395 (this includes access to the online learning environment, the course reader and examination).

You can register from 23 November 2020 9:00 am CET via the button at the bottom of this page. By registering, you agree with our cancellation conditions (see section 5).

When registering, you must pay the full course fee by credit card or iDEAL (iDEAL is only available if you have a Dutch bank account). After registration and payment, you will receive a confirmation of registration and invoice by email.

A maximum of 100 students is admitted to the Winter e-course Mathematics B. If the course is full, you can register for the waiting list via the button at the bottom of this page. 

5. Cancellation

In order to cancel your registration, send an email to:
wiskundecursussen-science@uva.nl

Conditions for cancellation by the participant: 

• You can cancel free of charge up to 14 days before the start of the Winter e-course (so, before Sunday, 3 January 11:59 pm CET). We will then refund course fees already paid.
• If we receive your cancellation within 14 days before the start of the course (so, after Sunday, 3 January 11:59 pm CET), 50% of the course fee will be charged to you, and we will refund half of the course fee.
• If you cancel after the start of the course, you will owe the full course fee.

In the context of Dutch Distance Selling regulations, you can also cancel your registration without giving any reason and free of charge up to and including 14 days after the day of registration, up to the moment the course starts. You can send this cancellation by email to wiskundecursussen-science@uva.nl or you can use this model form.

Please note:
"Only the Dutch version of these conditions is legally binding. In the event of a dispute on the translation or interpretation of these conditions, only the Dutch version of these conditions will be taken into consideration." and
“This agreement and the conditions are governed by Dutch law. Any disputes will be settled by the competent court in Amsterdam.”

6. Examination

The Winter e-course offers an excellent preparation for the subsequent exam for which the participants of the Winter e-course Mathematics B are automatically registered. This exam is taken online in the week after the course. The exam will be graded on a scale from 1 to 10 and the minimum pass grade is 6. If you pass the exam, you will receive a certificate stating that you master Mathematics B at the Dutch vwo (pre-university) level.

7. Further information

If you have any further questions about the Winter e-course Mathematics B or would like to receive additional information, please send an email to wiskundecursussen-science@uva.nl. We will contact you as soon as possible.
You can also call us on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm CET on +31 (0)20-525 5091.