Algebra = Fun 4

Doctor X2, a tutor who combines a kind of Edward G. Robinson tough guy voice with a youthful vocabulary ("wow," "no way," etc.) is the host for this eight-tape low-budget algebra series. Program 4 purports to teach "inequalities and replacement values," but consists primarily of Doctor X2 solving one problem after another on the board, with little explanation (but a lot of "wow"s). Working without a script and lacking a sense of comic timing, the doctor comes across as an amateur (though he clearly knows his math). To make matters worse, his occasional non-problem related remarks can be troublesome. Commenting on one of the virtues of videotape instruction (the repeatability factor), he complains that "you ask teachers to repeat something and they never do." Which is, of course, a total load of hogwash. There are far better math instruction programs on the market. Not recommended. (See A FRIEND IN NEW ORLEANS for availability.)