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The Beginner's Guide To Understanding Algebra 1 & Algebra 2 (Udemy.com)

Master The Fundamentals of Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 and be ready to pass any test!

Created by: John Swokowski

Last updated May 2025

Our take

Based on the ratings of 763 students, a sample of their written reviews and the syllabus, as the course stood in May 2025. No course pays to be reviewed.

John Swokowski's course is a full Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 run built by a high school teacher who says he has taught for over 40 years. It covers 21.5 hours across 327 short lectures in 27 sections, from the language of algebra through equations, quadratics, systems, radicals and functions. The only requirement listed is a sixth-grade education. That makes it a true starting-from-scratch option, though the reviews show some adults coming back to math after decades away.

The praise is steady and specific. Reviewers call the explanations clear and easy to follow, and they like that lessons are short and to the point. One reviewer who is almost 87 says it is bringing old algebra back. Another is using it to prepare for an electrician aptitude test. A third says it feels relaxing instead of stressful. The sample has almost no criticism, and the ratings agree: 539 of 763 are five stars, and only 13 are one or two stars.

Practice comes from the downloadable files the description lists: worksheets, answers, chapter reviews and unit tests. There are no quizzes inside the player, so expect to work on paper. Later chapters carry only a number as a title, which makes jumping to a topic harder. It was last updated in May 2025, and algebra does not age much anyway. For steady self-study with a real teacher's pacing, it is an easy recommendation.

Best forAdults and students who want a patient, classroom-style run through all of algebra with worksheets to practice on.
Skip it ifYou only need one topic, like quadratics, or want in-platform quizzes and auto-graded practice.

Pros

  • Short lectures that reviewers say are clear, easy to follow and use down-to-earth analogies
  • Over 1,000 downloadable files: worksheets, answers, chapter reviews and unit tests
  • Requires only a sixth-grade education, which suits adults relearning math
  • Instructor says he tries to reply to student questions within 24 hours

Cons

  • No quizzes or graded exercises in the player; practice is worksheets done on paper
  • Chapters 13 to 24 are titled only by number, so finding a topic means checking lectures
  • At 21.5 hours it is a long commitment if you only need a single topic
The presenter explains the concepts very clearly and easy to follow.
Robert Hin, a student

Listed as beginner with only a sixth-grade education required; fits true beginners and adults refreshing old skills.

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What you will learn

  • Master the fundamentals of Algebra
  • Realize Algebra isn't as hard as you thought
  • Be able to ace Algebra any test
  • Develop the Algebra skills needed for higher levels of math

Course content

27 sections · 327 lectures · 22 hours of video

  1. 1Chapter 1 The Language of Algebra 3 free previews16 lectures · 53 min
  2. 2Chapter 2 Solving Equations12 lectures · 49 min
  3. 3Chapter 3 Linear Equations 1 free preview15 lectures · 53 min
  4. 4Chapter Four: Quadratic Equations17 lectures · 1.2 hours
  5. 5Chapter 5 Systems of Equations7 lectures · 27 min
  6. 6Chapter 6 Graphing Inequalities10 lectures · 34 min
  7. 7Chapter 7 Radical Expressions11 lectures · 31 min
  8. 8Chapter 8 Working with Algebraic Expressions13 lectures · 50 min
  9. 9Chapter 8X9 lectures · 45 min
  10. 10Chapter 9 Percents in Algebra10 lectures · 27 min

Who it is for

The instructor says it suits

  • This course is designed for students who want to master the essential fundamental concepts of Algebra.

What you need before you start

  • Students should have at least a 6th grade education and a desire to learn.

How it compares

Against the other 127 rated Udemy courses in Math on CourseDuck:

  • Rating4.6 out of 5higher than 37% of them
  • Reviews763#35 of 128 by number of reviews
  • Length21.5 hourslonger than 79% of them
  • Last updatedMay 2025more recently than 55% of them

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Course Description

Learn everything you need to know about Algebra in this comprehensive and complete course. By the end of this course, I promise that you will feel confident and skilled with Algebra. You will be able to pass any Algebra test and you will be able to achieve a high score on college admission tests such as the ACT or SAT.


Who is the instructor?


I’m John Swokowski and I’ve been a high school Algebra teacher for over 40 years. I’ve taught thousands of students face-to-face and in person throughout the course of my career. Many of these students hated math and thought they could never Algebra only to be proven wrong and realize that it isn’t so bad after all.


Why this course?


I’ve become deeply familiar with the areas of Algebra that students find most challenging and I’ve put careful consideration into each lecture on how the concepts are presented and taught. The material in this course has been tested successfully on thousands of actual high school students as well as thousands of more students online.


Included with the course are over 1,000 downloadable files which include worksheets, answers, chapter reviews, and unit tests. You’ll be able to practice what you’ve just learned after each lesson. These problems aren’t just randomly selected from an Algebra textbook and I’ve made all of the materials from scratch. The reason for this is because I’ve found many students are frustrated with the practice problems they are given in their own Algebra class from the textbook. The problems in the textbook are often unnecessarily difficult and they contain too many tricks and compounding concepts too early on. Most of the time, it feels that the author of the textbook is just showing how smart they are rather than just trying to help the student actually learn the material.


The problem sets in this course isolate the concepts better than your Algebra textbook. This will help you to build a strong foundation of skills more quickly and efficiently. Then later in the course when we start looking at problems with multiple concepts at one time, you will feel much more confident in your ability to solve them.


What’s included with the course?


  1. The Complete Algebra Workbook- these are carefully created downloadable materials that accompany each lesson. Students who practice with and complete these problems will steadily become much better at Algebra.


  2. Full support from the instructor- I love helping students who want to learn. Whether it’s with a question from this course or a question from your own Algebra class, I am happy to help and assist you in any way I can. I check my messages frequently and will try to respond within 24 hours if possible.


  3. An all-in-one distraction free learning environment - this course is carefully designed to maximize student focus and knowledge retention. The lectures are short and to the point and there is no time wasted in the course. Every topic you will need to learn Algebra is covered. Students are given lifetime access to all course materials. The course will also serve as a good reference point as you continue your studies into higher levels of math.


  4. Over 300 high quality lectures and over 20 hours of video content - If you wish to preview the video lessons, visit my website Swokowski Mathematics and view them for free.


I hope to see you in my class soon!


Thanks,

John


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Instructor Details

John Swokowski

Hello, my name is John Swokowski. I have taught High School Algebra for over 35 years. The most rewarding experiences I have encountered have been working with At-Risk students who did not like Math and thought they could not learn it. I love teaching and am looking forward to reaching many more students through Udemy. 

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Reviews

4.6

763 ratings on Udemy

Select a bar to show only those reviews.Select the bar again to show every rating.

By David Henderson on 8/27/2026

Can’t find the downloadable practice sheets to practice

By Nick Hughes on 7/7/2026

It has helped me understand algebra and helped me prepare for the next year.

By Desiree Hylton on 5/23/2026

So far so good! I am using this course to hopefully pass an aptitude test for an electrician spot. I hope that I can not only pass but be able to understand what I never got in school. John has explained things very well that you feel like you know. Let me get back to learning!

By Andy Hoey on 2/19/2026

I'm enjoying this course tremendously!

By Richard Poppe on 1/23/2026

A GOOD BASIC REVIEW

By Pavel Koprivec on 1/1/2026

terms jumpin left and right of the equal sign and changing their +/- sign is a consequence of doing the same thing to both sides of the equation in the first place, since one term annihilates on one side of the equation when it comes to addition or subtraction with the same term and appears on the other side of the equation, that would be nice if this was added to existing explanation, why does this happen I can apretiate different way to seing things. When it gets to traditional learning math topics there are two much thing going on. And the therminology can be really frightening. But this aproach helps.

By Khanh Boulom on 11/7/2025

The instructor builds each concept methodically with just the right amount of practice, quizzing, testing, and practice problems. Supplementing this with my own notes has solidified these concepts in an easily reviewable manner for my own long term retention, uasage, and reference.

By Kurren Kidd on 10/17/2023

Excellent course on Algebra. John is a great teacher. He makes math about as enjoyable as can be. Virtually every section is explained in a way that almost anybody could easily understand regardless of their math level. Bravo!

By J Bradfield on 11/22/2022

Excellent course and fantastic instructor! Worth the money. Good explanations. Just a few flaws in answers, but instructor gets back to you quickly and if you are wrong then tries to help you. I wish he had a Calculus course. I would take it also!

By Spiridonos on 3/18/2026

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Read all 763 reviews on Udemy

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Overall Score : 92 / 100