Frequently Asked Questions

Short, honest answers

Is attendance mandatory?

No. This tutorial is entirely voluntary. Come to the sessions you find useful. That said, the sessions build on one another, so attending in order gives you the most: every session opens with a recap and your questions, which is easier to follow if you were there the time before.

Is it graded? Do I earn credits?

No. There are no grades and no credits, and nobody tracks your answers or your progress. The tutorial exists purely to prepare you for the mathematics used in your KLU M.Sc. courses. The mock exam in the final session is a voluntary self-diagnosis, not a real assessment.

How should I prepare?

The single most effective thing you can do is work through the homework tasks between sessions. The lecture opens the door; the tasks are where the learning actually happens. Use the self-test quiz to check yourself, and keep the session cheatsheet next to you while you practice. Note down anything unclear and bring it to the start of the next session.

What if I miss a session?

Nothing is lost: all materials are online. Every lecture is available as a web page, as slides, and as a PDF, and every task set comes with fully worked solutions. Work through the missed session at your own pace, then bring any questions to the next one. If you get stuck, the Math Helper chatbot is available throughout the website.

How can I download the lecture material as a PDF?

Each lecture page has a PDF link at the top (via the format links). It produces a print-friendly document of the lecture’s content, not the slides themselves. If you want the actual slide deck as a PDF, open the reveal.js slides, press E for export mode, and print to PDF from your browser (this works most reliably in Chrome-based browsers).

Can I use AI for this tutorial?

Yes, use it to support your understanding, not to outsource your thinking. A tutorial chatbot, the Math Helper, is available directly on this website and is set up to guide your thinking with hints rather than hand you finished solutions. External tools (ChatGPT, Claude, Mistral, Gemini, …) are fine too. Two things worth knowing:

1. If the chatbot solves your homework for you, you have practiced prompting, not mathematics. There is no graded exam here, so the only person a shortcut short-changes is you.
2. Large language models are pattern-based: they are great at explaining concepts but can confidently produce wrong calculations. For actual computation, a tool like Wolfram Alpha is more reliable.

How does the chatbot work?

The Math Helper uses Mistral together with some custom code hosted on servers in Germany. It is not perfect and its answers can be incorrect, so always double-check anything it gives you. For details on how your data is handled, see the privacy policy.

I found a mistake, or my question is not answered here.

Please let me know! Email Tobias Vlćek at vlcek@beyondsimulations.com. Corrections and suggestions for improving the material are very welcome.