When you sign up for Brilliant and land on the main interface for the very first time, it can be very easy to become overwhelmed with the sheer amount of courses that are on offer to you.
Even if you came onto the platform with a specific topic or subject in mind that you intended to learn more about, because of how particular a lot of the individual courses are, it’s hard to know where to begin, especially when you don’t want to accidentally jump into a harder course which can end up confusing you and dampening the overall experience.
To help you get started with your Brilliant journey, we’ve compiled a list of some of the best courses to start off with, along with a bit of information on what you can expect to learn from each of them. (Check out our Brilliant review!)
Find out the correct Brilliant course order below!
How Many Courses Are On Brilliant?
When you apply for a Brilliant membership, you will be granted access to over 60 courses with the majority of them teaching specific topics related to math, foundational science courses, and computer science. (If you’re interested in the cost of Brilliant and if it has a free trial, check out our article here!)
Because of this, it is mainly directed towards students or lifelong learners who want an external resource to help with their education which can teach them a little more about certain subjects through interactive lessons, puzzles, and quizzes.
While these courses are designed to help expand a person’s knowledge and build on the foundation of information that they have already learned up to that point, it can also be a great place to start for beginners who may not have as much interactive learning experience working through complex mathematical or scientific problems and equations and simply wants a place to start so that they can apply this knowledge, scientific thinking, and problem-solving skills into their everyday life.
What Are Learning Paths?
While you can choose to take a course individually, a lot of the courses are grouped together as part of a bigger topic.
So for example, when you’re looking at the courses on the main menu, and you see “Intermediate math”, this actually contains 3 courses, these being; pre-algebra, mathematical fundamentals, and geometry fundamentals.
These are called “Learning paths”, and while they do make it a lot easier to find more intermediate subjects packed together, they are also very time-consuming, so it can often be a much better idea if you’re new to the platform to pick out an individual course which will ease you into how the courses work without locking you into a certain learning path right away.
The Best Courses To Start With On Brilliant
While Brilliant does make it fairly simple to navigate between courses while also providing information on what the course includes, the truth is that the online learning platform doesn’t always clearly say how complex they are or why you might want to take them, so it’s never a bad idea to do some research beforehand so that you know which ones are most worth your time.
Here are some of the best courses that you should take on if you’re new to Brilliant Premium and want to get started with some lessons that are packed full of information without ever being too overwhelming.
Algebra I
With there being so many math lessons available on Brilliant, it can be hard knowing where to even start, especially when you don’t want to begin a course that is too complicated and requires you to have plenty of prior experience and knowledge of the more complicated math topics beforehand.
The Algebra I course is the perfect starting point for anyone trying to improve their math skills, no matter whether they have been away from education for a little while, or if they are a current student.
It contains 23 lessons overall which are all very easy to understand and will start with teaching the basics of equations and ratios before then moving on to more complex topics including radicals, exponents, and linear systems.
Geometry Fundamentals
Geometry is the science of shapes, and it plays an incredibly important role in building and planning constructions, so while it can be a great topic to know more about as preparation for a test or exam, it is also a topic that you will find yourself using practically in many different situations outside of the classroom.
This course, spanning 25 lessons, is actually fairly easy to follow until the last 3 lessons which ramp the difficulty up in order to test your knowledge so that you know how to apply what you have learned to a real-world situation, making this a great course to start with before branching into the more complex math courses.
Everyday Math
If you’ve been away from learning math academically for a few years, or if you just want to brush up on the basics before you get stuck into the more advanced topics and courses, this course is a quick and easy collection of 9 lessons which you can go through in a single day.
While the lessons cover fairly basic concepts, they are all very relevant and commonly used in everyday life such as how to work out percentages, values, and fractions in everyday scenarios.
Physics Of The Everyday
This course doubles as both an educational course where you can learn the basics of physics and its principles in the most basic sense, along with also being a great test of knowledge for those that are currently studying physics who can use it to quiz themselves.
Each of the 38 lessons centers on a fairly normal and mundane object or activity such as axe throwing, tug of war, or even simply opening a refrigerator, and takes a closer look at how physics allows these actions to happen, along with all the equations and terms that apply to it.
This course can even just be a fun way to immerse yourself in the structure and flow of Brilliant’s courses without you needing to pay too much attention since it is a lot more straightforward and less intense than many other interactive courses.
Computer Science Fundamentals
If you’re already fairly experienced in programming and software development, then you will be aware of how challenging computer science as a subject can be, but if you only have a vague interest in it and are hoping to learn more for yourself, it can be near impossible to make that first step, especially since new programs and updates are being introduced that change up the principles and fundamentals constantly.
Luckily, Brilliant offers an excellent gateway into this complex but incredibly worthwhile subject through this course that gradually takes you through computer science foundations and introduces the basics for you to then expand on later down the line.
This course is also only 15 lessons long, and since it is split up into only 3 sections, you can easily complete it over the course of a week or two, making it the most ideal way to get your foot through the door with computer science.
Summary
Don’t let the massive number of courses on Brilliant intimidate you.
Try out a few of these beginner-friendly courses, they will all provide you with a great starting point in the subject that you want to focus on while also helping you to understand how the structure of the courses works so that you can move on to the more advanced topics once you’re done. Start improving your critical thinking skills with the help of award-winning teachers today!