[ams6110]

It may also whet the appetite for more deliberate study of the mathematics involved. I have always been one to struggle a bit with math concepts if they are too abstract. Tie them into somthing I have real-world interest in, and it's much easier to engage and stay motivated to learn.

[tjl]

When I was going through undergrad engineering we were taught linear algebra in first year but didn't really have a lot of the other background for the different applications.

As a grad student, I had a friend of mine who was teaching that same linear algebra course. I provided her with a lot of materials (similar to this) to help her students better understand different aspects of the material. There's a reason why the different introductory topics are taught, but often you don't really understand the topic until you get deeper into the applied material in 3rd and 4th year.