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Explorations in College Algebra, 5th Edition
John Wiley and Sons Ltd, Feb 2011, Pages: 720
Explorations in College Algebra, 5/e and its accompanying ancillaries are designed to make algebra interesting and relevant to the student. The text adopts a problem-solving approach that motivates students to grasp abstract ideas by solving real-world problems. The problems lie on a continuum from basic algebraic drills to open-ended, non-routine questions. The focus is shifted from learning a set of discrete mathematical rules to exploring how algebra is used in the social, physical, and life sciences. The goal of Explorations in College Algebra, 5/e is to prepare students for future advanced mathematics or other quantitatively based courses, while encouraging them to appreciate and use the power of algebra in answering questions about the world around us.
Explorations in College Algebra was developed by the College Algebra Consortium based at the University of Massachusetts, Boston and funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation. The materials were developed in the spirit of the reform movement and reflect the guidelines issued by the various professional mathematics societies (including AMATYC, MAA, and NCTM).
New to This Edition:
- Explore & Extend: are a new feature in this edition. These 'mini exploration' problems provide students with ideas for going deeper into topics or previewing new concepts. They can be found in every section.
- Accumulation of tools: The authors added a transformation to each chapter that covers functions. The intention of these changes is to progressively accumulate (about one per chapter) the tools for transforming functions. This is a way to discuss properties of functions using function notation and to use the transformations as new functions are introduced.
- Chapter 8 reconfigured: Ch. 8 has been split into two chapters: New Ch 8 covers quadratics and polynomials, while Ch. 9 is titled “Creating New Functions from Old.”
- Data: Data are updated throughout.
- Extended Explorations: The two Extended Explorations have been integrated into the text as sections in relevant chapters.
Features:
- Algebra developed from real-world applications: These materials are based on problems using actual data drawn from a wide variety of sources including: the U.S. Census, medical texts, the Educational Testing Services, the U.S. Olympic Committee, and the Center for Disease Control.
- Flexibility of use: The materials are designed for flexibility of use and offer multiple options for adapting them to a wide range of skill levels and departmental needs. The text is currently used in both small and large classes, two and four-year institutions, and taught with technology (graphing calculators and/or computers) or without. Many optional special features are described in following points.
- Many opportunities for students to practice: Each section includes Algebra Aerobics, which are intended to help the student practice the skills they just learned. At the end of each chapter the Check Your Understanding and Review Summary sections can help students review the major ideas of the chapter.
- Actively involved students: The text advocates the active engagement of students in class discussions and teamwork. The Something To Think About questions, open-ended exercises, and the Explorations are tools for stimulating student thought. The Explorations are an opportunity for students to work collaboratively or on their own to synthesize information from class lectures, the text, and the readings, and most importantly from their own discoveries.
- Emphasis on verbal and written communication: This text encourages students to verbalize their ideas in small group and class discussions. Suggestions for writing '60-second summaries' are included in the first chapter, and many of the assignments require students to describe their observations in writing. Throughout the text there references to wide a variety of essays, articles, and reports included either in the Anthology of Readings (in the appendix of the text) or on the book companion website. Many of the Explorations conclude with group presentations to the class.
- Technology integrated throughout: While the materials promote the use of technology and include many explorations and exercises using graphing calculators and computers, there are no specific technology requirements. Some schools use graphing calculators only, others use just computers, and some use a combination of both. This flexible approach allows Explorations in College Algebra, 4/e to meet the needs of many varying courses.
- Student Solutions: Step-by-step solutions to selected problems are provided at the end of the book.
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