Beginning and Intermediate Algebra Building a Foundation

by McKenna, Paula; Kirk, Honey

• ISBN13: 9780201787375
• ISBN10: 0201787377
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-01-14
• Publisher: Pearson

Summary

AuthorsPaula McKennaandHoney Kirkhail from the state of Texas, where they teach students of all ages, skill sets, and backgrounds. As active teachers in diverse classrooms, their aim is to provide developmental students with a solid mathematical foundation, while also giving them the means to expand on that foundation after they leave the classroom. As authors, they help students build their mathematical foundation by teaching algebra as a story, emphasizing applications, problem solving, and language to help students understand how topics relate to one another and to the world around them. They begin this book with a thorough review of prealgebra to ensure that students begin building their algebra skills on a solid base, and each chapter opens with an application that serves as a running theme for the content throughout the chapter. The authors make problem solving easy for students through the "4 Prs"s" problem-solving process (Prepare, Plan, Process, and Ponder), which encourages critical thinking and thoughtful discussion. Review of Real Numbers and Problem Solving; Equations and Inequalities in One Variable and Applications; Linear Equations, Inequalities, and Introduction to Functions; Linear Systems of Equations and Inequalities; Exponents, Polynomials, and Applications; Factoring Polynomials; Rational Expressions; Roots and Radicals; Functions; Complex Numbers and Quadratic Equations; Conic Sections; Inverse, Exponential and Logarithmic Functions For all readers interested in algebra.

Author Biography

Paula McKenna (San Antonio College) is a native Texan who received a B.S. in mathematics, graduating magna cum laude, and an M.S. in mathematics, from the University of Texas at San Antonio. As a young adult, she worked in the business world before realizing that she wanted to finish her education. She knew that teaching was her destiny the first day she walked into a classroom. After teaching at her alma mater, she elected to move to the community college classroom and joined the faculty at San Antonio College in 1994. Her motivation to write a developmental mathematics textbook came from her students. Paula wanted to write a text that would be both mathematically accurate and easily understood by developmental students. She asked Honey Kirk to join her in this endeavor, and they worked together, writing each chapter as they would teach it.

 

Honey Kirk (Palo Alto College) received a B.A. in mathematics and psychology from Washington and Jefferson College, an M.A. in education from Pepperdine University, and an M.S. in mathematics from the University of Texas at San Antonio. As an army wife of 30 years, she taught mathematics to students of all ages in many states, as well as overseas in Germany and Korea. She and her husband are now settled in Texas where Honey is a community college professor at Palo Alto College in San Antonio. As an empty-nester, she decided it was time to incorporate all the great teaching strategies she learned through the years from her students and colleagues into a series of developmental math textbooks.

Table of Contents

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Review of Real Numbers and Problem Solving

Sets, Symbols, and Real Numbers

Review of Fractions and Decimals

Addition and Subtraction of Real Numbers

Multiplication, Division, and Properties of Real Numbers

Exponents, Order of Operations, and Algebraic Expressions

Reading and Interpreting Graphs and the Coordinate Plane

Problem Solving: The 4P's Method

Summary

Review

Test

Equations and Inequalities in One Variable and Applications

Properties of Equality and Linear Equations

Linear Equations Involving Grouping Symbols and Fractions

Literal Equations and Applications

Linear Inequalities

Compound and Double Inequalities

Absolute Value Equations and Inequalities

Additional Applications

Summary

Review

Test

Linear Equations, Slope, Inequalities, and Introduction to Functions

Linear Equations in Two Variables

The Intercept Method

The Slope andy-Intercept Method

Determining the Equation of a Line, Parallel Lines, and Perpendicular Lines

Graphing Linear Inequalities in Two Variables

Introduction to Functions

Summary

Review

Test

Cumulative Review Chapters 1-3

Linear Systems of Equations and Inequalities

The Graphing Method

The Substitution Method

The Elimination Method

Systems of Linear Equations in Three Variables

Applications

Systems of Linear Inequalities

Summary

Review

Test

Exponents, Polynomials, and Applications

Integer Exp

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