Introductory Algebra: Equations and Graphs (with CD-ROM, BCA/iLrn(TM) Tutorial, and InfoTrac)
Traditional topics are presented in a manner which students can understand. Students are expected to be participants in their learning and not passive watchers imitating examples from the text or from the lectures of the instructor."Elementary Algebra continues (to use early introduction tables) of organizing data to recognize patterns. Using tables to solve equations with trial and error is excellent... Using the graphs to solve equations is used continuously. This is a skill that students do not develop in the standard algebra text."The large number of applications that have been researched carefully for relevancy to students' lives is impressive. Because of this the homework sections do not look like traditional texts with hundreds of problems."Overall, this text presents an exciting change, but one that could be implemented by most teachers who are open to the new recommendations by AMATYC."I like interweaving the symbolic and graphical methods of solving equations, from as early on as section 1.7, and consistently throughout the text. Traditional algebra books isolate symbolic methods from graphing... Students using this text should gain a good appreciation of the graphical perspective on equations.