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Algebra: Form and Function, 2nd Edition

ISBN: 978-1-119-12841-0

February 2020

464 pages

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Description
Algebra: Form and Function, 2nd Edition offers a fresh approach to algebra that focuses on teaching readers how to truly understand the principles, rather than viewing them merely as tools for other forms of mathematics. Meant for a College Algebra course, Algebra: Form and Function, 2nd Edition is an introduction to one of the fundamental aspects of modern society. Algebraic equations describe the laws of science, the principles of engineering, and the rules of business. The power of algebra lies in the efficient symbolic representation of complex ideas, which also presents the main difficulty in learning it. Most students rely on surface knowledge of algebraic manipulations without understanding the underlying structure of algebra that allows them to see patterns and apply it to multiple situations; McCallum focuses on the structure from the start.
About the Author

William G. McCallum is a University Distinguished Professor of Mathematics and Head of the Department of Mathematics at the University of Arizona. Born in Sydney, Australia in 1956, he received his Ph.D. in Mathematics from Harvard University in 1984, under the supervision of Barry Mazur. After spending two years at the University of California, Berkeley, and one at the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in Berkeley, he joined the faculty at the University of Arizona in 1987. In 1989 he joined the Harvard calculus consortium, and is the lead author of the consortium's multivariable calculus and college algebra texts. In 1993-94 he spent a year at the Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques, and in 1995-96 he spent a year at the Institute for Advanced Study on a Centennial Fellowship from the American Mathematical Society. In 2005 he received the Director's Award for Distinguished Teaching Scholars from the National Science Foundation. In 2006 he founded the Institute for Mathematics and Education at the University of Arizona. He was Director of the Institute until 2009 and now chairs its advisory board. In 2009-2010 he led the work team that developed the NGA/CCSSO Common Core Math Standards. His professional interests include arithmetical algebraic geometry and mathematics education.

New to Edition
  • A new organization that moves quickly through early material. The former chapters 2 and 3 on rules for expressions and rules for equations, and the former chapter 6 on exponent rules, has been moved to appendices, complete with exercises, for those instructors who still want to cover this material.
  • Problems organized according to the three aspects of algebraic knowledge—recognizing building blocks, fluency, and modeling encourage students first to look inside and then to think ahead.
  • Suggested by current users, a simplified presentation throughout the text and clarifications of wording in text, examples, and exercises help student comprehension of the materials being presented.
Features
  • A Balanced Approach: Form, Function, and Fluency. To use algebra in later courses, students need not only manipulative skill, but fluency in the language of algebra, including an ability to recognize algebraic form and an understanding of the purpose of different forms. Algebra achieves this through unique examples and exercises.
  • Restoring Meaning to Expressions and Equations. After introducing each type of function--linear, power, quadratic, exponential, polynomial--the text encourages students to pause and examine the basic forms of expressions for that function, see how they are constructed, and consider the different properties of the function that the different forms reveal.
  • Maintaining Manipulative Skills: Review and Practice. Acquiring the skills to perform basic algebraic manipulations is as important as recognizing algebraic forms. Algebra: Form and Function provides sections reviewing the rules of algebra, and the reasons for them, throughout the book, numerous exercises to reinforce skills in each chapter, and a section of drill problems on solving equations at the end of the chapters on linear, power, and quadratic functions.
  • Students with Varying Backgrounds. Algebra: Form and Function is thought-provoking for well-prepared students while still accessible to students with weaker backgrounds, making it understandable to students of all ability levels.

 

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