Advanced Algebra Through Data Exploration: A Graphing Calculator Approach

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Summary: Algebra with Technology
Review: Do you want your students to be centrally active in their algebra education? Then this text is could be the cornerstone of your course! The authors present the concepts of algebra as investigations in which the students participate using graphing calculators to store, manipulate, and analyze data. By participating in the current and interesting investigative projects, the students utilize algebraic concepts as a language to describe their research, analysis, and conjectures. The course is centered on the graphing calculator as a technological tool for expressing and investigating mathematical ideas and concepts. Ideas that had to be visualized in the students' minds can now be graphically presented through parametric equations, recursive equations, and their graphs. "What if .. " can be done within the presentation with the results displayed in real time. Using this text causes the student to become an active participant in the course rather than a passive observer who attempts to repeat the text examples.

In addition to the regular topics covered in typical texts, "Advanced Algebra Through Data Exploration" has chapters on statistics, data analysis, trigonometric concepts, and parametric equations. In each topic, the student is presented with real world applications and is lead to investigate the concepts through well-designed activities that arouse the interest of the students. Rather than lists of equations to factor and solve, each section offers situations in which the presented concepts are used to arrive at a solution. The graphing calculator is used to do the time-consuming graph preparation and number crunching so that the student can spend his/her time in designing and testing problem solving strategies. This is a well-designed, new text that is highly interesting to both student and teacher alike!