Applied Algebra

Applied Algebra is designed for a one semester course for students entering college at the developmental level. It enhances students algebraic, critical reasoning, and communication skills, and to promote a growth mindset towards learning. It provides a guided inquiry approach through collaborative exploration, concept formation, and application where students learn algebraic concepts and their meaning in real-world contexts. The publication focuses on fewer concepts, mainly linear, exponential, and quadratic functions, but treat them conceptually, in more depth, and interconnected for better retention. The movie Groundhog Day is a good metaphor for our books concept. Each day the lead character wakes up on the same day, Groundhog Day, repeating the same routine while struggling with a situation. He starts to predict what is going to happen each day, he learns a little bit more, and gets closer to solving the problem. By the end he understands what he needs to do Readers are taken through a similar experience. Each section starts with a launch exploration based on the common threads of the same routine: when given a situation, they identify the variables, make tables, draw graphs, search for patterns, and write equations.