This week we will examine the concept of a function, a fundamental concept underlying all of modern mathematics. You’re undoubtedly already familiar with functions in an intuitive sense: a function is something which, given
an input, produces an output. But you’ve probably never seen the formal definition of a function as it relates to set theory, which is what we’ll look at this week.

Algebra and Trigonometry provides a comprehensive exploration of algebraic principles and meets scope and sequence requirements for a typical introductory algebra and trigonometry course. The modular approach and the richness of content ensures that the book meets the needs of a variety of courses. Algebra and Trigonometry offers a wealth of examples with detailed, conceptual explanations, building a strong foundation in the material before asking students to apply what they’ve learned.

College Algebra is an introductory text for a college algebra survey course. The material is presented at a level intended to prepare students for Calculus while also giving them relevant mathematical skills that can be used in other classes. The authors describe their approach as "Functions First," believing introducing functions first will help students understand new concepts more completely. Each section includes homework exercises, and the answers to most computational questions are included in the text (discussion questions are open-ended).

The College Algebra course was developed through the Ohio Department of Higher Education OER Innovation Grant. This work was completed and the course was posted in September 2019. The course is part of the Ohio Transfer Module and is also named TMM001. For more information about credit transfer between Ohio colleges and universities, please visit: www.ohiohighered.org/transfer.Team LeadNicholas Shay                                     Central Ohio Technical College (now at Columbus State Community College)Content ContributorsRachida Aboughazi                            Ohio State UniversityEvelyn Kirschner                                Columbus State Community CollegeDavid Kish                                          Ohio Dominican UniversityLibrarianDaniel Dotson                                    Ohio State University                     Review TeamFauna Donahue                                University of Rio GrandeJared Stadden                                   Kent State University Geauga 

A syllabus for MTH 167: Precalculus with Trigonometry as taught by institutions within the Virginia Community College System.

College Algebra 2e provides a comprehensive exploration of algebraic principles and meets scope and sequence requirements for a typical introductory algebra course. The modular approach and richness of content ensure that the book addresses the needs of a variety of courses. College Algebra 2e offers a wealth of examples with detailed, conceptual explanations, building a strong foundation in the material before asking students to apply what they’ve learned.

The College Algebra 2e revision focused on improving relevance and representation as well as mathematical clarity and accuracy. Introductory narratives, examples, and problems were reviewed and revised using a diversity, equity, and inclusion framework. Many contexts, scenarios, and images have been changed to become even more relevant to students’ lives and interests. To maintain our commitment to accuracy and precision, examples, exercises, and solutions were reviewed by multiple faculty experts. All improvement suggestions and errata updates from the first edition were considered and unified across the different formats of the text.

Precalculus is adaptable and designed to fit the needs of a variety of precalculus courses. It is a comprehensive text that covers more ground than a typical one- or two-semester college-level precalculus course. The content is organized by clearly-defined learning objectives, and includes worked examples that demonstrate problem-solving approaches in an accessible way.

From the preface, "These are notes for a course in precalculus, as it is taught at New York City College of Technology - CUNY (where it is offered under the course number MAT 1375). Our approach is calculator based. For this, we will use the currently standard TI-84 calculator, and in particular, many of the examples will be explained and solved with it. However, we want to point out that there are also many other calculators that are suitable for the purpose of this course and many of these alternatives have similar functionalities as the calculator that we have chosen to use. An introduction to the TI-84 calculator together with the most common applications needed for this course is provided in appendix A. In the future we may expand on this by providing introductions to other calculators or computer algebra systems."

A casual glance through the Table of Contents of most of the major publishers' College Algebra books reveals nearly isomorphic content in both order and depth. Our Table of Contents shows a different approach, one that might be labeled “Functions First.” To truly use The Rule of Four, that is, in order to discuss each new concept algebraically, graphically, numerically and verbally, it seems completely obvious to us that one would need to introduce functions first. (Take a moment and compare our ordering to the classic “equations first, then the Cartesian Plane and THEN functions” approach seen in most of the major players.) We then introduce a class of functions and discuss the equations, inequalities (with a heavy emphasis on sign diagrams) and applications which involve functions in that class.

The material is presented at a level that definitely prepares a student for Calculus while giving them relevant Mathematics which can be used in other classes as well. Graphing calculators are used sparingly and only as a tool to enhance the Mathematics, not to replace it. The answers to nearly all of the computational homework exercises are given in thetext and we have gone to great lengths to write some very thought provoking discussion questions whose answers are not given. One will notice that our exercise sets are much shorter than the traditional sets of nearly 100 “drill and kill” questions which build skill devoid of understanding. Our experience has been that students can do about 15-20 homework exercises a night so we very carefully chose smaller sets of questions which cover all of the necessary skills and get the students thinking more deeply about the Mathematics involved.

Precalculus: An Investigation of Functions is a free, open textbook covering a two-quarter pre-calculus sequence including trigonometry. The first portion of the book is an investigation of functions, exploring the graphical behavior of, interpretation of, and solutions to problems involving linear, polynomial, rational, exponential, and logarithmic functions. An emphasis is placed on modeling and interpretation, as well as the important characteristics needed in calculus.

This course will cover families of trigonometric functions, their inverses, properties, graphs, and applications. Additionally we will study trigonometric equations and identities, the laws of sines and cosines, polar coordinates and graphs, parametric equations and elementary vector operations.Login: guest_oclPassword: ocl

This course will cover families of functions, their properties, graphs and applications. These functions include: polynomial, rational, exponential, logarithmic functions and combinations of these. We will solve related equations and inequalities and conduct data analysis, introductory mathematical modeling and develop competency with a graphing calculator.Login: guest_oclPassword: ocl

There are nine focus areas of this course - 1) Relations and Functions, 2) Polynomial and Rational Functions, 3) Exponential and Logarithmic Functions, 4) Systems of equations, 5) Trigonometric Functions, 6) Analytic Trigonometry, 7) Applications of Trigonometry, 8) Conics and 9) Sequences and Series.

Precalculus with Trigonometry (MTH 167) was produced by the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) as an online Open Educational Resources (OER) course in partnership with three Community Colleges: J. Sargeant Reynolds, Tidewater, and John Tyler.