Excerpts

Audience This book is intended for adult students who need an extensive review of arithmetic. It is designed to prepare a student for an introductory course in algebra and also to give that student a review of the basics of arithmetic and help them to apply those skills to real-life problems. Although our main intent was to create a text for college students who need remediation or review prior to a college algebra course, the book would also work well for students in a GED program, students in a technical or vocational school, or any adult education program participants who desire a thorough review of arithmetic skills. These skills are important to everyday life and are the crucial base skills for continuing mathematics education. Content This text is conceptually based, not stressing the memorization of a static list of rules, but instead emphasizing the importance of gaining a thorough understanding of principles involved. It is written in a format that is easy for students to follow and understand. Each chapter contains many step-by-step examples that stress students' understanding of the underlying principles. Self-check exercises, which are used liberally throughout the book, allow students to check their understanding of each important concept along the way. Important topics are reinforced throughout the text with notes and reminders. These features should foster retention of key ideas and understanding of the most important topics. Each section ends with a thorough list of exercises. These exercises afford students sufficient practice to solidify the skills they need. The end of each chapter contains an extensive review section that provides the student with a solid review of the major concepts within that chapter. It is an important distinguishing feature of this text, and requires the student to utilize all skills learned throughout the chapter--not just the specific skills contained within a given section. For example, the section at the end of chapter 1 ( Whole Numbers ) contains applications which require the student to perform addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, or virtually any combination of these. Too many textbooks only contain applications in each section that stress whatever specific topic is being covered. The mathematical skills that students learn are only worthwhile if they can identify the appropriate skill needed to solve a given problem. That is the way the real world works, so that is the way we designed our textbook. Ancillaries An Instructor's Manual (ISBN: 0-13-087335-7) is available to instructors free-of-charge. This ancillary includes answers to all Section and Chapter Reviews. A CD-ROM containing a Study Wizard is packaged with this book. The Study Wizard is interactive software that contains practice questions and vocabulary for each chapter. It provides hints so students can refer to the section of the text where the material was first presented. Acknowledgements Many thanks to the reviewers who all offered helpful suggestions on how to improve the book: Barbara Blasy, Ph.D., Walla Walla Community College; James A. Coan, Sr., Renton Technical College; Ky Davis, Muskingham Area Technical College; Penny Deggelman, Lane Community College; Gail Gucker, Rochester Institute of Technology; Marcia Kemen, Wentworth Institute of Technology; William Kirby, Gadsden State Community College; Jeff A. Koleno, Lorain County Community College; Jill McKenney, Lane Community College; Lisa Anne Sheppard, Lorain County Community College; Tim Woo, Durham Technical College; and Teresa Woodard, Southwest Virginia Community College. Excerpted from Fundamentals of Math with Career Applications by Roxane R. Barrows, Bruce D. Jones All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.