Intermediate Algebra

Worked examples with Strategy and Why explanation help students gain a deeper understanding of the algebraic concepts because they understand why a particular approach was taken. Detailed author notes throughout the worked example guide students along a step-by-step process. At the end of each worked example, a "Self Check" problem offers immediate practice and feedback on the students' understanding and "Now Try" links to similar problems in the Guided Practice section of the Study Sets.

Study Sets found in each section are designed for students to methodically build their knowledge of the section concepts, from basic recall to increasingly complex problem solving, through reading, writing, and thinking mathematically. Each Study Set includes the following exercises: Vocabulary, Concepts, Notation, Guided Practice, Try It Yourself, Applications, Writing, Review, and Challenge Problems. All the Vocabulary problems, a wide selection of Try It Yourself and Guided Practice problems, and at least one Challenge Problem per section are available on Enhanced WebAssign.

Reading the Language of Algebra. Students often have difficulty reading the mathematical notation of algebra. To provide students assistance, notes, such as "Read as ..." statements, appear throughout the text to explain how to read newly introduced notation.

The Language of Algebra boxes draw connections between mathematical terms and everyday references to reinforce the language of algebra thread that runs throughout the text.

Cumulative Reviews follow the end-of-chapter material and test students' skills before moving on to the next chapter. Each problem is linked to the associated section for easy reference.

Using Your Calculator is an optional feature designed for instructors who wish to use calculators as part of the instruction in this course. This feature introduces keystrokes and shows how scientific and graphing calculators can be used to solve problems.

Valuable Teaching Tools. Teaching Tips have been placed at strategic places in the margins to offer instructional suggestions that can be employed during classroom presentations. In addition, each worked example has an accompanying Teaching Example that instructors can use as part of a classroom lecture.

DIGITAL CONTENT UPDATE 2020: Instructors and students benefit from WebAssign content updates without having to transition to a new edition, including new problem types such as Concept Checks, Learn Its, College Success Modules, an increased number of problems and more.

New! "Are You Ready?" problems start each section to review crucial prerequisite skills that students need to have mastered in order to be successful with the new topics of that section. "Are You Ready?" questions also are available in Enhanced WebAssign providing you with the opportunity to assign short quizzes to test your students' knowledge before class.

New! "Look Alikes" feature builds students' problem recognition skills. This feature requires students to distinguish between similar looking problem types and then select the correct strategy to solve the problem. Encountering such situations in the homework assignments will better prepare students for quizzes and tests. A broad selection of "Look Alikes" problems are available in Enhanced WebAssign for you to assign.

Over 80% more "Try It Yourself" problems were added to the Fifth Edition based on instructors and reviewers requests for additional problem recognition practice. These problem types are thoroughly mixed, giving students an opportunity to practice decision making and strategy selection as they would when taking a test or quiz. Easily assign a variety of "Try It Yourself" problems through Enhanced WebAssign to offer your students strategy selection practice.

Six-Step Problem Solving Strategy. To better delineate the thought process students use as they solve application problems, the new edition includes a new second step (Assign a variable to represent an unknown value in the problem) in what was formerly a five-step process. The six steps of the problem solving strategy are: Analyze the problem, Assign a variable, Form an equation, Solve the equation, State the conclusion, and Check the result.

New to this edition, from the comprehensive Study Sets in each section all the Vocabulary problems, a wide selection of Try It Yourself and Guided Practice problems, and at least one Challenge Problem per section are available on Enhanced WebAssign.