Intermediate Algebra with P.O.W.E.R. Learning

Sherri Messersmith’s successful hardcover franchise is expanded with the new softcover P.O.W.E.R. series. The conversational writing style, practical applications, innovative student resources and student friendly walk through of examples that users of the hard cover books noted and appreciated are also found in the pages of the P.O.W.E.R. series. The P.O.W.E.R. Framework What makes P.O.W.E.R. a unique tool for the classroom? A major challenge in developmental courses is that students at this level struggle with basic study skills and habits. Maybe this is one of their first college courses or perhaps they are adults returning to school after a long absence. Either way, many of the individuals taking this course don’t know how to be good students. Instructors often don’t have the time, the resources or the expertise to teach success skills AND the math concepts. The new team of Messersmith, Perez and Feldman offer a scientifically based approach to meet this challenge. The P.O.W.E.R. Learning Framework was developed by successful author, psychologist, student success instructor and researcher, Bob Feldman. It is a method of accomplishing any task using five simple and consistent steps. Prepare. Organize. Work. Evaluate. Rethink. This framework is integrated at every level of the text to help students successfully learn math concepts while at the same time developing habits that will serve them well throughout their college careers and in their daily lives. The Math Mastering Concepts--With the textbook and Connect Math hosted by ALEKS, students can practice and master their understanding of algebraic concepts.Messersmith is rigorous enough to prepare students for the next level yet easy to read and understand. The exposition is written as if a professor is teaching in a lecture to be more accessible to students. The language is mathematically sound yet easy enough for students to understand.

Table of Contents:
Intermediate Algebra with P.O.W.E.R. Learning, First Edition Chapter 1: Real Numbers Section 1.1Set of Numbers Section 1.2Operations on Real Numbers Section 1.3Order of Operations Section 1.4Algebraic Expressions and Properties of Real Numbers Chapter Summary Chapter Review Chapter Test Chapter 2: Linear Equations in One Variable Section 2.1Linear Equations in One Variable Section 2.2Formulas and Percent Section 2.3Applications of Linear Equations Section 2.4Applications Involving Percents Section 2.5More Applications of Linear Equations Chapter Summary Chapter Review Chapter Test Cumulative Review for Chapters 1 and 2 Chapter 3: Linear Inequalities and Absolute Value Section 3.1Linear Inequalities in One Variable Section 3.2Compound Inequalities in One Variable Section 3.3Absolute Value Equations and Inequalities Chapter Summary Chapter Review Chapter Test Cumulative Review for Chapters 1 – 3 Chapter 4: Linear Equations in Two Variables Section 4.1Introduction to Linear Equations in Two Variables Section 4.2Slope of a Line and Slope-Intercept Form Section 4.3Writing an Equation of a Line Section 4.4Linear and Compound Linear Inequalities in Two Variables Section 4.5Introduction to Functions Chapter Summary Chapter Review Chapter Test Cumulative Review for Chapters 1 – 4 Chapter 5: Solving Systems of Linear Equations Section 5.1Solving Systems of Linear Equations in Two Variables Section 5.2Solving Systems of Linear Equations in Three Variables Section 5.3Application of Systems of Linear Equations Section 5.4Solving Systems of Linear Equations Using Matrices Chapter Summary Chapter Review Chapter Test Cumulative Review for Chapters 1 – 5 Chapter 6: Polynomials and Polynomial Functions Section 6.1The Rules of Exponents Section 6.2More on Exponents and Scientific Notation Section 6.3Addition and Subtraction of Polynomials and Polynomial Functions Section 6.4Multiplication of Polynomials and Polynomial Functions Section 6.5Division of Polynomialsand Polynomial Functions Chapter Summary Chapter Review Chapter Test Cumulative Review for Chapters 1 – 6 Chapter 7: Factoring Polynomials Section 7.1The Greatest Common Factor and Factoring by Grouping Section 7.2Factoring Trinomials Section 7.3Special Factoring Techniques Putting It All Together Section 7.4Solving Quadratic Equations by Factoring and Applications Chapter Summary Chapter Review Chapter Test Cumulative Review for Chapters 1 – 7 Chapter 8: Rational Expressions, Equations, and Functions Section 8.1Simplifying, Multiplying, and Dividing Rational Expressions and Functions Section 8.2Adding and Subtracting Rational Expressions Section 8.3Simplifying Complex Fractions Section 8.4Solving Rational Equations Putting It All Together Section 8.5Application of Rational Equations Section 8.6Variation Chapter Summary Chapter Review Chapter Test Cumulative Review for Chapters 1 – 8 Chapter 9: Radicals and Rational Exponents Section 9.1Radical Expressions and Functions Section 9.2Rational Exponents Section 9.3Simplifying Expressions Containing Square Roots Section 9.4Simplifying Expressions Containing Higher Roots Section 9.5Adding, Subtracting, and Multiplying Radicals Section 9.6Dividing Radicals Putting It All Together Section 9.7Solving Radical Equations Section 9.8Complex Numbers Chapter Summary Chapter Review Chapter Test Cumulative Review for Chapters 1 – 9 Chapter 10: Quadratic Equations and Functions Section 10.1The Square Root Property and Completing the Square Section 10.2The Quadratic Formula Putting It All Together Section 10.3Equations in Quadratic Form Section 10.4Formulas and Applications Section 10.5Quadratic Functions and their Graphs Section 10.6Application of Quadratic Functions and Graphing Other Parabolas Section 10.7Quadratic and Rational Inequalities Chapter Summary Chapter Review Chapter Test Cumulative Review for Chapters 1 – 10 Chapter 11: Exponential and Logarithmic Functions Section 11.1Inverse Functions Section 11.2Exponential Functions Section 11.3Logarithmic Functions Section 11.4Properties of Logarithms Section 11.5Common and Natural Logarithms and Change of Base Section 11.6Solving Exponential and Logarithmic Equations Chapter Summary Chapter Review Chapter Test Cumulative Review for Chapters 1 – 11 Chapter 12: Nonlinear Functions, Conic Sections, and Nonlinear Systems Section 12.1Graphs of Other Useful Functions Section 12.2The Circle Section 12.3The Ellipse Section 12.4The Hyperbola Putting It All Together Section 12.5Nonlinear Systems of Equations Sections 12.6Second-Degree Inequalities and System of Inequalities Chapter Summary Chapter Review Chapter Test Cumulative Review for Chapters 1 – 12 Appendix Section AReview of Fractions Section BGeometry Review Section C Synthetic Division and the Remainder Theorem Section DDeterminants and Cramer’s Rule

About the Author :
Sherri Messersmith has been teaching at College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, since 1994. She has over 25 years of experience teaching many different courses from developmental mathematics through calculus. She earned a bachelor of science degree in the teaching of mathematics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and went on to teach at the high level for two years. Sherri returned to UIUC and earned a master of science in applied mathematics and stayed on at the university to teach and coordinate large sections of undergraduate math courses. Sherri has authored several textbook, and she has also appeared in videos accompanying several McGraw-Hill texts. Sherri lives outside of Chicago with her husband, Phil, and their daughters, Alex and Cailen. In her precious free time, she likes to read, play the guitar, and travel -- the manuscripts for this and her previous books have accompanied her from Spain to Greece and many points in between. Bob Feldman still remembers those moments of being overwhelmed when he started college at Wesleyan University. “I wondered whether I was up to the challenges that faced me,” he recalls, “and—although I never would have admitted it at the time—I really had no idea what it took to be successful at college.” That experience, along with his encounters with many students during his own teaching career, led to a life-long interest in helping students navigate the critical transition that they face at the start of their own college careers. Professor Feldman, who went on to receive a doctorate in psychology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, is now Deputy Chancellor and Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He is founding director of POWER Up for Student Success, the first-year experience course for incoming students. Professor Feldman’s proudest professional accomplishment is winning the College Outstanding Teaching Award at UMass. He also has been named a Hewlett Teaching Fellow and was Senior Online Instruction Fellow. He has taught courses at Mount Holyoke College, Wesleyan University, and Virginia Commonwealth University. Professor Feldman is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is a winner of a Fulbright Senior Research Scholar and Lecturer award and has written over 200 scientific articles, book chapters, and books. His books, some of which have been translated into Spanish, French, Portuguese, Dutch, Japanese, and Chinese, include Improving the First Year of College: Research and Practice; Understanding Psychology, 12/e; and Development Across the Life Span, 7/e. His research interests encompass the study of honesty and truthfulness in everyday life, development of nonverbal behavior in children, and the social psychology of education. His research has been supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute on Disabilities and Rehabilitation Research. With the last of his three children completing college, Professor Feldman occupies his spare time with pretty decent cooking and earnest, but admittedly unpolished, piano playing. He also loves to travel. He lives with his wife, who is an educational psychologist, in a home overlooking the Holyoke mountain range in western Massachusetts.