Kim in Appalachia Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 :tongue_smilie: My dd is 16 and taking 2 classes at a local University. It is a private school that allows high school students take 2 classes a semester. My dd is taking College Algebra (which is like Algebra 2) and World History. The Algebra text is specially made for the school. It's by Pearson's (Lials) which is the text we used for Algebra as well. The text for her class has the review chapter, chapter 1-3, and 8.1 (that's one lesson from chapter 8). There rest is missing. They are only covering about a third of the text! Is that normal? Here I make my kids do the whole thing! What was I thinking? I could do only 1/3 and it would be enough?! Thankfully my dd wants to major in music and education and a solid math background is not required. I find it hard to believe how little will be taught. At least my dd will be taking pre-calc at the same school with the same professor, so she won't be behind on what they expect her to have learned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cheryl in SoCal Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 Is there a chance they will be using the remainder of the book for a different class? I know that AOPS uses half their Intro to Algebra book for Algebra 1 and half for Algebra 2 and wonder if maybe the college is doing something similar? If not, I would find that unacceptable. I haven't seen Lial's but can't imagine that 1/3 of any math book would constitute the entire course, especially the beginning 1/3 of the book. Sorry to not be any help! I'm interested in hearing what people who have used that text say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim in Appalachia Posted August 12, 2010 Author Share Posted August 12, 2010 supposed to be Algebra II. This class is the pre-req for Pre-Cal. I suppose Pre-Calc could be the rest of the book. I hadn't thought of that. Maybe that is what it will turn out to be. I hope so. Maybe someone with some experience with college math can answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jann in TX Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 The first few chapters in Lial's College Algebra text are a QUICK review of Intermediate Algebra (what Lial's calls Algebra 2)... Your daughter is enrolled in a 'streamlined' course... meaning that the whole high school year of Algebra 2 will be crammed into one semester... this class was meant as more of a REFRESHER... it is possible for high school students to do--but it will be a tough course! I seriously suggest that you purchase an Intermediate Algebra text--in case your daughter needs to see the material/lesson broken down into smaller increments. Expect homework time to be DOUBLE also. What a NORMAL Algebra 2 (Intermediate Algebra) covers in one whole chapter will be covered in 1-2 SECTIONS (meaning it instruction will be abbreviated) in the college text. A better name for this course would be Algebra for College Students... It is NOT a full "College Algebra" text or course... the NEXT course your daughter should take after this one would be Pre-Calc. The first semester of Pre-Calc is COLLEGE ALGEBRA (the rest of the text your dd is now using). Homeschoolers enrolled in a CC should make sure that Pre-Calc is spread over 2 semesters unless their student is HIGHLY GIFTED. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 supposed to be Algebra II. This class is the pre-req for Pre-Cal. I suppose Pre-Calc could be the rest of the book. I hadn't thought of that. Maybe that is what it will turn out to be. I hope so. Maybe someone with some experience with college math can answer. I thought I'd heard Jann in TX say that College Algebra is like Algebra III and constitutes part of Pre-Cal. So maybe their College Alg plus the Pre-Cal course together are Pre-Cal and they get through more of the book? Still seems odd to me, though - that's a very little bit of the book! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cheryl in SoCal Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 The first few chapters in Lial's College Algebra text are a QUICK review of Intermediate Algebra (what Lial's calls Algebra 2)... Your daughter is enrolled in a 'streamlined' course... meaning that the whole high school year of Algebra 2 will be crammed into one semester... this class was meant as more of a REFRESHER... it is possible for high school students to do--but it will be a tough course! I seriously suggest that you purchase an Intermediate Algebra text--in case your daughter needs to see the material/lesson broken down into smaller increments. Expect homework time to be DOUBLE also. What a NORMAL Algebra 2 (Intermediate Algebra) covers in one whole chapter will be covered in 1-2 SECTIONS (meaning it instruction will be abbreviated) in the college text. A better name for this course would be Algebra for College Students... It is NOT a full "College Algebra" text or course... the NEXT course your daughter should take after this one would be Pre-Calc. The first semester of Pre-Calc is COLLEGE ALGEBRA (the rest of the text your dd is now using). Homeschoolers enrolled in a CC should make sure that Pre-Calc is spread over 2 semesters unless their student is HIGHLY GIFTED. That's very interesting Jann! Why wouldn't they just have the student purchase the entire text and using parts of it instead of altering it like that? Do they do that so it will be cheaper for students who won't be going on to Pre-Calculus or do they do that so they can make the student purchase 2 books if they do go on to Pre-Calculus:lol: What text would be used for the second semester of Pre-Calc? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jann in TX Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 The second semester of Pre-Calc is Trigonometry. Lial offers College Algebra and Trigonometry as 2 separate texts. When combined, the new course can be called either 1. Pre-Calculus 2. College Algebra with Trigonometry These are the exact SAME texts... just different covers... in fact they share the same solutions manual. Many CCs and Universities offer Pre-Calc as either a one semester OR two semester course. The one-semester course is for students who took Pre-Calc in high school, but desire a refresher (or for highly gifted students). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim in Appalachia Posted August 12, 2010 Author Share Posted August 12, 2010 The first few chapters in Lial's College Algebra text are a QUICK review of Intermediate Algebra (what Lial's calls Algebra 2)... Your daughter is enrolled in a 'streamlined' course... meaning that the whole high school year of Algebra 2 will be crammed into one semester... this class was meant as more of a REFRESHER... it is possible for high school students to do--but it will be a tough course! I seriously suggest that you purchase an Intermediate Algebra text--in case your daughter needs to see the material/lesson broken down into smaller increments. Expect homework time to be DOUBLE also. What a NORMAL Algebra 2 (Intermediate Algebra) covers in one whole chapter will be covered in 1-2 SECTIONS (meaning it instruction will be abbreviated) in the college text. A better name for this course would be Algebra for College Students... It is NOT a full "College Algebra" text or course... the NEXT course your daughter should take after this one would be Pre-Calc. The first semester of Pre-Calc is COLLEGE ALGEBRA (the rest of the text your dd is now using). Homeschoolers enrolled in a CC should make sure that Pre-Calc is spread over 2 semesters unless their student is HIGHLY GIFTED. Thanks Jann! I like the idea of buying the full text. I think I'll search for it online. My dd does ok with math. I plan on helping her a lot. I told her we will do the problems until we know they are right, then do them again. The teacher she has is known to be great at giving students extra help if they need it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jann in TX Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 ISBN for Lial's Intermediate Algebra 8th edition: 0321279204 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cheryl in SoCal Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 The second semester of Pre-Calc is Trigonometry. Lial offers College Algebra and Trigonometry as 2 separate texts. When combined, the new course can be called either 1. Pre-Calculus 2. College Algebra with Trigonometry These are the exact SAME texts... just different covers... in fact they share the same solutions manual. Many CCs and Universities offer Pre-Calc as either a one semester OR two semester course. The one-semester course is for students who took Pre-Calc in high school, but desire a refresher (or for highly gifted students). Sorry I was unclear. What I meant was, why would they separate the Algebra text into 2 different incomplete texts for the 2 classes instead of having the students buy the complete text. I was also asking if Lial's had a separate Trig text if the first semester of PreCalc is using the Algebra text. Thanks:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 What I meant was, why would they separate the Algebra text into 2 different incomplete texts for the 2 classes instead of having the students buy the complete text. Many students only take the first course. It is thought that it is wasteful for them to purchase the entire textbook when not all of it is taught. Textbook companies are quite enthusiastic about custom editions for various colleges and often offer a substantial discount because it cuts down the used book market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cheryl in SoCal Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 Many students only take the first course. It is thought that it is wasteful for them to purchase the entire textbook when not all of it is taught. Textbook companies are quite enthusiastic about custom editions for various colleges and often offer a substantial discount because it cuts down the used book market. Interesting, thank you! I'd think it would make sense to offer students will will be continuing on to Pre-Calc the entire text. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 I don't recall EVER covering an entire book, from beginning to end, in any subject I ever had in school - and certainly not in college. A third of the book was common for elementary and high school; college was often less than that. It makes it hard to stomach when the books cost so very much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 :tongue_smilie: They are only covering about a third of the text! Is that normal? Here I make my kids do the whole thing! What was I thinking? I could do only 1/3 and it would be enough?! Yup! I received the same shock when one of my children took "College Algebra" and only did the easiest parts of the exact same Aufmann Intermediate Algebra text we had finished a year before. I think this is typical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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