crimsontide Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 Hello, I've been reading the board for a while,even though this is my first post. I am going to back to school to get a math degree. It's been a while though, so I want to go through the HS math sequence again. I've narrowed down the algebra/precalc choices to Foerster and Lial.. I can't seem to find samples of the Foerster text, but I've seen enough of Lial to know I really like it My only concern is the difficulty... I've read varying opinions on this.. I don't mind if Lial goes more slowly, or goes out of the way to make things understandable, as long as the text also has multi step problems on a par with Foerster. Does Lial prepare one as well as Foerster, and is it as rigourous/challenging? I've pretty much decided on the 2e of Jacobs for Geometry... To give an idea of the type of learner I am, I absolutely hated the 3e of this textbook, and am not a big fan of videotext. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jann in TX Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 A program such as ALEKS might suit your needs better. Review your Algebra skills through there Higher Education series (developmental Math) They have a combo Beginning/Intermediate Algebra that works great for review... I'd suggest getting a copy of Lial's Intermediate Algebra as a 'reference' text if you need to review something in more detail. This type of program suits adults better than working through a high school text that was designed for 'first timers'. MUCH more effective and better use of time. Lial is a SOLID college- prep text. Foerster's Algebra 2 has 'more' word problems (it is word problem heavy) -but it does not offer strong instruction to back them up (so it is a good fit for strong math students who have the basics down and are ready to expand). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crimsontide Posted April 18, 2015 Author Share Posted April 18, 2015 Hello Jann, I was hoping you would see this and reply I won't be going through this for the first time, but it's been quite a while.. I like the Lial samples a lot. The Bittinger texts seem good too. I think you answered my concern though.. It seems the Lial texts are similar in depth, but the emphasis on showing problem solving techniques vs the lack of explanation in Foerster causes people to view the Foerster texts as perhaps more rigorous/difficult Thank you again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom22ns Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 The word problems in Foerster's are more difficult. I compared the two side by side and I was not able to learn from Foerster's but could from Lial's so that is where we went. It was primarily the instruction and the thoroughness of examples that made Lial's more appealing. The word problems in Foerster's were beyond the abilities of my non-mathy kids who did well with Lial's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crimsontide Posted April 18, 2015 Author Share Posted April 18, 2015 Momto2ns, Were the problems in Foerster still intractable for them after learning from Lial? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom22ns Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 Momto2ns, Were the problems in Foerster still intractable for them after learning from Lial? I never set them to the problems in Foerster's after learning from Lial's. I think some would have been. Foerster really likes long, complex, multi-step problems. My ds has LDs that make that kind of reasoning a challenge. He could do any step, but he couldn't have reasoned what all the steps should be. My dd had extreme word problem phobia (from public school) until she went through 2 years of Lials. Now she does well with them, but I still wouldn't put Foerster's in front of her. I think it could damage the thin veil of confidence she has built. While taking Algebra 2 she tested into College Algebra at the CC, so that is our plan for next year, College Algebra one semester, Trig the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crimsontide Posted April 18, 2015 Author Share Posted April 18, 2015 Ty mom2ns If anyone here an an example or 2 of these Foerster problems, it would be greatly appreciated At the same time, everyone says Lial has better instruction. I might just get Lial, as I've seen the samples. It's very uncluttered ,and gets to the point Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad S Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 Here's a link to a sample chapter of Foerster's Precalculus. Although it's from the 3rd edition, I have the 2nd edition, and the first three sections are virtually identical, except the chapter numbering. This should give you an idea of whether this type of instruction and problems would work for you. Here's a recent discussion of precalculus rigor. Since the OP said you're going "back to school to get a math degree," rigor may be important. If it's to be a high school math teacher, both Lial and Foerster would both seem plenty good. If you want to be a professional mathematician, Foerster would seem adequate, and possibly preferable to Lial, if you'll understand the presentation and it suits you. Having worked in math for many years myself, IMO Foerster would provide a nice background for applied math, sciences, or application in other fields. If you wanted a good background for pure math, or mathematical problem solving, Art of Problem Solving's Intermediate Algebra or Precalculus would be a step up. A lot depends upon your individual situation. Additional thought: If you feel you have the basics of precalculus, but feel like you need a brush up, you could skip precalculus and go to calculus on a slower time frame and using Just-in-Time Algebra and Trigonometry for Early Transcendentals Calculus with your calculus course, which might make sense if you're planning a non-teaching use of the math degree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crimsontide Posted April 19, 2015 Author Share Posted April 19, 2015 Ty brad, I have very mixed feelings about the sample foerster chapter I just read IThe beginning of chapter 6 started out iffy, but then I really liked the end of the first section,and was going to post that Foerster seems like a great fit for my situation It's much different than I expected.. It seems almost like discovery math.. The section on radians was very tedious for me.. I already knew the answers, but not sure how much i'd like going through a whole text designed this way.. He takes pages to describe something I would understand better if he simply stated that a radian is the ratio of arc length to radius.. I easily deduce by this statement all the rest....such as how the angle of 1 radian always corresponds to the arc length of the radius, and that are 2 pi radians in a circle Some of the questions also threw me for a loop... this is actually a question "“Mark Twain†is a pen name used by Samuel Clemens. What is the origin of that pen name? Give the source of your information. " Maybe I just need to go over more of it.. His algebra texts are similar to this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crimsontide Posted April 19, 2015 Author Share Posted April 19, 2015 The more I look at this chapter, I don't like it.. I like some of the problems though, but the presentation is very wordy I'll give another example and quote from it "Because the circumference of a circle is 2pir and because r for the unit circle is 1, the wrapped number line in Figure 6-4a divides the circle into 2pi units(a little more than six parts). So there are 2pi radians in a complete revolution. There are also 360° in a complete revolution. This is technically true, but convoluted.. It also makes it seem that this is only for the unit circle with radius 1..This whole picture of "wrapping up" a number line around a unit circle is just not my cup of tea.. He has just given the definition of a radian which is arc length/ radius... since the arc length of any circle is 2pir, just divide 2pir over r and you get 2 pi for the number of radians in any circle...... this is in general and applies to any circle of course. No need for pictures of number lines wrapping over a circle, etc... I guess I might not be the type of learner this book is aiming for... I'm really trying to like this book, and when the book starts teaching directly, it's very good...Some problems are also quite good, though hard to visualize because of the simple drawings in the text.. ​I might get lial and foerster. The foerster text gets so many good reviews, so I must be missing something. I'm going to continue to try to force myself to get used to the style of this text Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3andme Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 There have been many good reviews of Foerster's Algebra I book but the reviews have been more mixed for his higher level books. The main criticisms seem to be a disconnect between the instruction in the book and the difficulty of the problem sets as well as the explanations not being clear enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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