dovrar Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 I recently purchased a copy of Foerster Precalc with Trig and am disappointed with the number of problems that are plug and chug with a calculator. Can anyone tell me of a text that has good real world problems and teaches precalc without so much reliance on using a calculator? Thanks, Debbie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie of KY Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 I have the same issue with Forester. AoPS Precalculus doesn't use a calculator - not sure if you want to jump into AoPS here, but it's possible. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Epicurean Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 My DH is a math professor and the class he's taught the most is precal. He's actually required by state wide standards to incorporate calculators extensively, so just be aware that insofar as preparing for college, it's extremely common thrse days. He does resent that they're so heavily used, because it's hard to ensure that students actually understand the concept of what's happening instead of just memorizing a sequence of buttons. So he applauds anyone who tries to teach precal with that in mind. The only text either of us have seen that deliberately goes that route is AOPS, as mentioned. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 (edited) AoPS. If the student feels the need to use the calculator, she knows she must be doing something wrong ;) Edited August 18, 2016 by regentrude 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JanetC Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 Would this work? UW Math 120 is story problems, not plug and chug. It requires a scientific, not graphing calculator. It's listed in the high school math thread above. The trig is a bit light, imho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 Derek Owens does not require a calculator (except for trig). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 (edited) Double post. Edited August 18, 2016 by EKS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PinkyandtheBrains. Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 We use AoPS, no calculator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike in SA Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 If you can, complete Foerster's and follow up with AOPS. That will be the strongest course of action. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkT Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 (edited) I recently purchased a copy of Foerster Precalc with Trig and am disappointed with the number of problems that are plug and chug with a calculator. Can anyone tell me of a text that has good real world problems and teaches precalc without so much reliance on using a calculator? The real world involves lots of calculations with messy coeffs etc - maybe what you are looking for is future Math major problems. The Foerster Precalc problems require thought and setup - yes some of the easier ones are plug and chug. If you think Foerster uses a lot of calculator problems then avoid Demana. You only need a graphing calculator for a few problems. ================================ added: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/542418-homeschool-high-school-math/page-2?do=findComment&comment=7159053 link to sample judge for yourself Edited August 18, 2016 by MarkT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paige Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 Are the problems workable without a calculator? I don't use calculators until Algebra, and even then, it's almost never. I have simply had my kids do the problems that say "use a calculator" without it. Most of the time the calculator is not really needed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 My high school PreCalc class required a graphing calculator. I hated it. I was the only one in the class that didn't buy the calculator -- and went without a graphing one other than occasional borrowing of others' calculators to check a few problems during my college engineering days. I'd rather my kid have understanding than be able to plug-and-chug in terms of higher level math, but we aren't AOPS people. I didn't know this about Foerster Pre-Calc. I'll have to take a look at it - but I have another year, at least, before I have to decide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkT Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 Sullivan (Derek Owens course is derived from 4th edition). Maybe purchase the DO workbooks. We used the Sullivan Fifth edition along with Forester and the Brown text. Newer editions of Sullivan seem to use more graphing calculator stuff. Brown is from 2001. The older the Precalc text the less likely it will be graphing calculator based. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 We used the Blitzer pre-calc and did it all without a graphing calculator. Here is the link to the 4th edition, which I really like. https://www.amazon.com/Precalculus-4th-Robert-F-Blitzer/dp/0321559843/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1471556840&sr=1-1&keywords=blitzer+precalculus+4th+edition DD had to break out the graphing calculator several times last year for Calc AB, but we would do the problem setup on paper first. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dovrar Posted August 19, 2016 Author Share Posted August 19, 2016 We used the Blitzer pre-calc and did it all without a graphing calculator. Here is the link to the 4th edition, which I really like. https://www.amazon.com/Precalculus-4th-Robert-F-Blitzer/dp/0321559843/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1471556840&sr=1-1&keywords=blitzer+precalculus+4th+edition DD had to break out the graphing calculator several times last year for Calc AB, but we would do the problem setup on paper first. I've not seen the Blitzer pre-calc text mentioned on the boards before. Thanks for this. I'll look into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dovrar Posted August 19, 2016 Author Share Posted August 19, 2016 Did you use the media portion of it, or just the book? The reason that I ask is because from reviews on Amazon it seems as though the content in the 2nd-4th edition texts are pretty much the same, but the media portion for the older copies may be obsolete. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dovrar Posted August 19, 2016 Author Share Posted August 19, 2016 Does anyone know how much of a difference there is between the regular pre-calc and the essentials versions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkT Posted August 19, 2016 Share Posted August 19, 2016 I've not seen the Blitzer pre-calc text mentioned on the boards before. Thanks for this. I'll look into it. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/546309-rigorous-precalculus/ look for kiana comment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkT Posted August 19, 2016 Share Posted August 19, 2016 (edited) How about Stitz/Zeager? http://www.stitz-zeager.com/ https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL953A3729B0E03AAA Open source college text that's been around for awhile. Used by VCU for example http://wp.vcu.edu/precalculus/the-book/ ==================== another open source text: https://openstax.org/details/precalculus Edited August 19, 2016 by MarkT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dovrar Posted August 19, 2016 Author Share Posted August 19, 2016 We used the Blitzer pre-calc and did it all without a graphing calculator. Here is the link to the 4th edition, which I really like. https://www.amazon.com/Precalculus-4th-Robert-F-Blitzer/dp/0321559843/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1471556840&sr=1-1&keywords=blitzer+precalculus+4th+edition DD had to break out the graphing calculator several times last year for Calc AB, but we would do the problem setup on paper first. AK_Mom4 , DD really likes the look of this. Did you purchase a solutions manual to go along with this or are there answers to odds and the review Qs in the back of the book? If you did buy one was it the student's or instructor's solution's manual? Also, it seems that there are "custom" books for different colleges, do you know if that's just a matter of the cover art being changed? Sorry for all of the questions, we're 2 weeks into school and I really want to get a text that works for her. Thanks for the help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.