Elementary 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.