» Functions Modeling Change: A Preparation for Calculus

Functions Modeling Change: A Preparation for Calculus Reviews

Customer Rating:
Summary: Good problems
Comment: Since students rarely take the time to read a math textbook, I think the most important feature is the quality of the problems at the end of each section. For most math textbooks, each section has a bunch of problems that are very repetitive and do not focus enough on conceptual understanding. Functions Modeling Change has a nice variety of problems that force students to think more deeply about the material.

Also, the book emphasizes the "Rule of Four," which I have adopted in my teaching now. Whenever we represent a function, we learn to do so in four ways: with words, with tables, with graphs, and with formulas. Students learn that when they are given one of the four representations, they need to be able to convert it to each of the other three. I feel this process creates a fuller understanding.

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: Don't buy this book!
Comment: I have to use this book for a college math class and I have completely given up trying to learn anything from it. It gives very brief explanations and examples and then asks questions that it has not addressed at all. Everyone in my math class HATES this book, we were even warned about the fact that most students don't like it by our teacher when the class began (now that's a bad sign). I also have a private math tutor who, while he does understand what the questions are asking (he has a masters degree in Physics), doesn't understand why the authors of this book ask their questions in such ridiculous and hard to understand ways. DON'T BUY THIS BOOK!!

---