Welcome back!
I hope everyone is settled into their Spring semester classes. I just wanted to take this time to point out the useful supplements that are included with your text book. Taking time to explore and utilize such supplements will be beneficial in understanding the material covered in the text. The following is a list of supplements included in some of the current texts being used this semester:
Math 101 and 102
Chapter Test Prep Video CD - This is a CD located at the back of the text. It provides step-by-step solutions to problems from the Chapter Practice Test section at the end of each chapter.
Math 111
InterAct Math Tutorial Web site @ www.interactmath.com - This website provides practice exercises which correlate with material covered in the textbook. Exercises are accompanied by interactive solutions.
Math 205
Reference Card - This is a removable card included with new text copies and located in the front of the book. The card contains important formulas, procedure tables and distribution charts.
Take advantage of these great tools!
Suzanne
Reading a Math text book
Here are my tips for reading and understanding a Math text book.
You must know what information is being covered and when you will be covering it.
I suggest staying at least one week ahead of the information being covered in class.
Make an overview scan of the chapter by reading the section headings to familiarize yourself with the information.
Pay special attention to the vocabulary words highlighted in bold. You may want to write the words and definitions in you notebook.
Try out the examples given in each section.
Try a few exercises at the end of the chapter/section to see if you understand the infomation before the section is covered. This way you will know what questions you need to ask in class.
If Power Point slides are available, I suggest reviewing and possibly printing them out to have accessible for class.
Gook Luck!
You should first make sure you have the correct calculator for the math course you are taking. I suggest asking your professor if the calculator you purchases or plan to purchase contains all of the keys necessary to perform all required functions. Once you have an appropriate scientific calculator you are ready to start calculating.
Remember to remain calm and don’t panic. There are a lot of buttons and functions! If you take things one step at a time, you will be fine. First, you should read over the instruction booklet which comes with the calculator. Yes, I said it! Read the instructions. Do not throw them out! They will come in handy at some point when you are trying to work through a complicated problem.
Now that you have the correct calculator and have read the instructions you are ready to calculate. Here are a few basics to get you started!
• Be careful to enter numbers and functions correctly
• Using the 2nd button takes you to the functions above a button
• Make sure you use (parenthesis) when completing problems with multiple functions
• is the square root function
• ex is used for exponential function
• x2 is used to square numbers
Good luck!