In North Carolina (and in many other states) Intermediate Alg is now not a
college level course and receives no credit towards a degree.. It is
considered developmental and in NC is a 5 hour course including a 2 hour lab (4
credit hours). The next course after this is either College Alb or
Pre-Calc. The NC common course description seems similar to yours and at
Coastal we are using "College Algebra: Concepts and Models by
Larson,Hostetler, Hodgkins.
I always enjoy Bret"s cogent comments but somehow deleted his message on
Technology but do have a short reply:
The problem with using technology is similar to the old problem of some
instructors "teaching to the test", limiting there lessons to only what
was useful and what would be tested on. At a recent meeting (The Dekalb
Math Conference and GMATYC meeting in Atlanta), Bert Wait (the guru of
technology) argues in his address "Are Mathematics Teachers Becoming
Obsolete?" that certain concepts are important but the tools are changing
and it is our job to monitor the use of technology. We need to model
correct use and continue the discussion as to what concepts and
applications are important.
While is forum is a great place for this discussion, I would like to
invite Bret and others to also join their colleagues in their states
professions Two-year College Mathematics organization (FTYCMA for Florida)
and come to Atlanta in November for the AMATYC Conference. There both
formal and informal discussions on these topics go on much longer and
face to face.
(yes this is an out and out plug for the conference but thats OK because
this list is an official AMATYC list)
I hope to see many of you in Atlanta,
Mike
On Wed, 10 Sep 1997, Judy E. Ackerman wrote:
> Brett
>
> Last year in Maryland Intermediate Algebra was defined to be the
> prerequisite to the lowest level college general education mathematics
> courses. Some community colleges in Maryland no longer give any credit
> for IA while others do. At my school IA is a credit course, but it does
> not meet the mathematics graduation requirement. We are comfortable with
> this since IA is not a high school graduation requirement in our county or
> state. We continue to select from the same general group of texts that we
> have looked at before the change and are currently using a Larson IA text.
> There are lots of texts out there. One problem is that not all IA texts
> cover material at the same depth so you need to carefully look for a match
> that fits your school's needs.
>
> Judy E. Ackerman
> Montgomery College
> Rockville, Maryland 20850
>
>
> On Wed, 10 Sep 1997, Bret Taylor wrote:
>
> > Several of you, not from Florida, said you were interested in possible
> > changes in the freshmen math curriculum in Florida. Right now, no final
> > changes have been made, but discussions are on going.
> >
> > I need your help.
> >
> > It appears that we are going to begin teaching an Intermediate Algebra
> > course next Fall. This course will be "college level" but "elective credit
> > only." It will be the first algebra course students take after completing
> > developmental mathematics. (Presently, students in Florida must pass two
> > math courses at the college level. This course, while giving the students
> > three hours credit toward graduation, will not count as one of those two
> > courses.) Does anybody have any suggestions for a text book? We need to
> > start looking for one as we develop this course.
> >
> > We will probably also begin teaching a "College Algebra" course as the
> > course after this Intermediate Algebra course. This college algebra course
> > will deal with introducing linear, polynomial, rational, exponential, and
> > logarithmic functions. We will explore these functions algebraically and
> > graphically. (For those of you who read my post on technology, this will be
> > the first course that graphing calculators will be used.) Anybody have any
> > suggestions for a text book for this course?
> >
> > Presently, we are teaching one Algebra course which is "between" the two
> > above courses. This course will be discontinued.
> >
> > Thanks for any suggestions you wish to give me about these two courses.
> > there are other changes that apparently will take place. When they are
> > finalized, I'll post a summary of what our (CC) math curriculum looks like.
> >
> >
> >
> > Bret Taylor Lake-Sumter Community College Leesburg FL
> >
> > "It matters not the subject taught, nor all the books on all the shelves.
> > What matters more, yes most of all, is what the teachers are themselves."
> > John Wooden
> >
> > John 3: 3^3 + 3
> >
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*******************************************************************
MICHAEL SCHACHTER
COASTAL CAROLINA CC
444 WESTERN BLVD
JACKSONVILLE, NC 28540
(910) 938-6168
michaels@ncccs.cc.nc.us
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