What we do

Math 90 is a credit/no-credit course designed for students who may have been away from school for several years or who need a math refresher course to prepare them for more advanced subjects such as Math 103 or Math 110. In this course we review numeric and algebraic operations such as manipulating fractions, factoring polynomials, working with exponents, graphing and solving various types of equations. The course requires five hours of class time and one hour of computer lab each week.

What we are doing Aug 26 through Aug 29

We will spend some time this first week getting to know each other, that is, who you are, what your educational and career goals are, what you think about school and, especially, what you think about algebra. We will touch briefly on the history of algebra, why it is so important in our modern world and what it will do for you. Also during this first week we will talk about algebraic expressions, the rules of algebra, fractions and various types of numbers.

One of the most important items to be covered will be the evaluation of algebraic expressions. The variables in an expression will be assigned specific values and we will then compute the value of the given expression. This skill is SO important because it is used in graphing problems; it is used to check answers and it is used to solve various types of equations.

Our first lab is Monday, Fri at 8:30AM in room L103 (the old N building). I would like to see everybody have their MathXL access code. If you purchase your text at the campus bookstore the code will be provided otherwise it costs about $40. MathXL is a vital part of the course and it is a requirement. We will be logging on to the MathXL website which requires user names, passwords, zip codes, college identification and so forth so if you have your access codeI can give you personal help with any problems you may have.

Tests and Quizzes 8/26/08-8/29/08

None this week.