36 - Precalculus: Concepts in Context

Summary

Precalculus: Concepts in Context [1] was developed in response to calculus reform and to the authors' general dissatisfaction with results in traditional precalculus courses. Believing that traditional precalculus instruction failed to prepare students for reform calculus (and we would argue, for traditional calculus as well), Judy Moran, Mary Murphy and I set out to reform precalculus with the publication of a laboratory manual, Precalculus in Context: Functioning in the Real World [2]. The lab manual was designed to supplement a standard precalculus course by providing opportunities for students to work collaboratively on lengthy, context-based problems. However, we soon discovered that the supplement was more powerful than the course it was meant to serve. During labs, students were actively grappling with mathematical problems from real-world contexts and they were learning to think, speak, and write mathematics. Furthermore, by listening to their discussions, we learned much about what students really understood or failed to understand. As a result, our more global fix for precalculus, Precalculus: Concepts in Context, was a combined text and lab/project manual. The text portion was unusual in that it used a mathematical modeling approach and required students to interact with the text during reading (there are fill-ins within the text).

In writing the second edition, we have changed neither our original goals nor our strategies for achieving those goals. Our major goal has been to make the text more student and instructor friendly. Key points are summarized in the margins for easy reference.