Comprehensiveness rating: 4 This text is somewhat comprehensive in that it covers a number of main topics, subjects and ideas that are covered by most colleges/universities in a college algebra course. It includes a number of the topics that would be classified as extra or additional topics for a more enriched and challenging college algebra course. The index is detailed enough to allow a student to successfully find the location of a particular topic via the index.
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Accuracy rating: 4 The content is accurate and error-free and unbiased. Relevance/Longevity rating: 5 The information and content of the text is relevant and will remain so. Clarity rating: 3 The text does not present clear and easy to follow explanations and information for the concepts and ideas presented. Unnecessary comments and humor are found throughout. If a student is learning the material and not merely reviewing it, the student would need to resort to other sources in order to learn many of the ideas which are new and unfamiliar to the student. I find explanations lacking in fullness and completeness. Consistency rating: 3 The text is consistent in its presentation and approach and use of terminology, which throughout is somewhat outside of the normal way in which these ideas are usually presented.
The presentation is casual and unconventional. Modularity rating: 3 The text subdivides the topics into appropriate and helpful smaller reading sections. The text would be more helpful for students if some of the discussions for ideas and exercises, included more tables, illustrations, flowcharts, etc., to aid in the presentation and discussion of concepts and ideas. In some instances, large text-filled blocks could be broken into smaller parts with highlighted and boxed main ideas.
Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 3 I found the presentation of main ideas insufficient and too brief for the student to have the necessary information to understand and apply the material independent of reading and reviewal of the solutions to the exercises and even these were sometimes difficult to follow. Restructuring the presentation of the main ideas would better help students to follow the logic and introduction of new concepts and ideas. The lack of variety of color, text boxes and figures to highlight new and challenging ideas would make this text hard for most students to follow. The style is old-fashioned and very dull and does not emphasize common errors and misunderstandings. Interface rating: 4 The book was primarily free of any interface issues. I found it easy to navigate from one part of the book to another and the text was free of distortion of images and charts.
There were no display features that were distracting or confusing. Igor The Game - Procyon Seedboxes!!! Windows!!!!. Grammatical Errors rating: 3 Though I did not find grammatical errors to be an issue, the text was lacking in using formal mathematical terminology and descriptions in the presentation of various ideas and concepts. Cultural Relevance rating: 3 I did not see the usefulness or helpfulness of some of the humor and unnecessary comments made in the presentation of the material. I did not find anything culturally insensitive or offensive in the text.
Comments I would not elect to use this text for my College Algebra course. I think that my students would find it difficult to read and remain engaged in the presentation of ideas. I also felt that students would feel the need to have additional sources and explanations of the concepts presented. The text was more like a collection of notes and exercises with solutions rather than a complete and rigorous textbook. Reviewed by Nicholas Lytal, Graduate Associate, University of Arizona, on 1/8/2016.
Comprehensiveness rating: 4 The textbook covers a full range of subjects expected in most college algebra classes, including some topics--such as systems of equations and matrices--that delve into Linear Algebra. It is worth noting that while the text includes large numbers of exercises for students to solve, formal proofs are largely ignored, so the text is not suitable for a class with an emphasis on the latter. The text has several calculator-specific problems, complete with display printouts, for those who allow or encourage calculator usage in class.
Accuracy rating: 5 There did not appear to be any errors in the chapters I reviewed. Relevance/Longevity rating: 5 Since the material is foundational for many subsequent subjects, there is no danger of the mathematics losing relevance. Updates should be simple to perform. Clarity rating: 3 Some of the solutions provided for example problems are rather verbose and potentially confusing for students depending on their experience level. At times the casual tone of the explanations, problems, and footnotes can be distracting as well.