appendix

=Appendix D=

This "everything you should have learned in pre-calculus" appendix is the source of some valuable review materials, much of which are indicative of the types of problems and processes that appear in the book's later materials.

-- Version 1 of the notes for sections 1 and 2 of Appendix D -- Version 1 of the notes for section 3 of Appendix D
 * Materials:**


 * Thoughts on Implementation:**

//SFT (31, August, 2009)//
 * Day 3** -- After last time, I told my folks to work on D3 as homework (doing as many of the examples in the notes as possible) and come with questions. That seemed to work, if mostly for the 2/3-3/4 of the class that actually did the homework. They worked for a bit in groups, then we worked on a few particular problems from that section that seemed to vex them (angular speed, solving for theta in trig-based algebra problem, using the unit circle to find trig values). Many of them still need practice and I strongly urged them to do more of the examples and work on the D3 homework.

I think you're right about not needing to review everything... I really feel like the current text is not "stair-stepping or scaffolding" the review materials. They feel a bit like someone just kind of scrambled topics and threw them out there. For students where it's been a few months or years since precalc, I'd really like a consistent approach. What's more, the **JIT** book kind of lets you skip out on some things until they're needed for particular texts. I ordered a couple (one for me to have at the office and one for Kristi). They were literally $1.90 plus $3.99 shipping, so I figured that was fine for getting a couple floating out there. - AJT

After Day 2 of class, I "assigned" the D.3 notes to everyone, to complete them (or as much of them as they can) before our next class meeting. My thinking is that it will go much faster to have them start by comparing and looking over each others' attempts, and then we can focus on the specific content that seems universally troubling.

I agree that the **"Just in Time Algebra and Trigonometry for Calculus"** would provide a different approach, provided you remain consistent. The urge to "review" everything to start is quite strong (and rather logical, from a "banking model" of learning, in which the teacher "deposits" information into students for future use), but I think the Just-In-Time approach is more attuned to a pragmatic, review-when-needed conception. Worth considering, to be sure... - SFT

I spent a 2-hour class going over D.3 notes. Then I assigned D.1, D.2, and D.3's homework. I think using the **"Just in Time Algebra and Trigonometry for Calculus"** would really be a better system than all of D and chapter 1. These sections hop around a bit and I'm not fond of the continuity (or lack there-of) in both of them. They don't feed well into each other and they don't feed well into chapter 1. - Alana