Preface  (Page 3/5)

Development overview

Openstax Precalculus is the product of a collaborative effort by a group of dedicated authors, editors, and instructors whose collective passion for this project has resulted in a text that is remarkably unified in purpose and voice. Special thanks is due to our Lead Author, Jay Abramson of Arizona State University, who provided the overall vision for the book and oversaw the development of each and every chapter, drawing up the initial blueprint, reading numerous drafts, and assimilating field reviews into actionable revision plans for our authors and editors.

The first eight chapters are a derivative work, built on the foundation of Precalculus: An Investigation of Functions , by David Lippman and Melonie Rasmussen. Chapters 9-12 were written and developed from by our expert and highly experienced author team . All twelve chapters follow a new and innovative instructional design, and great care has been taken to maintain a consistent voice from cover to cover. New features have been introduced to flesh out the instruction, all of the graphics have been re-done in a more contemporary style, and much of the content has been revised, replaced, or supplemented to bring the text more in line with mainstream approaches to teaching Precalculus.

Accuracy of the content

We have taken great pains to ensure the validity and accuracy of this text. Each chapter’s manuscript underwent at least two rounds of review and revision by a panel of active Precalculus instructors. Then, prior to publication, a separate team of experts checked all text, examples, and graphics for mathematical accuracy; multiple reviewers were assigned to each chapter to minimize the chances of any error escaping notice. A third team of experts was responsible for the accuracy of the Answer Key, dutifully re-working every solution to eradicate any lingering errors. Finally, the editorial team conducted a multi-round post-production review to ensure the integrity of the content in its final form. The Solutions Manual, which was written and developed after the Student Edition, has also been rigorously checked for accuracy following a process similar to that described above. Incidentally, the act of writing out solutions step-by-step served as yet another round of validation for the Answer Key in the back of the Student Edition.

In spite of the efforts described above, we acknowledge the possibility that—as with any textbook—some errata have slipped past the guards. We encourage users to report errors via our Errata page.

Pedagogical foundations and features

Learning objectives

Each chapter is divided into multiple sections (or modules), each of which is organized around a set of learning objectives. The learning objectives are listed explicitly at the beginning of each section, and are the focal point of every instructional element

Narrative text

Narrative text is used to introduce key concepts, terms, and definitions, to provide real-world context, and to provide transitions between topics and examples. Throughout this book, we rely on a few basic conventions to highlight the most important ideas:

• Key terms are boldfaced, typically when first introduced and/or when formally defined
• Key concepts and definitions are called out in a blue box for easy reference.
• Key equations, formulas, theorems, identities, etc. are assigned a number, which appears near the right margin. Occasionally the text may refer back to an equation or formula by its number.