Preface  (Page 3/6)

The collective experience of our author team allowed us to pinpoint the subtopics, exceptions, and individual connections that give students the most trouble. And so the textbook is replete with well-designed features and highlights, which help students overcome these barriers. As the students read and practice, they are coached in methods of thinking through problems and internalizing mathematical processes.

For example, narrative text is often followed with the “How To” feature, which summarizes the presentation into a series of distinct steps. This approach addresses varying learning styles, and models for students an important learning skill for future studies. Furthermore, the extensive graphical representations immediately connect concepts with visuals.

Accuracy of the content

We understand that precision and accuracy are imperatives in mathematics, and undertook a dedicated accuracy program led by experienced faculty.

1. Each chapter’s manuscript underwent rounds of review and revision by a panel of active instructors.
2. 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.
3. 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 may have been missed. 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.