College Algebra – Stitz/ Zeager 3rd Edition. The text for College Algebra was written by Carl Stitz and Jeff Zeager. Stitz/ Zeager 3rd Edition (pdf text.

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.

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. 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.

The somewhat informal style of several sections and questions may be hit-or-miss among both students and instructors, depending on the classroom. Consistency rating: 4 Terminology and tone remain consistent throughout, with no notable exceptions. Modularity rating: 4 There are many questions at the end of each section, allowing instructors to narrow down a preferred list or to separate specific problems to be used for review materials. The sections themselves can be easily reordered or modified to suit the class at hand if instructors prefer to focus more or less on individual sections in a chapter.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 3 We typically switch the order of the first two chapter subjects, introducing the basics of linear and quadratic equations before defining functions and transformations in more detail, but the order can work as given too. The answers for section exercises would be better placed in a separate index rather than directly after the corresponding problems so students do not need to flip or scroll through pages of solutions between sections, though this is more of an issue in the physical text than the digital one. Interface rating: 5 An excellent feature of the digital version is the hyperlinks to previous definitions in the book or separate webpages for concepts like the Pythagorean Theorem or Newton’s Law of Cooling.

It is a very useful way to review or learn about recurring formulas without flipping back through physical pages constantly or bookmarking several sections. Even the Index has direct links to appropriate pages.

No issues exist with graphs and images, which are typically clear and relevant. Grammatical Errors rating: 5 I did not notice any glaring grammar mistakes in the text. Cultural Relevance rating: 3 There is somewhat of a focus on US data, units, and references, which could be expanded to other countries, systems, or cultures without needing to alter the writing style too much. Comments The text is solid in its given form, but it may need extensive modification to fit a particular course more effectively. Thankfully, the ease in doing so makes it a reasonable base for a college text.

Reviewed by Mamfe Osafo, Mathematics Instructor, Centrral Lakes College, on 6/11/2015. Comprehensiveness rating: 4 The text book covered all the topics in college algebra. The only two sub topics which were not in detailed is Linear Functions and Quadratic Functions. Under the Linear functions sub topics, there should have been a sections which would talk more about solving linear equations in one variable,including solving linear equations involving fractions. The other issue is under the quadratic functions there is not a subsection which talks about solving quadratic equations algebraically using the factoring method, the square root method, completing of squares method and quadratic formula method. Also finding the equations of lines with parallel line and perpendicular lines should have been explained a little bit to refresh the students mind. Overall this is a good book and my students love it.

Am using it in two of my classes this semester. Accuracy rating: 4 The content is accurate and unbiased.

There are no errors. Relevance/Longevity rating: 3 The context is up to date but I would recommend having different application questions from different fields added to the content so it can address questions in different student disciplines and career paths. Also the tex files are not included by the publisher to change or edit any content. Its a pdf and very hard to change anything. Clarity rating: 5 The words, phrases, symbols, diagrams and graphs, and mathematical formulas used in the book were clear and precise and straight to the point.

The questions and solutions to the questions were clear and students understood each question. Since using this book from the beginning of the semester I have never had complains from students about the clarity and technical terms used in the book. The clarity is good Consistency rating: 5 The textbook has a very good consistency in terms of terminolgy and Framework. Alot of times the book made reference to some other techniques used in the previous sections. Modularity rating: 4 The book can easily be divisibles into smaller reading sections that can be assigned at different points in the course.

You can easily break up some sections to different modules during the course. For examples, in chapter 3 you break up some of the different subsections and connect or combine with other subsections in chapter 3. Also because the author used Latex its very much easy to create modules from it.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5 Overall the organization/structure wasn't bad, but my recommendations would be there authors moving chapter 5.1 and 5.2 to chapter. The composition of functions should have been added the arithmetric operations of function section 1.5. So the author should have combines 5.1 and 1.5 together. Adding inverse functions to chapter 1 would be also a good idea. Interface rating: 4 The interface of the book is fine and there are no issues with interface. Thats the best quality you can get from using Latex. Grammatical Errors rating: 5 There were no grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5 The authors did a great job in writing this book in that the book is not insensitive or offensive in any way. I think there should more application questions from different cultures around the world. Comments More application questions would be very helpful to students.

Am using this book in two of my classes and my students love the book. I type my own homework questions and exams questions.

My recoomendations to the authorsn is to add a review section to each chapter with different questions as a review for that chapter. Reviewed by Jacqueline Lindquist, Mathematics Instructor, Central Lakes College, Brainerd, MN, on 6/11/2015. Comprehensiveness rating: 5 This text does cover all of the topics that are presented in a typical College Algebra course. The chapter covering Systems of Equations and Matrices is more in-depth than is common. The chapter on Conics is often-times included and is very useful. The number of topics and their depth would prove challenging to complete in one semester.

The text could be used with chapters and/or sections omitted, which would give instructors ample material to choose from and use in their classrooms. My copy did not include chapters that I believe were in other pdfs, covering topics such as Trigonometry. Also, although referenced in my copy, Chapters 10 and 11. The index seemed completed and useful. There was no glossary in my version.

Accuracy rating: 5 Content seemed accurate. Solutions follow each exercise set. Examples are abundant with thorough explanations. I was surprised at the number of problems in the exercise sets. In the Preface, the authors asserted that endless 'drill and kill' questions are not productive, while there is a good number of problems in each set. The diagrams and graphs are clear.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4 I enjoyed some of the cultural references in the text. They seem to arise from US popular culture. I do wonder if they would be relevant to students outside of this culture. There also seemed to be local/geographical references which may be puzzling for many students. Although a graphing calculator is mentioned in the Preface as not a necessary tool for the text, there are numerous examples of its use throughout. This particular calculator may not be in use in the near future, while other less-costly options may be utilized.

The content itself is relevant and will be for some time. The text uses English units, which would only be useful in the US and a few other countries.

Clarity rating: 4 The text is clearly written and terminology is explained and defined. I was pleasantly surprised, initially, at the tone of the text. While clear, it is friendly and conversational.

The numerous footnotes, however, are distracting. Some enrich the text with references to linked material and are useful. Others seem to be inside jokes and teasing between the authors. I feel that students would be distracted by these and start to avoid them. Some students may find this condescending. An instructor would have to consider this prior to adoption. Consistency rating: 5 The text is consistent.

I saw no problems with this. Modularity rating: 5 I find the modularity useful. This text could be divided into smaller sections or rearranged. I did find that some of the explanations were long. Many students will disregard a lengthy explanation. The writing is accurate and complete, but in some areas lengthy. Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5 I found the flow and organization clear.

I was surprised at the introduction of functions in the first chapter, but felt it may be a useful order. The authors explain their reasoning for this in the Preface. The sections are of a reasonable length.

Interface rating: 5 The text is professional in its interface. Amethyst Foundations Church more. Since the version I received was missing some chapters that had been referenced, this was a bit problematic in that they were referenced in footnotes. The diagrams and figures were adequate. Although lacking in the color of commercial texts, the graphics were useful. Grammatical Errors rating: 5 I found no grammatical errors in the text, although I did examine it line-by-line. I also do not consider myself an expert in this. Cultural Relevance rating: 3 The use of English units is only pertinent to a certain audience.

Much of the data was from US sources. Many of the footnotes and cultural references are from US culture. More diversity would be useful. The book is not offensive.

Again, some students may find some of the footnotes condescending. Comments I found the textbook friendly and accessible, with a strong organization and modularity. The textbook would be more useful in a classroom situation with a certain audience and instructor. Reviewed by Don Drummond, Mathematics Faculty, Minnesota State Community and Technical College, on 6/11/2015. Comprehensiveness rating: 4 The textbook covers all of the traditional College Algebra content.

If some institutions of higher education would embed the trigonometry within the College Algebra / Pre-Calculus, these authors have another text to cover the trigonometry. The content is covered accurately and succinctly allowing the mainstream student an opportunity to engage in gaining a better understanding of the content. Accuracy rating: 4 From the mainstream students' perspective, the content is very accurate.

From a faculty perspective, some of the content lacks proof; however, any quality faculty member can supplement the proof. Relevance/Longevity rating: 4 This content will stand the test of time as the text is arranged in a way which concisely and comprehensively covers the content with breadth and depth. Clarity rating: 4 The text's clarity is nicely done. One item which could better be addressed are some of the examples - many times Sasquatch is referenced. More real-world examples would enhance the quality of the text.

Consistency rating: 4 The text constantly adheres to similar terminology and delivery of content. Modularity rating: 4 This text would quite easily be parceled into units or be adjusted so that the text's content could be covered in a different order or utilized with other resources Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4 The text's flow was thoughtfully-done starting with some basic and traditional content pertaining to all functions and moving through more specific types of functions. Interface rating: 5 There are no issues with distorted images nor are there any navigation problems with the downloadable.pdf eBook.

Grammatical Errors rating: 4 I observed very few grammatical errors. Cultural Relevance rating: 3 Some of the examples containing Sasquatch or the Star Wars character Chewbacca take away from the real-world relevance of the text; however, there are no culturally insensitive or offensive remarks in the text in any way. Comments Certainly there are some College Algebra texts which are written with a more formal focus; however, the concise nature by which this text was penned is respectable. Reviewed by Karen Yeats, Assistant Professor, Simon Fraser University, on. In collaboration with Cameron Morland. Comprehensiveness rating: 4 The version of the text we were provided had the trigonometry chapters cut out (This was done simply by clipping the pdf rather than recompiling the latex, so the table of contents and index still reflect the full text, which is silly and unprofessional, but only a very minor point.). In order to cover the material we cover in precalculus the trigonometry sections would need to be put back in.

Chapters 7,8, and 9 are unnecessary for our precalculus course; they are covered in other introductory math/macm courses. The index is comprehensive, and the pdf is searchable. The background assumed is generally appropriate. There are a few small exceptions, for example students are expected to know polynomial division. Some common student points of confusion are clarified, though others are not.

For example in 1.1.2 the distinction between (a,b) as interval notation and (a,b) as a point in the cartesian plane is not clarified. There are some important issues with regard to intended audience, which will be dealt with more substantially in a later question, but in summary this text seems to be targeted to mathies in spirit (not in difficulty) despite the fact that in our system such people will have covered this material before university and so will not be in our precalculus classes. Accuracy rating: 4 Accuracy seems very good. I did not see any errors; however, I did not give a line by line reading so may have missed some errors.