An experimental two-track intermediate algebra course was offered at Saddleback College, Mission Viejo, CA, between the Fall, 2002 and Fall, 2005 semesters. One track was modeled after the existing traditional California community college intermediate algebra course and the other track was a less rigorous intermediate algebra course in which the…

Students' understanding of functions is a topic that has been researched extensively. In this qualitative study, five university students of varying mathematical backgrounds were interviewed to reveal strategies and misconceptions as they struggled with graphical and analytical tasks relating to sum functions. Weaker students are seen to rely…

The majority of new jobs in the 21st century will require some postsecondary education. Yet more than one third of those entering college are underprepared and needful of remediation. In this essay the author shares with the reader his first experience of teaching the lowest level prealgebra course at an urban community college. This is a story of…

This report provides system-level summary highlights of pre-college course-taking behavior of high school graduates who attended a community or technical college in the year following graduation, and of those who delayed enrollment at the college for one or two years after high school graduation. The report contains information on these enrollment…

Interesting problems sometimes have surprising sources. In this paper we take an innocent looking problem from a calculus book and rediscover the radical axis of classical geometry. For intersecting circles the radical axis is the line through the two points of intersection. For nonintersecting, nonconcentric circles, the radical axis still…

This paper examines the elasticity of demand, and shows that geometrically, it may be interpreted as the ratio of two simple distances along the tangent line: the distance from the point on the curve to the x-intercept to the distance from the point on the curve to the y-intercept. It also shows that total revenue is maximized at the transition…

A mathematics instructor at Muskegon Community College describes his successful use of rear-view slide projection, audio tapes, and videotapes in teaching calculus. (DC)

When discussing the topic of elementary complex variables, students are often mystified by the fact that ii is real. After seeing a proof of this statement, a standard question is "well, what about iii or iiii etc., are these real or complex?" In this paper the meaning of the infinite power-tower iii...is considered both from the "bottom-up" and…

Beyond Crossroads is a call to action. Within this call, AMATYC has updated its 1995 Crossroads standards, developed a new set of guiding principles, and created a blueprint for implementing these revised principles and standards. The principles guiding Beyond Crossroads are a significant overhaul of their predecessors and are bold statements that…

Jean Poiseuille, a physician, developed a mercury filled U-tube to measure blood pressure in 1828. He discovered that pressure in veins is significantly lower than pressure in arteries. As a result, he studied liquid flow in small tubes. A few years later he established Poiseuille's Law, which states the resistance, "p," of the flow of blood as…

Today's college ACCUPLACER System's Computerized Placement Test (CPT) plays a major role for determining whether post-secondary students are ready for placement into Arithmetic, Elementary Algebra, Intermediate Algebra, or College Mathematics courses. It is widely used in most college systems in the U.S. This paper discusses some of the issues to…

Implementing intentional change is at the heart of Beyond Crossroads. Using assessment of student learning as a vehicle for improving learning is one of the underlying principles integrated throughout the AMATYC standards and expanded upon in Chapter 5. In this article three case studies from Los Medanos College in Pittsburg California illustrate…

The necessity for instruction in mathematical logic is discussed, and an outline of topics covered in a course on logic at the community college level is presented. (DT)

Beyond Crossroads has as a stated objective having "two-year college mathematics faculty and institutions collaborate with professional societies, government agencies, and educational institutions to build consensus and provide guidance to practitioners." Issues involving two-year faculty and university faculty members in conversations about…

A mathematics program involving both classroom instruction and individualized tutoring, self-paced study, and testing in a Mathematics Instruction Center is described. (DT)