For many students a College Algebra course represents the first opportunity to discover the beauty and practical power of mathematics. Thus instructors are faced with the challenge of teaching the concepts and skills of algebra while at the same time imparting a sense of its utility in the real world. In this edition, as in the previous four editions, our aim is to provide instructors and students with tools they can use to meet this challenge. The emphasis is on understanding concepts. Certainly all instructors are committed to encouraging conceptual understanding. For many this is implemented through the rule of four: “Topics should be presented geometrically, numerically,.
