Math Lit: A Pathway to College Mathematics

For Pathways courses (a one-semester alternative to the traditional two-semester developmental algebra sequence for non-STEM students).

An accelerated pathway through developmental math

Math Lit by Almy and Foes emphasizes contextual problem solving; the authors approach each topic with the questions "how does it work?" and "how can I use it?" Students work through activities and explorations to gain a greater conceptual understanding of the four thematic strands: numeracy, proportional reasoning, algebraic reasoning, and functions. Topics from geometry and statistics are also included.

Changes to the 3 rd Edition include all-important updates to contexts and problems to reflect current events. Added support includes a new Cycle 0 to review prealgebra content and refinements within sections to improve the flow while maintaining the active learning approach.

About our authors

Kathleen Almy has been a professor of mathematics at Rock Valley College for over 10 years and has taught high school- and college-level math for 15 years. She has a bachelor's degree in mathematics education from Southern Illinois University and master's degree in pure mathematics from Northern Illinois University. Her passion is improving developmental math for all students, including the development of courses and content that is appropriate, relevant and meaningful. As her department's developmental math coordinator, she organized and led a successful comprehensive redesign of the program. As a result of giving talks about the redesign, she has been consulting with colleges throughout Illinois and across the country to improve their developmental math programs. Since 2009, she has been a member of AMATYC's Quantway project which is affiliated with the Carnegie Foundation. She was AMATYC's Developmental Math Committee chair and serves on several state committees on developmental education.

Heather Foes is currently a professor of mathematics at Rock Valley College in Rockford, Illinois and has also taught at Illinois State University, Northern Illinois University, and the University of Illinois. Heather has a bachelor's degree in chemistry and mathematics and a master's degree in mathematics from Illinois State University. She has written solution manuals and other supplemental materials over the last ten years, as well as algorithmic questions for test-generator software and conceptual questions for MyLab Statistics for Pearson.