Modeling, Functions, and Graphs: Algebra for College Students

Popular with and respected by students interested in a Modeling Approach, Graphing, or Graphing Calculators, this book incorporates the benefits of technology and the philosophy of the reform movement into intermediate algebra. In keeping with the NCTM and AMATYC standards, the authors introduce the techniques of algebra in the context of simple applications. Early and consistent emphasis on functions and graphing helps to develop mathematical models, and graphing calculators are incorporated wherever possible.

Kathy Yoshiwara was born in Derby in the UK and grew up in Richmond, Virginia. She attended Michigan State University, where she studied Greek and mathematics. She did graduate work at UCLA and earned an MA in mathematics in 1977. She left UCLA in 1979 to join the faculty at Pierce College, where she has been teaching ever since, except for the 1988-1999 academic year, when she taught at Barnsley College in Yorkshire (northern England) on a Fulbright teaching exchange. She is the author or co-author of three mathematics textbooks and is a member of the Calculus Consortium for Higher Education, where she is part of the writing team for their Precalculus text. She is a member of the MAA (Mathematical Association of America) and currently serves on the Committee for Curriculum Renewal and the First Two Years (CRAFTY). In 1996 she received the Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics from the Southern California Section of the MAA. She is married to Bruce Yoshiwara and benefits from his expertise in all things mathematical.

Bruce Yoshiwara has taught full-time at L.A. Pierce College since 1989 (except for the 1998-1999 academic year, when he and his wife Katherine Yoshiwara both had Fulbright Teacher Exchange positions at Barnsley College, England). He is co-author (Katherine is the principal author) of three algebra and pre-algebra textbooks. He serves on the Mathematical Association of American (MAA) Committee on Computers in Mathematics Education and is a consultant for Project NExT (New Experiences in Teaching). Bruce is editor of the Pierce Math Department newsletter and maintains the department web page.