Welcome to Week Four
Factoring (MAT1001)
Weekly Content - Polynomials
This week's content is the natural next step from last week's discussion of polynomials. When you're thinking about factoring polynomials, in the back of your mind you should keep in mind that this is fundamentally the same thing as factoring numbers. For example, a number like 18 can be "factored" to 2 * 9, i.e. it can be rewritten as the product of two smaller numbers. The factoring of polynomials is based on the same goal: take a "large" expression and rewrite it as the product of two (or more) "smaller" expressions.
Weekly Motivation - Building Blocks
Each problem that I solved became a rule, which served afterwards to solve other problems. [1]
-- Renee Descartes
Implicit in Descarte's statement is that he did a lot of problems to develop lots of rules. That's good advice for any student. It's especially important this week. Factoring is an essential technique that you have to know in order to solve polynomial equations - something that comes up often in practical applications.
[1] Descarte, Renee. (1637) Le Discours de la Méthode
-- Renee Descartes
Implicit in Descarte's statement is that he did a lot of problems to develop lots of rules. That's good advice for any student. It's especially important this week. Factoring is an essential technique that you have to know in order to solve polynomial equations - something that comes up often in practical applications.
[1] Descarte, Renee. (1637) Le Discours de la Méthode
Technical Issues
If you're having technical issues with eCollege, e.g. uploading files, downloading files or viewing the grade book, or using the EZGraph tool, you should contact the South University Helpdesk at 1-888-444-3404. I'll be glad to answer any questions you have about the course's content but faculty don't have the training or access to do any kind of tech support.
Contacting Me
There are a number of ways for you to reach me during this course:
- E-mail: gallen@southuniversity.edu
- Telephone: 813.995.8622 (office hours only)
- Skype: gregory.allen.su
Assignment Schedule
This week's assignment schedule follows the same pattern as last week:
Discussion Questions due on day two.
Homework due on day two.
Quiz due on day six.
Discussion Questions due on day two.
Homework due on day two.
Quiz due on day six.
Professor Gregory Allen
Email: gallen@southuniversity.edu
Website: http://www.whitecraneeducation.com
Location: Skype: prof.gregory.allen
Phone: 813.995.8622