Intermediate Algebra with P.O.W.E.R. Learning

After having written five developmental algebra textbooks, I decided to team up with Larry Perez from Saddleback College in California to write a paperback series beginning with Basic College Math or arithmetic. We know, first-hand, that teaching developmental mathematics is about so much more than the math. Today, many of our students are also in developmental reading and/or writing courses, so they don't read well. Many students are poor note-takers, do not know how to read/use a textbook, have poor study skills, and have never learned time-management skills. Instructors know that a major reason for high failure rates in developmental math courses is due to the fact that many of our students do not know how to be college students. They don't want to fail, they just don't know how to succeed! Larry and I have adapted what we do in the classroom to try to address the non-math needs of our students. But, we wondered, how can we do this in a textbook? Enter P.O.W.E.R.. P.O.W.E.R. is a five-step process to promote learning and critical thinking. Each step in the process--Prepare, Organize, Work, Evaluate, and Rethink--provides students with a proven framework that will help them achieve academic success. P.O.W.E.R. maximizes the success of students by using a research-based "best practices" approach. It is a scientifically-based framework promoting student success, with each step in the process based on empirical research findings related to students' academic performance in a