Special Topic Sessions

Beginning of Semester Review Sessions

The following 6 sessions are designed for students who want to brush up on some skills they will need to be successful in their current course.  

Factoring & Solving Quadratic Equations
This session will review techniques for factoring linear, quadratic and cubic polynomials.  This session will review techniques for factoring polynomials of the form ax2+bx+c, differences of squares, sums/differences of cubes, and factoring by grouping.  This session will review how to solve a quadratic equation by factoring and by using the quadratic formula. Session Notes, Practice Problems

Simplifying Expressions 
This session will cover when and how to combine like terms.  This session will also review laws of exponents, roots, exponentials and logarithms. Session Notes, Practice Problems

Fractions Review
This session will review how to add, subtract, multiply and divide fractions.  It will also review how to add and multiply rational expressions (fractions where the numerators and denominators are polynomials). Session Notes, Practice Problems

Functions Review 
This session will review the definition of a function, the vertical line test, the domain and range of a function, and function composition.  Examples included in the session will focus on how to determine whether a relation is a function and how to find the domain and range of a given function. Session Notes, Practice Problems

Trigonometry Review 
This session will give an overview of the six basic trigonometric functions and how these trigonometric functions are defined in terms of a right triangle.  The session will also discuss how to convert an angle from degrees to radians and how to use the unit circle to find sine, cosine and tangent of an angle.  A brief introduction to graphs of trigonometric functions will also be covered. Session Notes, Practice Problems

Graphing Review 
This session will review common functions and their graphs, including linear, quadratic, square root and piecewise functions.  In addition to practicing graphing functions, the examples in this session will include finding the equation of a line using the slope and points on the line. Session Notes, Practice Problems