MT 116 - Algebra in the Real World

Credit Hours: 3

This course is intended to enable students to view mathematics as part of their life experience by solving real-world problems using a modeling and function approach. This course is especially suitable for liberal arts/general studies, social science and humanities and technology majors and the many majors which only require a math elective, such as Communication Arts. Major topics include: an introduction to functions from a verbal, numeric, algebraic and graphical approach; an investigation of elementary functions (linear, exponential, logarithmic and quadratic) through modeling and analyzing real data and an applications approach to building and solving systems of linear equations. A specific graphing calculator is recommended and will be used throughout the course. This course may be used as an alternative to MT 112 or as a bridge to MT 125. It will not replace the MT 125/126 sequence as a prerequisite for calculus.

Fulfills SUNY General Education – Mathematics.

Course Outcomes
Upon Completion of this course, the student will be able to:

define and to recognize a function from a verbal, numerical, symbolic, and graphical viewpoint, including basic vocabulary and notation;
solve problems arising from the context of a situation using linear functions and systems of linear equations, and exponential, logarithmic, and quadratic functions;
express the specific properties related to each of the following types of functions from a verbal, numerical, symbolic and graphical approach: linear, exponential, logarithmic, and quadratic; and
recognize linear and nonlinear data, and to model the data with an appropriate function.

Technology Objective is to use appropriate technology:

to visually capture the graphical representations of specific functions in order to interpret and make predictions based on the graph; and
to construct regression models from linear and non-linear data.

Prerequisites: MT 006 or MT 007 or MT 013 or appropriate college equivalent and/or appropriate mathematics level code.*
F/S (C, N, S)

*Level code is determined by Mathematics Department placement test and/or successful completion of math courses.