About an Academic Systems Algebra Lesson
Each lesson in Academic Systems Algebra consists of six modules designed to provide you
with instruction and practice, and to assess your progress. These six modules are
Overview, Explain, Apply, Explore, Homework, and Evaluate. A description of these modules
follows.
Overview
Overview gives you a preview of the lesson objectives and provides a pretest. If you
are familiar with the content, take the pretest to help you find out what you already know
in the lesson. You can also save the pretest to use it as a practice test before taking
the Evaluate quiz.
Explain
Explain presents the mathematics and lets you try it as you learn. If you need to learn
or review a concept, this is the place for you.
Apply
The way to learn math is by working lots of problems. You can do this in Apply and get
instant feedback. When you need help, you can "link" directly to those pages in
Explain that teach the concepts or procedures you are practicing.
Explore
Explore lets you investigate the mathematics concepts, often by using tools or
gathering data. Explore challenges you to extend what you’ve learned in Explain.
Homework
Homework allows you to work problems both online and offline. With offline homework, you get a homework assignment that’s customized for you. You’ll find the homework problems in the Personal Academic Notebook. With online homework, you work problems on the computer and get a score and detailed feedback automatically.
Evaluate
Evaluate is the final quiz which shows what you’ve learned in the lesson. Your
score on the quiz is your score for the lesson, so it’s important to prepare for it.
To prepare for the final quiz, work problems and do the Practice Test at the end of the
Personal Academic Notebook chapter. You can also take the Overview pretest to see how
prepared you are. If there are areas you need to brush up on, you may want to review
Explain. Be sure to work more problems.
General Screen Features and Functions
Sample Screen
You can use this picture to help you identify the location of the general screen
features described below.
Screen Title
The Screen Title tells you the name of the lesson and the name of the module or concept
in which you are currently working.
Screen Indicator
The Screen Indicator tells you how far you’ve come and how far you’ve got to
go. It also identifies the kind of screen you are on.
Help Symbols
The help symbols are found on the side margin of the screen. Each one offers you
additional information about the mathematics on the screen.
| Helpline 
|
Click the Helpline if you need an informal explanation or
hint. |
| Link to Explain 
|
The Link to Explain button appears on question screens in
Apply, Explore and Homework - learn mode. Clicking Link to Explain takes you directly to those pages in Explain
that teach the concepts or procedures in question. When you’re done brushing up,
click Go Back to return to your place in Apply, Explore, or Homework. |
| Take a Closer Look 
|
The Take a Closer Look button provides you with
more examples, an alternative explanation, or additional information to
help you learn about a concept in greater detail. (You only see Take a Closer
Look buttons in Explain.) |
Navigation Bar
The navigation bar, which appears along the bottom of the screen, consists of a
collection of buttons that you use to navigate through a module. The particular buttons
that appear depend upon the current screen.
Audio
|
The Audio button repeats the audio for the screen you’re
working on or turns off the audio that is currently playing. (You can click this button to
hear audio even if you’ve turned the audio off on the Options menu.) |
Arrows
|
The Right Arrow moves you forward from screen to screen. The
Left Arrow moves you backward from screen to screen. |
Go to Menu
|
Go to Menu takes you back to the last menu you saw, so you
can make a new selection. |
Go Back
|
Go Back takes you back to the screen you were on before you
detoured into Link to Explain or Help screens. The picture on the button reminds you of
the module to which you’ll return. |
Score Pretest
|
Score Pretest ends a pretest and allows you to see your
score. (You only see the Score Pretest button in Overview.) |
Score Quiz
|
Score Quiz ends a lesson quiz and allows you to see your
score. (You only see the Score Quiz button in Overview.) |
Go to Score
|
When you’re reviewing a question screen
after you’ve completed a pretest or quiz, Go to Score returns you to
the score screen.
(You
only see the Go to Score button in Overview and Evaluate.) |
The Menu Bar consists of the following items:
- The Exit button allows you to exit the application.
- The Help menu allows you to click on the “Help Contents” submenu that opens the index page of the main help or click on “Help for this module” which brings up the help page of the module from where the help menu is accessed.
- The Tools menu gives you access to online mathematics and problem-solving tools and Resources such as Audio On/Off and Personal Academic Notebook.
- The Audio button lets you control the audio in a lesson. Note that you will always hear the audio for a movie even if you’ve turned the audio off.
|
