Make sense of Algebra II in the company of master educator and award-winning Professor James A. Sellers. Algebra II gives you all the tools you need to thrive in a core skill of mathematics. In 36 engaging half-hour lectures, Professor Sellers walks you through hundreds of problems, showing every step in their solution and highlighting the most common missteps made by students. Designed for learners of all ages, this course will prove that algebra can be an exciting intellectual adventure and not nearly as difficult as many students fear.
Algebra II
Make sense of Algebra II with this clear course that walks you through hundreds of problems, showing every step in their solutions and highlighting common missteps.
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Josue from
Going back to learn math Thanks professor
I took all 3 courses from the professor, I am now ready to move up to the next courses.
Date published: 2024-10-05
Rated 5 out of
5
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Vladislav from
The great course!
Loved it. I refreshed my memory on algebra 2. The professor is really knowledgeable and explains the material very well.
Date published: 2024-08-12
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Tim2024 from
Excellent Course
Excellent material, wonderfully presented. Dr. Sellers is now one of my favorite math teachers on TGC. The logical, step by step nature of the presentation of the material, along with frequent opportunities to test and reinforce what was just presented is a winning combination.
Date published: 2024-06-02
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Michelle7300 from
Excellent
Appreciate how the instructor is not arrogant and gives encouragement. Also, understands some people are not from the best math background and there are many different reasons people are interested in the material. Everything is presented in a very clear and concise and logical manner. It has helped me reinforce and learn rather difficult concepts.
Date published: 2023-08-03
Rated 5 out of
5
by
baylou from
excellent
presenter was clear, thorough, and gave great explanations and examples
Date published: 2023-07-08
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Joe0311 from
Great Course
I took Algebra II years ago in school but wanted a fresh review to help prepare me in my high-level math journey. I’m coming away with a much better understanding and confidence in the subject matter! This course was an excellent tool for learning and a great source of information. It comes with a workbook that has examples on each lesson and more importantly problems to solve with answers to help reinforce the subject matter. The instructor Professor Sellers is very professional, extremely knowledgeable and is simply outstanding in communicating the material. He certainly understands how to convey technical material clearly to the student. Between the professor and the workbook, it makes for a powerful combination (i.e., combinatorics from lesson 34 but no pun intended) in which to learn Algebra.
Date published: 2023-06-14
Rated 5 out of
5
by
MommaR from
Exceptional teaching....
I love this course! I have been using it to homeschool my sophomore in high school that is an auditory learner. She has excelled. The material is clearly presented and the examples give excellent practice to do the exercises from the guidebook. The instructor is great and has a good rhythm and presentation style.
Date published: 2023-05-18
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Uroš from
An excellent course
I had a great experience thinking through the content of the course. The explanations are clear, precise and easy to follow and grasp.
Date published: 2023-01-29
Overview
About
Dr. James A. Sellers is Professor of Mathematics at the University of Minnesota Duluth. He earned his B.S. in Mathematics from The University of Texas at San Antonio and his Ph.D. in Mathematics from Penn State. Professor Sellers has received the Teresa Cohen Mathematics Service Award from the Penn State Department of Mathematics and the Mathematical Association of America Allegheny Mountain Section Mentoring Award. More than 60 of Professor Sellers's research articles on partitions and related topics have been published in a wide variety of peer-reviewed journals. In 2008, he was a visiting scholar at the Isaac Newton Institute at the University of Cambridge. Professor Sellers has enjoyed many interactions at the high school and middle school levels. He has served as an instructor of middle-school students in the TexPREP program in San Antonio, Texas. He has also worked with Saxon Publishers on revisions to a number of its high-school textbooks. As a home educator and father of five, he has spoken to various home education organizations about mathematics curricula and teaching issues.
Trailer
01: An Introduction to Algebra II
Professor Sellers explains the topics covered in the course, the importance of algebra, and how you can get the most out of these lessons. You then launch into the fundamentals of algebra by reviewing the order of operations and trying your hand at several problems.
32 min
02: Solving Linear Equations
Explore linear equations, starting with one-step equations and then advancing to those requiring two or more steps to solve. Next, apply the distributive property to simplify certain problems, and then learn about the three categories of linear equations.
31 min
03: Solving Equations Involving Absolute Values
Taking your knowledge of linear equations a step further, look at examples involving absolute values, which can be thought of as a distance on a number line, always expressed as a positive value. Use your critical-thinking skills to recognize absolute value problems that have limited or no solutions.
31 min
04: Linear Equations and Functions
Moving into the visual realm, learn how linear equations are represented as straight lines on graphs using either the slope-intercept or point-slope forms of the function. Next, investigate parallel and perpendicular lines and how to identify them by the value of their slopes.
29 min
05: Graphing Essentials
Reversing the procedure from the previous lesson, start with an equation and draw the line that corresponds to it. Then test your knowledge by matching four linear equations to their graphs. Finally, learn how to rewrite an equation to move its graph up, down, left, or right-or flip it entirely.
29 min
06: Functions-Introduction, Examples, Terminology
Functions are crucially important not only for algebra, but for precalculus, calculus, and higher mathematics. Learn the definition of a function, the notation, and associated concepts such as domain and range. Then try out the vertical line test for determining whether a given curve is a graph of a function.
31 min
07: Systems of 2 Linear Equations, Part 1
Practice solving systems of two linear equations by graphing the corresponding lines and looking for the intersection point. Discover that there are three possible outcomes: no solution, infinitely many solutions, and exactly one solution.
29 min
08: Systems of 2 Linear Equations, Part 2
Explore two other techniques for solving systems of two linear equations. First, the method of substitution solves one of the equations and substitutes the result into the other. Second, the method of elimination adds or subtracts the equations to see if a variable can be eliminated.
30 min
09: Systems of 3 Linear Equations
As the number of variables increases, it becomes unwieldy to solve systems of linear equations by graphing. Learn that these problems are not as hard as they look and that systems of three linear equations often yield to the strategy of successively eliminating variables.
31 min
10: Solving Systems of Linear Inequalities
Make the leap into systems of linear inequalities, where the solution is a set of values on one side or another of a graphed line. An inequality is an assertion such as "less than" or "greater than," which encompasses a range of values.
29 min
11: An Introduction to Quadratic Functions
Begin your investigation of quadratic functions by visualizing what these functions look like when graphed. They always form a U-shaped curve called a parabola, whose location on the coordinate plane can be predicted based on the individual terms of the equation.
32 min
12: Quadratic Equations-Factoring
One of the most important skills related to quadratics is factoring. Review the basics of factoring, and learn to recognize a very useful special case known as the difference of two squares. Close by working on a word problem that translates into a quadratic equation.
32 min
13: Quadratic Equations-Square Roots
The square root approach to solving quadratic equations works not just for perfect squares, such as 3 × 3 = 9, but also for values that don't seem to involve squares at all. Probe the idea behind this technique, and also venture into the strange world of complex numbers.
31 min
14: Completing the Square
Turn a quadratic equation into an easily solvable form that includes a perfect square-a technique called completing the square. An important benefit of this approach is that the rewritten form gives the coordinates for the vertex of the parabola represented by the equation.
30 min
15: Using the Quadratic Formula
When other approaches fail, one tool can solve every quadratic equation: the quadratic formula. Practice this formula on a wide range of problems, learning how a special expression called the discriminant immediately tells how many real-number solutions the equation has....
30 min
16: Solving Quadratic Inequalities
Extending the exercises on inequalities from lecture 10, step into the realm of quadratic inequalities, where the boundary graph is not a straight line but a parabola. Use your skills analyzing quadratic expressions to sketch graphs quickly and solve systems of quadratic inequalities.
30 min
17: Conic Sections-Parabolas and Hyperbolas
Delve into the algebra of conic sections, which are the cross-sectional shapes produced by slicing a cone at different angles. In this lesson, study parabolas and hyperbolas, which differ in how many variable terms are squared in each. Also learn how to sketch a hyperbola from its equation.
32 min
18: Conic Sections-Circles and Ellipses
Investigate the algebraic properties of the other two conic sections: ellipses and circles. Ellipses resemble stretched circles and are defined by their major and minor axes, whose ratio determines the ellipse's eccentricity. Circles are ellipses whose eccentricity = 1, with the major and minor axes equal.
32 min
19: An Introduction to Polynomials
Pause to examine the nature of polynomials-a class of algebraic expressions that you've been working with since the beginning of the course. Professor Sellers introduces several useful concepts, such as the standard form of polynomials and their degree, domain, range, and leading coefficients.
32 min
20: Graphing Polynomial Functions
Deepen your insight into polynomial functions by graphing them to see how they differ from non-polynomials. Then learn how the general shape of the graph can be predicted from the highest exponent of the polynomial, known as its degree. Finally, explore how other terms in the function also affect the graph.
31 min
21: Combining Polynomials
Switch from graphs to the algebraic side of polynomial functions, learning how to combine them in many different ways, including addition, subtraction, multiplication, and even long division, which is easier than it seems. Discover which of these operations produce new polynomials and which do not.
34 min
22: Solving Special Polynomial Equations
Learn how to solve polynomial equations where the degree is greater than two by turning them into expressions you already know how to handle. Your "toolbox" includes techniques called the difference of two squares, the difference of two cubes, and the sum of two cubes.
32 min
23: Rational Roots of Polynomial Equations
Going beyond the approaches you've learned so far, discover how to solve polynomial equations by applying two powerful tools for finding rational roots: the rational roots theorem and the factor theorem. Both will prove very useful in succeeding lessons.
32 min
24: The Fundamental Theorem of Algebra
Explore two additional tools for identifying the roots of polynomial equations: Descartes' rule of signs, which narrows down the number of possible positive and negative real roots; and the fundamental theorem of algebra, which gives the total of all roots for a given polynomial.
32 min
25: Roots and Radical Expressions
Shift gears away from polynomials to focus on expressions involving roots, including square roots, cube roots, and roots of higher degrees-all known as radical expressions. Practice multiplying, dividing, adding, and subtracting a wide variety of radical expressions.
32 min
26: Solving Equations Involving Radicals
Drawing on your experience with roots and radicals from the previous lesson, try your hand at solving equations with these expressions. Begin by learning how to manipulate rational, or fractional, exponents. Then practice with simple equations, while being on the lookout for extraneous, or "imposter," solutions.
31 min
27: Graphing Power, Radical, and Root Functions
Using graph paper, experiment with curves formed by simple radical functions. First, determine the domain of the function, which tells you the general location of the graph on the coordinate plane. Then, investigate how different terms in the function alter the graph in predictable ways.
32 min
28: An Introduction to Rational Functions
Shift your focus to graphs of rational functions-functions that are the ratio of two polynomials. These graphs are more complicated than those from the previous lesson, but their general characteristics can be quickly determined by calculating the domain, the x- and y-intercepts, and the vertical and horizontal asymptotes....
31 min
29: The Algebra of Rational Functions
Combine rational functions using addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and composition. The trick is to start each problem by putting the expressions in factored form, which makes the calculations go more smoothly. Leaving the answer in factored form also allows other operations, such as graphing, to be easily performed.
31 min
30: Partial Fractions
Now that you know how to add rational expressions, try the opposite procedure of splitting a more complicated rational expression into its component parts. Called partial fraction decomposition, this approach is a topic in introductory calculus and is used for solving a wide range of more advanced math problems.
30 min
31: An Introduction to Exponential Functions
Exponential functions are important in real-world applications involving growth and decay rates, such as compound interest and depreciation. Experiment with simple exponential functions, exploring such concepts as the base, growth factor, and decay factor, and how different values for these terms affect the graph of the function.
30 min
32: An Introduction to Logarithmic Functions
Plot a logarithmic function on the coordinate plane to see how it is the mirror image of a corresponding exponential function. Just like a mirror image, logarithms can be disorienting at first; but by studying their properties you will discover how they make certain calculations much simpler.
32 min
33: Uses of Exponential and Logarithmic Functions
Delve deeper into exponential and logarithmic functions with the goal of solving a typical financial investment problem using the "Pert" formula. To prepare, study the change of base formula for logarithms and the special function of the base called e....
30 min
34: The Binomial Theorem
Pascal's triangle is a famous triangular array of numbers that corresponds to the coefficients of binomials of different powers. In a lesson connecting a branch of mathematics called combinatorics with algebra, investigate the formula for each value in Pascal's triangle, the factorial function, and the binomial theorem.
31 min
35: Permutations and Combinations
Continue your study of the link between combinatorics and algebra by using the factorial function to solve problems in permutations and combinations. For example, what are all the permutations of the letters a, b, c? And how many combinations of four books are possible when you have six to choose from?...
32 min
36: Elementary Probability
After a short introduction to probability, celebrate your completion of the course with a deck of cards. Can you use the principles of probability, permutations, and combinations to calculate the probability of being dealt different hands? As with the rest of algebra, once you know the rules, it's simplicity itself!
34 min
