Visually Searchable Algebra Video Compendium

[ OpenAlgebra.com Visually Searchable Video Compendium ]

I have been working with beginning Algebra students for a good many years now. In that time, I have found myself answering many similar questions where students often tell me that when they are alone they get stuck and do not know where to look for help.  This is certainly the case when problems are posed out of sectional context. After some interaction, it becomes clear that folks simply do not have the algebraic vocabulary needed when searching the index or internet for help and quickly become overwhelmed.

"I do not know what to type in when searching for help!"
 

To help, my idea was to create a visually searchable database of commonly asked algebra questions. This compendium of algebra videos is intended to be more of a "how to" type of approach serving students looking to solve a particular problem in a short amount of time.  More instructional or "lecture" type of videos are valuable and quite abundant. For these I would like to recommend James Sousa's MathIsPower4u website.

After authoring two online algebra textbooks published by Flatworld Knowledge, I created a similar visually searchable list of videos for all of the "Thy this!" problems found in the textbook.

[ Elementary Algebra (Algebra 1): Try This Videos ]

[ Intermediate Algebra (Algebra 2): Try this Videos ]

This approach is not the silver bullet for success in Algebra, however, it does review well is appreciated by students who are more inclined toward a visual learning style.  Everything on the openAlgebra.com site is offered free of charge and is openly licensed with a creative commons license.  This means that you are free to and encouraged to link to it, copy-and-paste into your CMS, build upon, improve and share the material.
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Algebra Video Help

Our collection of Algebra videos to accompany our Elementary and Intermediate Algebra textbooks is complete.  So far we have over 60,000 views with a definite uptrend.  From the many comments, it is clear that the short and to the point approach is much appreciated!

These videos are embedded in the FREE to read online textbooks. In addition, you can choose the appropriate course below and then visually search the problems. Click on a problem that seems similar and you will be redirected to a video solution on YouTube.

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Elementary Algebra -- Visually searchable YouTube playlist. 

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Intermediate Algebra -- Visually searchable YouTube playlist. 

If a video helps you... please comment or push the like button.  If you are an instructor, feel free to copy-and-paste these links into your LMS.

Free Algebra Study Guide

A free algebra study guide can be found on this website. You will need an ePub reader.

Over 1,100 solved problems and over 300 video examples.  Feel free to share the link!

Visually Searchable Algebra Videos

Students: A visually searchable database of elementary algebra problems. Click on a problem you are interested in and you will be redirected to a video solution on YouTube.

Elementary Algebra Videos - Visually searchable playlist.

These Elementary Algebra videos accompany and complement the open textbook found on the flat world knowledge website... which is FREE to read online: [ www.flatWorldKnowledge.com ]

Instructors: Feel free to copy-and-paste these links into your LMS -- it works quite well in a content item within blackboard.

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Factoring in Elementary Algebra

Right now we are trying to learn how to factor in our Elementary Algebra course (Algebra 1).  Many students find this topic to be very difficult... but it is important to get it right because factoring is an essential skill in mathematics. For example,

The general factoring guidelines found in the free Elementary Algebra textbook offered on the Flat World Knowledge website follow:

1. Check for common factors. If the terms have common factors, then factor out the greatest common factor (GCF) and look for the resulting polynomial factors to factor further.
2. Determine the number of terms in the polynomial:

• Four term polynomials are factored by grouping.
• Trinomials (3 terms) are factored using “trial and error” or the AC method.
• Binomials (2 terms) are factored using the following special products.

3. Look for factors that can be factored further.
4. Check by multiplying.


* If a binomial is both difference of squares and cubes, then we should factor it as difference of squares first to obtain a more complete factorization.
* Not all polynomials with integer coefficients factor, in this case, we say that the polynomial is prime.

Solution: This four term polynomial has a GCF of 3x , we factor this out first.

We now factor the resulting four term polynomial by grouping.

The factor x^2 - 1 is a difference of squares and can be factored further.

And therefore we have,

You can check by multiplying.  A similar problem can be found on YouTube:

You will find many more embedded videos in the Elementary Algebra textbook, here are links to the appropriate sections:

6.1 Introduction to Factoring
6.2 Factoring Trinomials x^2 + bx + c
6.3 Factoring Trinomials ax^2 + bx + c
6.4 Factoring Binomials
6.5 General Guidelines for Factoring Polynomials

Learning how to factor takes lots of time and practice.