Pre-Calculus Essentials

Welcome! We hope you are looking forward to the fall semester. We are are excited to offer you the opportunity to participate in a special program designed to help you get a head start in your first year math courses here at Cal. Below we have lots of information on the program, and a link to sign up for our mailing list.

What is this?

Pre-Calculus Essentials is a short course covering foundational topics from algebra and pre-calculus. It was designed specifically for students intending to take Math 1A, 10A, 16A, or 32 here at Berkeley. This online course will run during Summer Session E, July 25 - August 12, 2022.

We know many students have a difficult time transitioning from high school mathematics to university level mathematics, and we want to set you up to be more capable and more confident in your first year courses here at Cal.

Who is involved?

Pre-Calculus Essentials was developed by Alexander Paulin and Kelli Talaska, who have both been teaching at UC Berkeley for about ten years. The course is also supported by a team of bright and enthusiastic undergraduate peer tutors supervised by the Student Learning Center.

How should I interpret the score from my ALEKS assessment?

The ALEKS assessment can help determine if you have mastered basic high school math skills needed to do well in pre-calculus or calculus courses. Below are our recommendations based on ALEKS assessment scores. You can find more details on the various enrollment options in the following section.

• Scores between 0 and 60:

  • • Recommendation: Algebra-Focused 3-week Plan

    • Scores in this range indicate that students have multiple basic skill areas in which they need to build strength.

• Scores between 61 and 80:

  • • Recommendation: Functions-Focused 3-week Plan

    • Scores in this range indicate competence with multiple core skills, but room for improvement in others.

• Scores between 81 and 100:

  • • Recommendation: Functions-Focused 3-week Plan or a Self-Study Plan

    • Scores in this range indicate competence with most high school math skills. However, there is a big jump in rigor from high school to college, so students can still benefit from our summer program.

While the Pre-Calculus Essentials course is completely optional, we do feel that it can help all of our students to kick off the year with a strong start. The recommendations above are just starting points to help you make a decision; all students who would like to participate are welcome to choose either of the two plans above or a self-study plan.

What sort of time commitment is required?

Our goal is to provide several levels of engagement, so that you may choose the option that works best for you.

• Everyone who signs up will have access to detailed videos and worksheets for all of the lessons we have built. These are custom materials, created specifically for our program.

• Everyone who signs up will have the option to attend online Zoom office hours with the instructors, Alexander Paulin and Kelli Talaska.

• OPTION 1: Follow a 3-week plan that we have carefully designed. Two different plans are available. Both plans involve lessons on core knowledge and skills in algebra and the study of functions, but each will have a different focus.

  • • The Algebra-Focused Plan begins by solidifying fundamental algebraic concepts before moving into more sophisticated material on functions.

    • The Functions-Focused Plan assumes a little more mastery of foundational algebra skills and covers more from the lessons on functions.

    • Students following either 3-week plan may request to be assigned a peer tutor. Peer tutors will hold daily small group discussions online via Zoom and check in with students regularly to review their work and give personalized advice on how to improve. Capacity is limited for this option, but we do hope to be able to accommodate all students who request it.

    • Students who commit to one of the two plans with peer tutor support are eligible to enroll in a special section of Math 98 in Summer Session E for 1 credit, but formal enrollment is not required.

• OPTION 2: Students may instead choose a Self-Study Plan, focusing on topics of their choosing from our curriculum.

If you can fit it into your schedule, we recommend committing to a full 3-week plan with peer tutor support. We expect this to require about 3-5 hours of work per weekday during the program -- a combination of watching video lectures, doing practice problems, participating in discussion groups, and talking with tutors or instructors.

We understand that this level of intensity is not feasible for everyone, and we are happy to talk with you about how to make the most of the provided materials with the time you have available.