Factoring polynomials represents the start of the core of any algebra class. It is not really the initial start of algebra but it is the doorway to success in algebra. It marks the beginning of the in depth topics. This is why special attention should be given in teaching this topic. At this point students start to make a decision whether they like algebra and would like to go further into pre calculus and then calculus and then may be have a career in engineering or science. On the other hand students may hate algebra and mathematics and decide to have a career in arts. They choose arts not because they like it but because they hate mathematics.

If one talks to old people who dislike mathematics and ask for the reason the answer is very often that they disliked their mathematics teacher or that they did not understand one of the most fundamental lessons in algebra.

The mathematics teacher should use all his skill in teaching factoring polynomials. He should put great effort in making the students understand the concepts and in making the subject exciting and fun to students. This article will cover the tactics the teacher can use to make the students both understand the subject and find it fun.

First of all the teacher has to make sure that the students got the prerequisites right for this topic. For example before getting into factoring the teacher has to make sure that the students understand and can successfully use the distributive property. In addition, they should be familiar with techniques for multiplying polynomials. This is because factoring is the same process in reverse. Factoring turns addition into multiplication and these techniques tern multiplication into addition.

The teacher should go through the different factoring methods with examples. He should start with the greatest common factor method and show that it must be applied first to any polynomial. Next he should explain the grouping method then he can turn to the difference of two squares method.

Some students are successful when they work on individual types of factoring but they run into problems when different types of factoring appear in one problem. This is why after explaining the factoring techniques there should be a session especially to explain when to use each type of factoring.

At this stage the students are ready to learn an algorithm that teaches them how to factor polynomials that are composed of three terms. Indeed factoring polynomials is done primarily by trial and error but there is an algorithm that makes this process systematic.

The first thing to do is to write down the polynomial and determine the factors of the first and last terms. Next one should create a table using all factor combinations of the first and last terms. The table should have two columns, one for the first term, and one for the last term. All factor combinations of the polynomial\’s first term should be in column one and all factor combinations of the polynomial\’s last term should be in column two. Finally the students should use trial and error with combinations from column one against column two till they get the desired factors.

To make these lessons exciting the teacher should design mathematics laboratory experiments that use calculators to check the results. If the student uses the calculator to evaluate the function at the negative value of the factoring points the result should be zero. This will imply that the factoring is correct. Also the student can plot the function using the calculator and check the roots on the graph to see if his factoring is correct.

The teacher should give students word problems of real life applications of factoring where the student can appreciate how important this is in our real world. The students can use the calculators in these problems to factor polynomials. This is to add excitement to the class and to make students at ease with the use of modern day technologies.

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