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• Math Anxiety invariably originates with bad textbooks:
  • in the best cases because the textbooks leave so much "without saying" that reason has become invisible,
  • in the worst cases because the textbooks have been gutted to "disconnected topics" so that no reason is left.
  In contrast, the texts to be found here emphasize only a very few but very powerful ideas on the basis of which everything finds its natural place and can then be investigated in great detail, and with many examples.
• So-called "developmental education" has now been in existence for at least thirty some years without any sign of success. While many variations have been tried, memorization has always been at its core and the obvious conclusion is that reducing learning mathematics to memorizing is completely counterproductive. In contrast, the texts to be found here appeal to common sense.
• Most of those involved in "developmental education", though, students as well as faculty, believe that this lack of success is somehow the result of the students' own inadequacy. A case of blaming the victims if you wish. In contrast, the texts to be found here make no assumption of any kind about the students.
• Mathematics stemms from the real world and statements are true or false, not because the textbook says so, but because the real world makes them necessarily so. The texts to be found here aim at helping the readers convince themselves that statements need to be justified and their truth supported with arguments.

• Currently, the above "ideas" are not familiar to most people. As a result, the texts to be found here were designed as parts of "bundles" suitable for "turnkey" classroom use in that they include all that is needed, Homeworks, Quizzes, Reviews, Exams, in a form that makes it easy for the instructor to follow and assess their students' progress as well as adjust the materials to their own situation.
• Mathematical exposition is no one's "intellectual property". All the materials on FreeMathTexts.org can thus be freely downloaded, used, copied, distributed and modified under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.

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