Mathews Malnar and Bailey, Inc. Quality engineering, applied statistical consulting, and training services for R&D, product, process, and manufacturing engineering organizations.

Arithmetic Review

Course Description
This course is a review of basic arithmetic skills for everyday use at work and home.  Students will learn the essentials of arithmetic operations using whole numbers, fractions, decimals, and percentages.  These skills will be polished with simple real-life applications and word problems.  At the conclusion of this course, students will be able to perform simple arithmetic operations mentally, and other operations quickly by hand.

Course Objectives
At the end of this course students should be able to:

• Perform basic mathematical operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division) quickly and accurately.
• Be able to convert fractions to decimals and decimals to fractions.
• Be able to perform calculations with percentages.
• Be able to interpret and solve simple mathematical word problems.
• Be able to perform calculations using equations for:
• The characteristics (e.g. perimeter and area) of simple geometrical figures (e.g. square, rectangles, triangles, and circles).
• Rate, time, and distance problems.
• Simple financial calculations involving percentages.
• Be able to understand and use unit conversions.

Student Evaluation Methods
Students’ progress will be monitored by their performance on:

• In-class exercises and worksheets.
• Timed pre- and post-class quizzes.
• Homework assignments (which may include web-based games and exercises).
• End-of-course quiz.

Book Recommendation
Arithmetic the Easy Way, 4th Ed., by Edward Williams and Katie Prindle, Barron’s Educational Series.  This book is very easy to use with an abundance of practice problems including basic word problems.  The book is also well illustrated and geared towards older students who want to expand their knowledge of everyday mathematics and applications.

Course Format
This course requires a total of 20 contact hours. We strongly recommend that classes be no longer than two hours each with no more than two classes per week.