The Flavor of a Modeling-Based College Algebra / Precalculus Course

Introduction
In a recentGuest Editorial [Gordon 2013], I presented the case for changing the focus of existing college algebra / precalculus courses to make mathematicalmodeling the central and organizing theme. Doing so would

• make the courses far more appropriate to the needs of the overwhelming majority of students who take such courses, and simultaneously

• transform the courses into offerings that meet the current mathematical needs of the other disciplines who make these courses pre- and corequisites- and hence are the ones that send us most of our students.

At the same time, such an applied and conceptual focus, rather than the focus on developing algebraic skills in traditional versions of these courses, would transform the courses into the "right courses given for the right reasons for the students who actually register to take them."

To augment the broad principles and generalities presented in the editorial, I now provide some specific examples of problems (along with a discussion of each) that I have used in class and on exams to illustrate how ideas and suggestions discussed there can play out with students. Let us begin, however, with a brief overview of the structure that such amodelingbased course might have, citing specific topics.