Course: College Algebra (MATH 120) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Calloway
Module: Week 16 of 16 · Fall 2026 · in-person, two 75-minute sessions
Objectives covered: cumulative — Objectives 1–8 (Weeks 1–15): simplifying with real-number properties, order of operations & exponent rules; linear equations & inequalities (incl. absolute value); functions — notation, domain & range, operations; linear functions, graphs & systems; polynomials & factoring; quadratics — equations, functions & graphs; polynomial/rational functions and rational & radical expressions/equations; and exponential & logarithmic functions, equations & applications.

This file holds two pieces: (A) the Module 16 Overview page ("Start Here") and (B) the Welcome Announcement that drips out when the module opens. This is finals week — it works differently from a normal week. Dates below assume a Tuesday/Thursday session pattern with the Week 16 in-class review on Tue Dec 15; the Final window opens Mon Dec 14 and the exam is due Fri Dec 18, 11:59 p.m. (end of finals). Adjust the day-of-week and times to match your section.

(A) Module 16 Overview — Start Here

Welcome to Week 16: Final Review & Exam

This is your home base for the week. Read it first, then work the checklist below from top to bottom. Everything you need is linked inside the module.

Heads-up: this is finals week, so it runs differently. There is no quiz, no discussion, and no assignment this week — the comprehensive Final replaces all of them. The week is built to get you ready: we spend our class session reviewing the whole course, you work through a three-part prep kit, and you sit the exam. The Final is cumulative over Weeks 1–15 (Objectives 1–8) — simplifying expressions, solving equations and inequalities, working with functions and their graphs, factoring, solving quadratics, handling rational and radical expressions, and modeling growth and decay with exponentials and logarithms. The midterm already covered the first half (Objectives 1–6 as taught in Weeks 1–7), so the Final leans heaviest on the function, quadratic, rational/radical, and exponential/logarithmic material — but the early skills are the tools the later ones use, so they're fair game too.

The week's big question

"Across the whole course — simplify it, solve it, graph it, factor it, and model it — can I do the one honest move each topic asks of me, and avoid the sign slip or dropped solution that sinks it?"

By the end of the week you'll have walked the entire Objective 1–8 arc once more, found the exact spots where points get lost, and shown what you can do on the Final.

By the end of this week, you can…

Use this as a checklist. If you can do all eight out loud, you're ready for the exam.

• [ ] Simplify honestly (Obj 1) — apply the order of operations (PEMDAS as two left-to-right pairs), the integer-exponent rules (product/quotient/power, zero, negative), and the −4² vs (−4)² trap.
• [ ] Solve linear equations & inequalities (Obj 2) — isolate the variable, and handle absolute-value equations and inequalities (|x − a| < b ↔ a compound "and" interval; flip the sign when you divide by a negative).
• [ ] Work with functions (Obj 3) — evaluate f(x), find a domain (exclude division-by-zero and negative even roots), and compose (f∘g)(x).
• [ ] Use lines & systems (Obj 4) — find a slope from two points, write a line in slope-intercept form, and solve a 2×2 system by substitution or elimination.
• [ ] Factor (Obj 5) — pull a GCF, factor trinomials and a difference of squares, and recognize a perfect-square trinomial.
• [ ] Solve & read quadratics (Obj 6) — solve by factoring / zero-product, read a vertex from vertex form, and use the discriminant to count real solutions.
• [ ] Handle rational & radical expressions (Obj 7) — simplify a rational expression (cancel common factors, note the restriction), evaluate a rational exponent, and solve a radical equation (and check for extraneous roots).
• [ ] Model growth & decay (Obj 8) — read and evaluate a logarithm, and use the inverse relationship between exponentials and logs (logb x = y ↔ bʸ = x).

What's due this week, and what to do

Work these in order — each one gets you ready for the next. This is the finals-week list; there is no quiz, discussion, or assignment here — the Final stands in for all of them.

There is no Quiz 16, no Discussion 16, and no Assignment 16 this week — the Final stands in for all of them. The Study Guide, Exam-Prep Tutorial, and Practice Final are your prep kit; the Final is what's graded.

A note on the AI prep tutorial: the Exam-Prep Tutorial works like every weekly tutorial — the chatbot drafts and quizzes you, and you judge its work against what we covered. Chatbots routinely fumble this material — calling −3² equal to 9 (it's −9), dropping the extraneous-solution check on a radical equation, or mishandling a domain restriction — and catching that is part of being ready. The Final itself is closed to AI; the tutorial is the place to spar with the chatbot beforehand.

Late policy reminder: 10% off per day late — and the exam window is firm, and it's the end of the term, so don't let it sneak up. If life happens, reach out before the deadline; I'd much rather hear from you early than after.

How to succeed this week

• Review actively, not passively. Don't re-read notes — do the moves. Simplify an expression, solve an equation, evaluate a function, factor a trinomial, find a vertex, simplify a rational expression, evaluate a log. The Study Guide and Practice Final are built for exactly this.
• Study the eight honest moves, not a thousand problems. The Final is the eight objectives — one honest move each, and the mistake that sinks it (a dropped negative, a swapped exponent rule, a forgotten extraneous-solution check). Learn those deeply and the exam stops feeling like "everything."
• Lean into the back half. The midterm already tested Objectives 1–6 as taught in Weeks 1–7, so the Final weights the function/quadratic/rational-radical/exponential-logarithmic material most heavily — but the early skills (signs, exponent rules, solving) are tools the later ones use, so keep them sharp.
• Lead with the idea, then the symbols. Every topic this term was an idea first. On the exam, name the honest move before you reach for a procedure: what does this expression mean? is this a domain restriction? does my radical answer actually check?
• Use the prep kit in order. Study Guide → Exam-Prep Tutorial → Practice Final. The tutorial finds your weak spots; the timed practice final tells you whether you've fixed them.

You've already done the hard part across fifteen weeks. This week is about pulling the whole course together and showing it. Come to class ready to review out loud — and bring your questions. See you Tuesday.

(B) Welcome Announcement — Module 16

Release setting: post on the module's start day (offset = 0 days), i.e., Mon Dec 14, 2026 (the day the Final window opens) — not before. If your platform won't preserve the scheduled post date on import, post this as a draft labeled "Release: Mon Dec 14."

Subject: Week 16 — Finals week: the whole course, one last time 🎓

Hi everyone,

Here we are — the last week. This one is different from the rest: it's finals week. There's no quiz, no discussion, and no assignment — the comprehensive Final takes their place. Everything this week is built to get you ready and then let you show what fifteen weeks built.

Here's the shape of it: our class session (Tue Dec 15) is a fast, complete review of the whole course — simplifying with the exponent rules, solving equations and inequalities, functions and their graphs, factoring, quadratics, rational and radical expressions, and exponential and logarithmic models. The exam is cumulative over Objectives 1–8; because the midterm already covered the first half, the Final leans heaviest on the function, quadratic, rational/radical, and exponential/logarithmic material — but the early skills (signs, exponent rules, solving cleanly) are the tools the later ones rest on, so keep them handy.

Your prep kit, in order: work the Study Guide first, then run the Exam-Prep Tutorial with an approved chatbot (Gemini, Claude, or ChatGPT) and submit the share link, then sit the Practice Final timed to find any soft spots. (Reminder: AI is for prep only — no AI on the Final itself.)

The dates that matter:
1. Final — window opens Mon Dec 14, due Fri Dec 18, 11:59 p.m. (end of finals; 30% of your grade).
2. Exam-Prep Tutorial — submit your chat share link before the Final closes (Fri Dec 18).
3. In-class review — Tue Dec 15; come with questions.

A word as we close the term. When we started in Week 1, the whole promise was respecting the rules that never change — the order of operations, the sign on a squared negative, the exponent laws. Everything since has been that same instinct, sharpened eight different ways: solve an equation cleanly, name a function's domain, factor without losing a term, read a parabola, simplify a rational expression and remember what it excludes, and solve for the time in a growth model. You can do all eight now. I've genuinely enjoyed watching you slow down on a minus sign, argue about whether √2 is rational, and refuse to accept a radical "solution" that doesn't check. This last exam isn't about cramming everything — it's about naming the eight honest moves and using them under one roof. You're ready.

Open the Start Here / Module Overview page first — it lays out the whole week in order with every due date. Thank you for a terrific semester.

You've got this. Come with questions Tuesday,
Prof. Calloway