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Syllabus
Mat 152a Spring, 2002 Instructor:
George Drake This
syllabus contains important information regarding requirements, grading, and
deadlines. Failure to meet the
expectations spelled out herein may result in receiving a poor grade.
Having received this document, the student is expected to know its
contents, whether explained verbally or not.
Read it!
This syllabus may also be viewed
online by going to http://www.ltcc.edu/programs/math/, then click to
syllabi, Mat 152a (Drake). Instructor:
George Drake
Office: F103
Phone:(530)541-4660x256
Office Hours: MW 1:00-2:00,
TTh 11:00-12:00, F 10:00-11:00 Finals Week: The Office hour on Monday will be from 12:00-1:00, and
there will be no Friday office hour.
These hours are for drop-in student counseling (i.e., I am there waiting
for someone, anyone, to show up). If
I appear to be busy, be sure to make your presence known, as I rotate
questioning amongst all students who are in attendance.
In addition, a limited number of individual appointments may be made, but
please observe the courtesy of attempting to meet your needs through the drop-in
service as much as is practical. Thanks Text:
Dugopolski, Mark: Elementary and Intermediate Algebra, 1st ed.,
McGraw-Hill, 2002, ISBN 0-07-245028-2 Prerequisite:
A grade of C or better in modules a-d of Mat 181 or the equivalent, or a
satisfactory score on the Mathematics Assessment Test.
Mat 181e is strongly recommended. Grading
Policy:
I grade on a “modified curve.” What
this means is that:
1) Grading will be competitive. I.e.,
the students who demonstrate the best understanding of the material will receive
the highest grades. Traditionally
(old tradition, to be sure) an “A” corresponds to the top 10%, a “B” to
the next 20%, a “C” to the middle 40%, a “D” to the next 20%, and an
“F” to the final 10%.
2) Those who drop out of the class will be assumed to fall into the
lowest categories, so it is possible for every student who persists through the
final to pass, or even attain a “B” or better.
This is, however, a rare event for. . . 3) There will also be a considerable element of subjective judgment in deciding what the grades will be. I.e., I have a strong perception of what good, medium, and poor mastery of this level of mathematics is. If this class performs well or poorly on a particular assessment instrument (a test, the homework, the quizes, etc.) I will modify the grade distribution to reflect that fact. Whether the class itself performs well or poorly, however, I am also capable of assessing each individual’s performance in a similar manner. Hence, on any particular assessment instrument there may be more or less than the 10%, 20%, or 40% described above. Upon
completion of each assessment instrument, the student will receive a letter
grade. Each quiz will be returned to the class with a report of the average on
that quiz, but the final grade on both the quizes and homework will not be
calculable until the entire set of quizes and homework is completed-i.e., not
until the end of the quarter. The assessment instruments will be combined at the
end of the quarter via weighted averaging with the following weights:
Homework (due daily)
18%*
Each midterm exam (3)
18% (Best two count. Total =
36%)
Quizzes based on the homework and
lectures given at start of the first
class meeting of each week
17%
Final Exam (comprehensive)
27%
Fudge factor
(instructor's subjective
evaluation)
2% *
If less than half of the homework is handed in (including late work) with
legitimate evidence of effort, the student cannot receive a grade greater than
C, no matter what other scores are attained in other areas.
Occasionally homework may include some problems from sections not yet
touched on in lectures. In such
cases any legitimate effort will be counted the same as a correct solution.
Not every problem on each homework assignment will be graded.
Instead, a representative sample (some easy problems, some medium, and
some hard, some odd numbers, some even) will be graded and scored.
The grade for that homework assignment will be the score received on the
sample.
Extra Credit assignments may be made from time to time.
Extra credit will be considered after an initial determination has been
made of a student's grade and will be used only to increase a grade which
marginally misses the next higher grade.
All work will be graded on the basis of the process the student employs
at least as much as on the result, so always show your work!
Correct answers which obviously required written work will not be given
full credit, and may not even get any credit at all, if the work is not shown.
The last day to withdraw from this class with no record or to opt for
Credit/No Credit is April 26, 2002
The last day to withdraw with the letter grade of “W” is May 31, 2002
The I grade is not intended as a way of avoiding a grade the student
doesn't want, or even one which the instructor doesn't wish to give.
It will not, therefore, be given except in circumstances which cannot
have been foreseen and which occur too late to withdraw from the class. Late
and Make-up policy:
Homework may be handed in up to one week late for ½ credit.
However, late work will not normally be graded.
Instead the student will be given credit at the end of the quarter for
each late assignment at the rate of ½
of his/her average homework score. To
meet the requirement that ½ of the homework be attempted in order to score
better than a C, homework may be handed in until the date of the final.
However, any homework received later than one week from the due date will
be given a zero point value.
Quizzes may not be made up.
Midterms and the final may only be made up if arrangements are
made before the exam or upon the presentation of written
documentation that the absence was beyond the student's control and
unpredictable (e.g., doctor's note on letterhead stationary, police accident
report, etc.) Restriction
on use of calculators:
Most sections of this course are meant to be conducted without the use of
a calculator. A few sections, and some homework exercises, will be enhanced by
the use of a calculator and the book utilizes a “calculator icon” to
indicate such. Do not use a
calculator unless you are doing one of these specially designated exercises.
Generally, calculators will not be allowed on tests, so practice not
using them on your homework.
In addition, most graphing
calculators will do much of the work being taught in MAT152a.
Therefore, the use of graphing calculators in
MAT152a is forbidden (again, don’t practice in homework that which you
will not be able to do in class). Plagiarism
and Academic Dishonesty:
The only portions of this class which may be conducted in a collaborative
manner are the homework, where collaboration is encouraged, and assignments
which may, from time to time be specifically made with the provision that they
are to be collaborative.
Tests and quizes are all closed book, closed notes.
Any attempts to cheat, including talking during a test/quiz or excessive
“wandering eye”, if discovered,
will be severely dealt with. Lecture
and exam schedule, including due dates of assignments:
Lectures and exams will proceed according to the following schedule:
April 2
Introduction and §1.1 (hand out FTA)
April 4
FTA and §1.2 (hand out Negative numbers)
April 9
Neg numbers and §§ 1.3-1.5
April 11
§§1.6-1.8 (hand out solving linear eqns)
April 16
Solving lin. eqns and §§2.1- 2.2 (hand out review guide)
April 18
Review 1.1-1.8, FTA, and Neg numbers + 2.3 **
April 23
Test 1.1-1.8, The FTA h.o., and the Neg Nums h.o. (first one hour) §2.4
(hand out Let Dept)
April 25
§§2.5-2.6
April 30
Return exam + §2.7
May 2
§§ 3.1-3.2
May 7
§3.3 (hand out review guidelines)
May 9
Review 2.1-3.3, solving linear eqns, let dept. + §4.1 **
May 14
Test 2.1-3.3, solving linear eqns h.o., let dept h.o. (first one hour)
+ §4.2
May 16
§§4.3-4.4
May 21
Return exam + §§4.5 & 8.6
May 23
§§4.6 & 11.3
May 28
§§5.1-5.2 (hand out review guide)
May 30
Review 4.1-4.6, 8.6, 11.3 + §§5.3-5.4 **
June 4
Test 4.1-4.6, 8.6, 11.3 (first one hour) + § 5.5
June 6
§§ 5.6-5.7 (hand out review guide)
June 11
Return exam + Review all
June 13
Review all
June 18
Final Exam, Comprehensive with extra emphasis on §§5.1-5.7, two hours, 4:00-5:50
Please come to class having read the material which is to be covered in
class that day. Sometimes this will
be hard to do, as the material may be very difficult to understand when it is
read without the benefit of having heard a lecture on the topic. But, when that is the case, it gives the student the benefit
of knowing in advance which topics are most confusing. When it is not the case, it gives him/her a head start on the
lecture, making it easier to benefit from any special nuances which may be brought out in class. Homework
Assignments:
Homework assignments will be made via handouts which will be distributed
every two weeks, covering the following two weeks.
Students are expected to attend class, and the instructor accepts no
responsibility for difficulties which may arise from the student's failure to do
so--including the possibility that the student may not get the assignment
sheets.
Homework is due at the end of class on the date due, but I recommend
handing it in as you enter, since that is easier to remember to do. Keys to the homework assignments will be posted next to F103, usually by the day after the assignment is due.
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