Syllabus Mat 152b Spring 2003
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 152b (Drake).
Instructor:
George Drake, B.A.,
M.A., and C.Ph., all in mathematics, all from U.C. Davis
Office: F130
Phone: (530)541-4660x256
Office Hours:
M.: 2:30-3:30
T.: 5:30-6:30
W.: 1:00-2:30
Th.: 1:00-2:30
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 Mat
152a or the equivalent, or a satisfactory score on the Mathematics Assessment
Test.
Class Meets:
T., Th, 10:00-11:50 in A213
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
quizzes, 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 quizzes and homework will not be calculable until the entire set of
quizzes 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 non-test
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 May 2, 2003.
The last day to withdraw with
the letter grade of “W” is June 6, 2003
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.
Students should be apprised of
the potential of switching from one section of a class to another section of
the same class (e.g., Mat 152b-1 to Mat 152b-2), subject to the approval of the
receiving instructor, but independent of the date. Because of discrepancies in instructional practices, such a
switch can have disadvantages to the switching student, and anyone considering
such a move should talk to the instructor (Drake) before attempting it.
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.
One midterm may be made up (i.e., taken at a time other than the
scheduled administration) with the instructor's permission, which must be
obtained in advance. However,
a made up exam is automatically subject to three penalties:
1) The actual score will not
exceed the "earned score, minus," i.e. an earned B+ becomes, at best,
an actual score of B, etc.
2) The actual score will not exceed the best
of the scores received on exams taken by the student on time, and
3) The actual score will not exceed the best
of the scores received on that midterm by students taking the exam during its regularly
scheduled administration.
WARNING: It is the responsibility of the student
taking a make-up exam to find out whether any corrections/clarifications were
made between the time of the test's duplication and his/her actually seeing it.
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. No exceptions to this rule
arise before chapter 10, and, depending upon the specifics of this quarter’s
class, may not even arise then.
In addition, most graphing calculators will
do much of the work being taught in MAT152b.
Therefore, the use of graphing calculators in MAT152b is forbidden even where a calculator
may otherwise be allowed (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 quizzes 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:
4/8 Introduction
and §3.3
4/10 §§
2.4 & 8.1
4/15 §§
8.7 & 6.1
4/17 §§
6.2-6.3
4/22 §§
6.4-6.5
4/24 §§
6.6-7.1 (hand out review guide)
4/29 Review
3.3,8.1,8.7,6.1-6.6 + §7.2
** 5/1 Test 3.3, 8.1, 8.7, 6.1-6.6
(first one hour) + §7.3
5/6 §§
7.4-7.5
5/8 §§
Return exam + §7.6
5/13 §§
7.7-7.8
5/15 Pause
5/20 §§ 8.2
& 9.1 (hand out review guidelines)
5/22 Review
§§ 7.1-7.8 + § 9.2
** 5/27 Test 7.1-7.8 (first one hour)
+ §9.3
5/29 §§
9.4-9.5
6/3 Return
exam + §9.6
6/5 §§
10.1-10.2 (hand out review guide)
6/10 Review
§§ 8.2, 9.1-9.6 + §11.5
** 6/12 Test
8.2, 9.1-9.6 (first one hour) + review §§ 10.1,10.2, & 11.5 (hand out
review guide)
6/17 Review
all, return exam
6/19 Review
all
** June
24 Final Exam,
Comprehensive with an extra emphasis on §§10.1,10.2, & 11.5 (two hours), 11:00-12:50
Please note the change in time!
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 F130, usually by the day after the assignment is due.