Information and Policies

Instructor:

M. Randall Holmes

Office:

MG-240A

Telephone:

office: 426-3011

home: 345-2899 (do not call after 8:30 pm or between 6 pm Friday and noon Sunday).

E-mail:

holmes@math.boisestate.edu

WWW:

http://math.boisestate.edu/~holmes

Office Hours:

To be announced. See "open office policy" below.

Required Textbook Package:

(please make sure you have the correct book, as there are other very similar titles from Addison-Wesley) Precalculus: Graphs and Models, second edition, by Bittinger, Beecher, Ellenbogen, and Penna, ISBN: 0-201-61674-2, Addison-Wesley Publishers, 2000, MML Software Package.

UPDATE!!! This is not the ISBN of what they have at the bookstore: ISBN 0-201-70403-X is correct for you - it contains an additional graphing calculator manual, which you may find useful. This is a surprise move by the publisher. If you get ISBN: 0-201-61674-2 from some other source, it should be right -- make sure it includes the MML software.

FURTHER UPDATE: ISBN 0-201-70403-X was NOT correct as sent -- it did not include the MyMathLab software. As I write, the bookstore is packaging the MML software with these books at no extra cost to you, and if you have already bought the package with the graphing calculator manual and no MML software, take it to the bookstore and they will add the MML software for free. If they don't live up to any of this, please contact me!

Please note that this is not the same book that bricks-and-mortar sections of Math 143 use!

If your book says "A Unit Circle Approach" on the cover, it is the wrong book!

There are probably not any used copies, and used copies would not be useful unless you had some other way to get the required software.

Coverage:

M143 covers the algebra necessary to proceed into Calculus. This course will cover chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 8.1-8.3, 10.1-10.3. of the book.

Generic Syllabus:

M143 is a class in the university Core Curriculum. Core Curriculum classes are expected to meet certain learning objectives which are described in the department's generic syllabus for Math 143, which you are invited to look at.

No Overrides:

If you do not meet the prerequisites for this course, you will be administratively withdrawn. No exceptions will be made. The instructor will not sign overrides of class size limitations or course prerequisites under any circumstances.

Orientation Session and Administrative Withdrawal:

There is a mandatory orientation session for the class on Jan 16, 7:40--8:30 in MG124. We may move from MG124 to a computer lab, to facilitate logging in to My MathLab = CourseCompass. If you do not either show up for this session, sign up in CourseCompass for this course, or contact me in some other way to confirm your participation by NOON on Friday Jan 17 (I said "end of the working day" in my e-mail, but the office informs me this doesn't give them enough time), you will be administratively withdrawn.

Exams:

There are four hour exams, to be given on February 6, March 6, April 3, and May 1, 2003. The coverage on these exams is described in the suggested study schedule below. These exams must be taken on campus from 7:40 am to 8:35 am on the indicated date. YOU MUST BRING YOUR STUDENT ID (WITH PHOTO) OR A GOVERNMENT-ISSUED PHOTO ID TO EACH EXAM, or you will not be permitted to take the exam.

Final Exam:

There will be a cumulative final exam, which will be on Tuesday, May 13, 2003 in Math/Geology Room 124 from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Please note the different day of the week and make arrangements well in advance! You must take the final exam at this time; you must bring photo ID to the final as well.

Calculator Policy:

Understanding how to use a graphing calculator will prrobably be useful in this course (there are homework problems on which you are expected to use a grapher), but use of graphing calculators is not allowed on hour exams or the final. You may bring a plain scientific calculator without graphing or symbolic computation capabilities to each exam; any other calculator may not be used. Palm Pilots and similar handheld computers may not be used as calculators. Do not bring cell-phones into exams unless they are turned off.

Grading Criteria:

Your grade will be based entirely on your performance on these exams. Each hour exam will be graded numerically, with grades between 90 and 100 being A, grades between 80 and 89 being B, grades between 70 and 79 being C, grades between 60 and 69 being D, and grades below 60 being F. Grading on exams will usually be computed in such a way that the median grade is a 75 (mid-range C); this may be achieved by dropping the lowest grade, by linear scaling of grades to move a lower median to 75, or by a modification and/or combination of these methods. The instructor does reserve the right to leave the median below 75 if he feels that the class performance merits it. The final grade will be computed by adding the numerical grades for the hour exams, with the lowest one replaced by the final exam grade if this helps, plus twice the final exam grade, and dividing by six.

Lecture Notes and Online Quizzes:

I expect to provide weekly lecture notes on the material for that week in the study schedule and to develop an online quiz or quizzes each week which you can take to test your understanding of the material. The online quizzes will be graded by the course software, but they do not figure into your course grade; they are provided for immediate feedback on your understanding of the material, not as a graded requirement of the course.

My willingness to do this development work in addition to the prepackaged content of the online course will depend on the extent to which it is used by students.

I also expect to provide and lead or stimulate e-mail discussion groups using the built-in features of CourseCompass, dependent on participation.

Optional Class Sessions:

The class meets optionally every Thursday in MG124 during the semester from 7:40-8:30 am. I will be in MG 124 during this time. I also have other office hours, which will be announced, and I encourage you to contact me via e-mail if you have questions. I may try out the threaded discussion group feature of the course software; if I do this it will be announced on the course site.

Open Office Policy:

My office hours for these classes are to be announced. I will almost always be in my office at the officially scheduled times, and I will try to warn you when I will not be. If I am in my office during a posted office hour, I am available to help you.

Don't assume that these are the only times when you can get help! I am generally in my office most of the working day (I usually either the 3:40 or the 4:40 bus home) and I am never offended by a student asking me for help if I am in the office (though I may help only briefly if I am very busy).

Academic Honesty:

The penalty for cheating (defined as looking at another student's paper or unauthorized use of books or notes during an exam) will be a grade of zero (0) on the relevant exam. A repeat offense will mean an F in the course.