Finite Mathematics

Finite Mathematics Math 105 Spring 2011 Syllabus

Time: Section 02: 9:00 – 9:50am MWF (labs on Wednesday) Section 04: 11:00 – 11:50am MWF (labs on Wednesday)

Place: classes in 317 Thompson Hall and labs in 220 Thompson Hall

Instructor: Li Zhang 310 Thompson 953-5033 [email protected]

Office hours: 10:00 – 10:50 am MWF and 1:00 – 1:50 pm MW or by appointment.

Course website: http://macs.citadel.edu/~zhangli/courses/math105/index.htm. Please pay close attention to the course web page, as class assignments and other information related to the course will be posted there. Students are responsible for checking this site on a regular basis.

Textbook: Finite Mathematics (5th edition) by Waner and CosteNoble, Brooks/Cole (ISBN 978-1-4390-4924-2).

Topics to be covered: Chapters 5 – 8.

Course description: This course is an introduction to finite mathematics with an emphasis on applications and formulation of problems in mathematical language. Topics selected from matrices, linear programming, Mathematics of finance, counting methods, probability, and statistics. The course includes work using a computer software package.

Prerequisite: Two years of high school algebra.

Grading policy: The final grade will be based on exams, computer lab assignments and quizzes as follows:

 Quizzes: 16% No make-up quizzes will be given. The quiz problems will be chosen from the homework problems assigned to you. Homework will be assigned but not collected. I will drop two of your lowest quiz grades at the end of the semester. If you have to miss one or two quizzes because you plan to engage in some activities, use them as the ones to be dropped.

 Computer lab assignments: 6% Late lab assignments will not be accepted.

 Four one-hour exams: 56% The dates of the exams are to be announced in class.  Final exam: 22%. It is scheduled for April 28th (Thursday at 1:00 pm) for section 02 and for April 30th (Saturday at 8:00 am) for section 04.

Grading scale: I will use the standard grading scale (A: 90 – 100; B: 80 – 89; C: 70 – 79; D: 60 – 69; F: below 60).

Only under exceptional circumstances will a student be permitted to shift the time of an exam. If you know you will be absent from a test, you have to discuss with me ahead of time, and I will decide if I should give you the test before the test day when you will be absent. Guard duty is not an excuse for missing a test or switching the time of a test.

Although I will not collect the homework assignments, it is important that you take it seriously since most of the problems on your exams will be based on the homework problems and the quiz problems will be chosen from your homework problems. The student who does not do his/her will find it difficult to pass this course.

The labs are to enhance your understanding of the mathematical concepts presented in the classroom. They also help you to develop the facility to use technology to analyze common mathematical problems. There will be several computer labs during this semester, and you will be asked to turn in a lab report for each lab. Each student must do his/her own lab report. Copying or superficially altering the file of another student is not acceptable. The instructions of the labs can be found at the course website.

Attendance: Class attendance is mandatory. The attendance policy of the college is observed. Students who miss 20% of the classes (with or without reasons) may receive an F in the course.

Calculators: You will need to be familiar with your own graphing calculator such as a TI83. Calculators may be used for some of your homework assignments and exams.

Other Help: At the beginning of the semester, there will be a one-hour calculator workshop which will help you get familiar with your TI83 calculator. Also, you can go to The Citadel Math Lab in the Academic Support Center (located on the first floor of Thompson Hall) to get help through the whole semester.

Other Policies:

 You are expected to show up on time and be prepared for every class. Make sure that you read the appropriated material and work all the assignments before each class. If you were absent from the previous class, you are responsible for getting homework assignments from your classmate or the course website and studying the material that you missed.

 You are expected to respect the instructor and your classmates. You should not have conversations with other students and move around during class. You should always ask for permission if you need to leave the classroom.  You are expected to follow all college policies for students including The Honor Code. Also, there should be no eating and drinking (other than water) in the classrooms at any time.

Extra Credit: You can earn extra credit for this course as follows. Extra credit will only help if your grade is on the borderline. Do not expect me to improve your grade if your grade is not on the borderline or you are obviously failing the class.

 In some of the exams, I may give you extra credit problem(s).  Problem of the week and/or month: For each one you get right, I will add 1 point (on a 100 scale) to your final exam.  Math lab attendance (58 points total: 4 points for an hour, maximum 4 points a day and 8 points a week) and regular class attendance (42 points total: 1 point for each class attendance): These points together can be used to replace your lowest one hour exam score if the total is greater than your lowest one hour exam score.  Class attendance and participation may be used to decide the grades which are on the borderline.  Online homework assignments (total 100 pts) can be used to replace your lowest one hour exam. If you choose this method to get extra credit, you need to set up an account in www.webassign.net/login.html. Instructions about how to set up your account can be found in instruction 1 and instruction 2. After you have an online account, you can login your account and complete the homework assignments listed in your account.