Business Mathematics

MATH 115A BUSINESS MATHEMATICS SPRING 2009 SECTIONS 16 and 19

Instructor: Steve Foster Phone: 626-8176 (my office) 621-6892 (messages) Office: MTL-121E (Building 89)

Email: [email protected]

Class Meetings: Section 16 - MWF 2:00-2:50 pm in ILC 133 Section 19 - MWF 3:00-3:50 pm in ILC 133

Office Hours: 12:00-1:00 pm on Mondays, 11:00-12:00 pm on Tuesdays, 1:00-2:00 pm on Thursdays, and by appointment.

Prerequisites: Successful completion of Introduction to Computing (MIS 111) and Business Problem Solving and Analysis (BAD 112L), and either successful completion of College Algebra with Data Analysis (Math 109), College Algebra (Math 110) or College Algebra Accelerated (Math 112) or an acceptable score on the Mathematics Readiness Test.

Text:. Mathematics for Business Decisions Part 1a, Release 1.53a, 2007, Thompson, Lamoureux, and Slaten, Mathematical Association of America. The material consists of a set of PowerPoint, Excel and Word files, along with many links to streaming video and internet sites. To obtain the e-text, go to the D2L site for your section of the course and click on MBD Part 1a in the blue navigation bar. Then follow the on-screen directions for downloading and unzipping the files.

Course Materials Needed. (i) Textbook. (ii) Math 115a Files. (iii) A USB mass storage device or blank CD-R's or CD-RW’s, as needed for reports and homework. (iv) Scientific or graphing calculator. Calculators that perform symbolic manipulations (such as the TI-89 or TI-92) are not permitted.

Email: Students are required to have a university email account and this address will be used for email correspondence. Do not email files to me. Emailed assignments will not be graded nor reviewed.

Class Attendance: Attendance is mandatory. Students are responsible for all information provided in class, in the course files, and on the course web page. Class roll will be taken, and any student who misses the first day or more than three days may be administratively dropped from the course. Any student who is excused from class for attendance at an officially authorized event must provide a written excuse signed by the Dean of Students no later than one week after the absence.

Exams: There will be two in-class exams throughout the semester. The dates will be announced in class and posted on the class webpage. There will also be an online computer quiz given around the 2nd week of April. This quiz is worth a maximum of 50 points. The final examination is scheduled for Wednesday, May 13th, from 5:00-7:00 pm. Unless there are emergency circumstances with appropriate documentation, a missed in- class examination will result in a score of zero. The final exam is a common as well as a comprehensive exam. The location of the exam will be given later in the semester. Barring any extreme circumstances, the final exam must be taken at the scheduled day and time. Each in-class examination will be worth 100 points, and the final examination will be worth 200 points.

Individual Homework/In class assignments/Quizzes: You will be given individual assignments, quizzes or class work. Late homework assignments will be accepted, for a reduced score, up to no credit. There are no make-up quizzes or make-up in-class assignments. To provide for legitimate absences at least 2 scores will be dropped. For individual homework, all problems may not be individually graded. Discussion of individual homework problems (“working together”) is encouraged, but each student is expected to write up his/her own solutions. A maximum of 100 points will be possible for this component of the course.

Team Homework: Team homework assignments will be collected on the dates announced in class and select problems will be graded. These assignments need to be done with the use of Word and Excel, be professional documents, use equation editor in Excel for use of correct math notation, etc. I will not accept any team homework that is not computer generated. A hard copy of these problems will be due on the designated dates by the end of class. Late homework will be accepted, and could receive up to no credit. Your papers must be stapled or the assignment will be considered late. You must include the cover page.

Team Projects: Teams consisting of four or five students each will be formed to work two team projects. Team members may be assigned new groups after project 1, based on each person’s performance on the first project and exam. Every team will give a preliminary oral report, a final oral report, and a final written report on each project. The written report must be submitted in class as a hard copy, and as an electronic copy on Turnitin.com. If Turnitin.com reports a low percentage of originality, your report will be investigated for plagiarism. If a team fails to submit their report to Turnitin.com by the due date, the team grade on the written report with drop by 15 points (out of the 45 points possible) automatically, and will result in a 0 if it is not submitted at a later date determined by the instructor.

Each team member is expected to contribute equally to all homework and project assignments. Each team member’s name must be typed on the assignment with his/her own signature written next to the typed name. If a student’s name is not signed and typed on the assignment when the assignment is turned in at the beginning of class, that student will not receive credit for the assignment. There will be no exceptions. If you may miss class the day the homework is due, please arrange to sign the cover sheet ahead of time. Your signature verifies that you contributed to the work done on this assignment and are responsible for the contents. Students who do not help with the homework should not sign it.

After completion of the final oral reports, an individual project quiz will be given. Each project will be worth 150 points (15 points for the preliminary report, 50 points for the final oral report, 40 points for the final written report, and 45 points for the project quiz.) Any student who fails to cooperate with his or her team will work the project individually for a maximum of 80% of the possible points.

The oral reports must be supported with PowerPoint presentations. Each team member must actively participate, and each team member is expected to dress and act professionally. Final oral reports will be evaluated on the organization and style of the presentation, the correctness and completeness of the contents, the ability of all team members to answer questions and explain what the team has done, and the extent to which the team explores the project beyond the level of the Class Project.

The written reports must be computer-generated. They must be self-contained and free of spelling and grammatical errors. Written reports will be evaluated on completeness, correctness, and quality of presentation.

Grading: 2 Midterm exams: 200 points A: 90-100% of possible points Final exam: 200 points B: 80-89% of possible points Team Homework: 100 points C: 70-79% of possible points Individual HW/Quizzes: 100 points D: 60-69% of possible points 2 Projects: 300 points E: below 60% of possible points Computer Quiz: 50 points ------Total 950 points (assuming the 55% rule is met)

****In order to pass this class, a student must receive at least 55% of the possible points on individual work (exams and quizzes) and at least 55% of the possible points on team work (homeworks, reports, etc.). This is completely non-negotiable.

Students withdrawing from the course: If you withdraw from the course by Tuesday, February 10th, the course will be deleted from your enrollment record. If you withdraw from the course by Tuesday, March 10th, you will receive a grade of W. The University allows withdraws after March 10th, but only with the Dean’s signature. Late withdraws will be dealt with on a case by case basis, and requests for late withdraw with a W without a valid reason may or may not be honored.

Academic Integrity: Academic integrity is expected in this course. Students are responsible to inform themselves of University policies regarding the Code of Academic Integrity. Students found to be in violation will be subject to penalties. For more information about the code, see http://studpubs.web.arizona.edu/policies/studcofc.htm.

Disruptive Behavior: Disruptive behavior will not be tolerated. During class students need to participate in the discussion. They should not be reading a newspaper or talking. You may be asked to leave the room if the instructor feels your behavior is disruptive for any reason. Also, be sure your cell phones are in silent or vibrate mode, especially during exams.

Incomplete Grades. If you fail to complete the course due to circumstances unforeseen, then you may qualify for a grade of I, "incomplete" if all of the conditions are met: 1. You have completed all but a small portion of the required work. 2. You have scored at least 50% on all work completed. 3. You have a valid reason for not completing the course on time. 4. You agree to make up the material in a short period of time. 5. You ask for the incomplete before grades are due—48 hours after the final exam.

University Policies. You are expected to be familiar with and abide by the University of Arizona's Student Code of Conduct, Code of Academic Integrity, Policy on Disruptive Behavior in an Instructional Setting, Policy on Threatening Behavior by Students, and Official Student Email Policy as well as the Business Mathematics Academic Integrity Policy. These policies will be enforced, and any student who is found to be in violation will be appropriately sanctioned.

Students with Disabilities. If you anticipate issues related to the format or requirements of this course, please see me during office hours or by appointment. I would like for us to discuss ways to ensure your full participation in the course. If you determine that formal, disability-related accommodations are necessary, it is very important that you be registered with the Disability Resource Center (621-3268; drc.arizona.edu) and that you provide me with official notification of your eligibility for reasonable accommodations. We can then plan how best to coordinate your accommodations.