Portland Community College Southeast Campus Math 111, Spring 2017 (CRN 11879 5 Credits)
Portland Community College—Southeast Campus Math 111, Spring 2017 (CRN 11879—5 credits)
P.O. Box 19000 Meets T/Th 9am to 11:20am, in Tabor 118
Portland, OR 97280-0990
Office Hours: (see below for complete schedule)
Instructor: Noah Dear M from 2:00-3:00pm
Phone/Voice Mail: 971-722-6414 W from 11:30am-12:30pm
Email:
Website: www.noahdearmath. com
Prerequisite:
MTH 95, RD 115, and WR 115, or equivalent placement. Recommended: MTH 95 taken within the past 4 terms. Audit available.
Course Description:
Explores relations and functions graphically, numerically, symbolically, and verbally. Examines exponential, logarithmic, polynomial, and rational functions. Investigates applications from a variety of perspectives. For a complete description see: https://www.pcc.edu/ccog/default.cfm?fa=ccog&subject=MTH&course=111
Required Materials:
Constant internet access to ALEKS.com (personal or school resources)
Graph paper, pencil, eraser, and ruler (with inches and centimeters)
Either (a smartphone with DESMOS installed AND a scientific calculator) OR a graphing calculator required.
Important Dates:
Jan 12th – Last day to change to Audit grading option.
Jan 13th – Last day to drop with removal of tuition and fees (via My PCC).
Mar 3rd – Last day to change grading to P/NP. Last day to withdraw.
February 1st – Exam 1 (tentative)
Mar 1st – Exam 2 (tentative)
Mar 20th – Final (9:00 –10:50pm)*** Note this is on Tuesday!
Grading:
The following are approximations. I will provide extra credit assignments as deemed appropriate.
ALEKS Concept Deadlines 200 points (20 pts each)
Warm-Up Activity 85 points (5 each)
In-Class Graded Worksheets 85 points (5 each)
Take-Home Quizzes 100 points (10 each)
Exam 1 100 points
Exam 2 200 points
Final 300 points
Approximate Total: 1070
A: 90%+, B: 80%-89.99%, C: 70%-79.99%, D: 60%-69.99%, F: below 60%.
Your percentage will be calculated by dividing total points earned by total without extra credit.
The schools grading policy can be found at
http://www.pcc.edu/resources/academic/standards-practices/documents/G301GradingMarch2011.pdf
Attendance:
Attendance will be taken for the first week of class and is mandatory. Any student who does not attend every day of the first week of class will be dropped from the course. After the first week, while I will not be taking attendance, I fully expect you to attend. Mathematics is NOT a simple game of number crunching, it is a beautifully constructed piece of logic whose nuances you need to be present for in order to understand. If you are unable to attend class, it is your responsibility to acquire any worksheets we may have gone over and complete the section covered before the next class. Missing a class does NOT excuse you from understanding covered material or doing the assigned homework.
Tardiness:
Be respectful of your time, your peer’s time and my time. Be on time. If you are late, please enter quietly without interrupting any more than you have to and find a seat towards the back.
Classroom etiquette:
You are expected to participate in the learning environment without becoming an obstacle for others’ learning. There will be no sleeping in class, cell phones must be silenced, laptops put away. Texting during class will not be tolerated. Learning is about paying attention, taking an active role and being respectful of the others trying to learn around you. Any student repeatedly disregarding these concepts will be asked to leave. The student code of conduct may be found at www.pcc.edu/about/policy/student-rights/student-rights.pdf#code-of-student-conduct
Title IX
Portland Community College is committed to creating and fostering a learning and working environment based on open communication and mutual respect. If you believe you have encountered sexual harassment, sexual misconduct, sexual assault, or discrimination based on race, color, religion, age, national origin, veteran status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability, please contact the Office of Equity and Inclusion at (971) 722-5840 or .
Cheating:
Don’t do it. Cheating, plagiarism and other acts of academic dishonesty are regarded as serious offences. Depending on the nature of the offence, serious penalties may be imposed, ranging from the loss of points to expulsion from the class or the college. Failure to follow directions regarding working together/sharing work may result in a zero score for the assignment. Copying others’ work will not be accepted at any time, even when working together is allowed. Penalties are applied to both the copier and the one allowing the copying. Students are required to comply with the Student Rights and Responsibilities Handbook. The Handbook, which can be found at www.pcc.edu/about/policy/student-rights, includes the Code of Student Conduct and the Academic Integrity Policy.
ADA Accommodation:
Any student who feels he or she may need an accommodation for any type of disability should contact the Office for Students with Disabilities at 971-722-4341 or www.pcc.edu/resources/disability. Please also see me during the first week of class to ensure that your needs are fully met in this class. Accommodations are not retroactive and only begin when I receive the OSD Approved Academic Accommodations form.
Learning Center:
PCC has a learning center that is free with your tuition. The Learning Center is located in TH 123. I highly recommend that you go to the Learning Center to work on your homework, so that if any questions come up, you have a tutor right there to help you understand your problem.
Assignments:
ALEKS Concept Deadlines:
ALEKS Concept Deadlines will include specific mastery deadlines to keep you moving through the course material at a reasonable pace. Each Deadline is on Monday at 11:59pm. Each chapter will have a specific due date by which the concepts must be mastered. The expectation however, is that you will finish well before the deadline. Please check ALEKS calendar for specific assignment deadlines. I reserve the right to change the deadlines as needed based on class progress of course material. If you have not completed an objective by the given deadline you will be given partial credit based on the percentage of concepts completed at the closing date. It is true that you cannot earn full credit if you have not completed all of the objectives by the due date. If you do miss a deadline, ALEKS will continue giving you questions on the material until you show mastery in an assessment. Assessments occur within ALEKS to make sure topics stay “fresh” in your mind and are not lost when new material is learned. ALEKS is programmed to assess your knowledge systematically as you progress through the course. This will automatically occur once every 10 or 15 hours’ worth of work or around every 25 topics covered. However, these assessments will never occur on a Monday as ALEKS is expecting you to be working towards completing an objective. This being the case, you need to be logging in on days other than Monday to do these assessments otherwise you will have a ton of review questions fed to you rather than being able to focus on new material!
Suggestions for overall success in ALEKS:
· Log in EVERY Tuesday to estimate the time needed to complete the weekly tasks. Remember that topic totals are tied to your prerequisite knowledge and will vary from week to week.
· Logging in exclusively on Monday will result in more prerequisite problems overall. Assessments are designed to move topics from “learned” to “mastered” and do not occur on Monday. Without an assessment you will be continually prompted to do prerequisite concepts you have learned but not “mastered.”
· Do your work on paper first! Be sure to CHECK your answer using a calculator whenever possible before entering into ALEKS. The more correct answers means the less problems overall.
Graded Work:
· Warm-up Activity: These are done at the beginning of every class and are worth 5-points each. You will turn them in at the end of the allotted time and I will hand them back to you the next class. These cannot be made up!
· In-Class Graded Worksheets: You will have a worksheet that you must complete during each class in your groups. These will be collected on the first day of each week and handed back on the second day of each week. These may be made up, but count against your total number of late homeworks (see below for late policy).
· Take-Home Quizzes: Each week you will have a quiz that is 1-2 pages long to supplement the work you do online. I will be grading these as if they were an exam so that you can get feedback on your written work. These will be collected every first day of the week.
Late Policy:
Paper Assignments will not be accepted more than one day late! You are allowed up to 3 late assignments over the course of the term and then you are cut off! Use them wisely. These are for sick days and family emergencies, NOT laziness!
As to late ALEKS Homework, you may request that I extend your due date up to 3 times during the term. These requests will be dealt with on an individual basis and I do NOT promise that I will grant every request.
Extra Credit:
Extra credit assignments may be available during the term as I deem appropriate. These are not mandatory, but they sure do help! I do not accept late extra credit work.
Exams:
There will be exams on February 1st (tentative), March 1st (tentative), and March 20th. If for some reason you are unable to attend one of these dates, you are required to let me know at least 2 classes BEFORE the exam in order to reschedule. I may deny your request if it is not reasonable. If you have an emergency and are unable to attend an exam at last minute, I will require proper documentation in order for you to reschedule. You are required to take all exams and manage at least 210 points on the final exam to earn a passing grade.
Formatting:
ALL graded work will be evaluated on mathematical correctness, syntax (use of symbols and notation of mathematics), format (organization and presentation), the clarity of your arguments and reasonableness of your answers. Answers are NOT enough; justify all work by showing process and presenting a logical argument. Verify results whenever possible.
You will be marked down for incorrect notation.
Changes to Syllabus:
The instructor reserves the right to modify course content, dates of exams and/or substitute assignments and learning activities in response to institutional, weather or class situations. If you come to class, you will be kept up to date on any changes. Changes will also be sent to the class via e-mail so be sure to check your PCC email (or have it forwarded to the email account you check the most often).
Assumptions I make about you:
· You have made an informed choice to be a member of this class. You understand that the syllabus represents the contract between the student and the instructor. You understand the workload required. On average, you should spend three hours on your own (reading, studying, making notes, working on assignments, etc.) for every hour that you are in class.
· You will do the required reading and homework. This means that you will often have to read something more than once in order to fully understand it (remember the 3:1 ratio in the first assumption).
· You understand that learning is a step by step process and involves overcoming challenges. When times get tough, you will take a breath and do your best to keep a positive attitude.
Assumptions you can make about me:
· I will give you the respect that I ask you to give me and the other members of this class.
· I will do my best to help you, but I cannot learn the material for you.
· I will challenge you to perform at your best.
Instructor Availability:
Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday / Thursday9:00 / MTH 111
Tabor 118 / MTH 111
Tabor 118
10:00
11:00
Office Hour
12:00
1:00
2:00 / Office Hour
3:00
MTH 253
Tabor 143 / MTH 253
Tabor 143
4:00
5:00
You may also always contact me by e-mail!
