MATH 1300 SYLLABUS (11:30 A.M.-12:45 P.M. MW; A630; CRN 10446) - INTERMEDIATE ALGEBRA - FALL 2009

Instructor: Dr. Linda Becerra Office: S707 E-mail: BecerraL@uhd.edu

Office phone: 713-221-8643 Web Page: http://cms.uhd.edu/Faculty/BecerraL

Office hours: 1 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. MW, 12 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. TR, and by appointment.

Course prerequisite: Math 0300 (Beginning Algebra) with a “C” or better; or placement by exam taken at UHD.

Textbook: Beginning and Intermediate Algebra, 4th Edition, by Elayn Martin-Gay, Pear Prentice Hall, 2009. Note: an

electronic copy of the textbook is available in MyMathLab.

Course grade: There are 600 total points: three tests (each counts 100 points), a comprehensive final exam (200 points),

and MyMathLab Online Homework (100 points). There will also be several Class Activities that will count 5 points

total for the semester and will be included as extra credit. Your total points will be converted to a percent (divide by 600) and

then course grades will be assigned based on that percent: “A” (90-100), “B” (80-89), “C” (70-79), “D” (60-69) or “F” (0-59).

Also, if you have 3 or fewer absences (3 tardies = 1 absence) beginning with the official day of record, September 8, and take all

tests, then your final exam will replace your lowest test grade, if it is higher.

Class Activity # 1: Register in MyMathLab and in the UHD Math Portal during the first week of classes (by Aug. 30).

Exceptions to Course Grade: The are additional requirements set by the CMS department for this course. (1) If your final exam score is less than 50, you will receive a “U” or “IP” for the course regardless of your average. (2) If you violate the MATH 1300 Attendance Policy (see item below), you will receive a “U” for the course regardless of your average. (3) If you are attending class but are not making a genuine effort to pass (as evidenced by not handing in assignments, not participating in class, not seeking help outside of class, etc.), you will receive an “F” for the course regardless of your average. (4) You may only request a W for this course if you (a) withdraw from the university, or (b) if you have a compelling reason.

MATH 1300 Attendance Policy: Attendance will be taken on a daily basis beginning September 8. If a student misses 4 classes or more, the instructor will notify the CMS department office and the student will be automatically assigned a course grade of “F,” to be preprinted on the final grade sheet. Also, a “HOLD” will be placed on the student's academic record. The student must subsequently see an academic adviser to have the “HOLD” removed. See the MATH 1300 Attendance Policy on the class web page for more details.

Excess Course Attempts: In accordance with state law, UHD charges an additional fee for each credit hour for enrollment in a developmental course after 18 hours of developmental work has already been attempted. An attempt is defined as an enrollment that results in a letter grade (including “S”, “U”, “IP”, and “W”). A developmental course is defined as MATH 0300, MATH 1300, ENG 1300, ENG 130A, and RDG 1300.

Satisfactory Progress Policy: Students are required to demonstrate satisfactory progress toward completing their developmental course requirements. MATH 1300 is a developmental course. See the class web page for details on the Satisfactory Progress Policy for Developmental Courses.

Homework Assignments:

• MyMathLab Online Assignments. There will be homework assignments to be completed online using MyMathLab (MML). Note: (1) You must register in MML during the first two weeks of the semester, by September 7. Otherwise, you will be locked out of the course. (2) A MML assignment does not have to be completed in one sitting. You may work on a MML assignment several times a day, or over several days; but, each MML assignment will have a specified due date by which it must be completed. After the final due date, you will no longer be able to access that assignment. Please do not put off the MML homeworks! (3) In each MML assignment, you can continue trying each exercise over and over. This means you can continue to improve your grade on each MML assignment, up to 100%, and this should be your goal! (3) All of the MML HW assignments together will count 100 points towards your course grade. If you have any questions or problems with MyMathLab, please see me immediately so we can resolve these.

• Suggested HW Exercises. There will also be suggested exercises from the textbook for you to do. The suggested exercises are not to be turned in to be graded, but they give you an additional opportunity to practice the ideas and skills we are learning in the course and help prepare you for the tests.

MyMathLab: (1) You can purchase a MML access code at www.coursecompass.com, or use the code in the MyMathLab Access Kit that is included if you purchase a new textbook in the UHD Bookstore. (2) The entire textbook is viewable online once you register in MML, so buying a hard copy of the book is optional for this course. (3) After you have access to MML, you should register in the Math Portal for UHD. This website has been set up to aid you in the use of the many technology resources available for your math course and textbook. (4) You can use MML on any computer that has internet access. If you cannot do this from home, you can log in to MML from any UHD computer with internet access (Academic Computing Labs are in S800, C300, and B200), print out the MML assignment, work through the exercises on paper, and then enter the answers the next time that you log-in to MML.

To enroll in MML, besides an access code, you will also need a valid Email address – please use one that you check regularly. You must register in MML at www.coursecompass.com only the first time that you use it: (a) The course ID number is becerra98673. (b) The zip code for UHD is 77002. (c) You will then create a Login Name and Password which you will use to log in whenever you use MML. Make sure to record your exact login name and password for future log-ins. Please contact me immediately if you have any questions or problems with MML!

Once you are logged in, you should explore the site! You can:

• Complete the required MML assignments (Link – Do Homework);

• Check out your MML grades (Link – Gradebook);

• View an electronic version of the textbook and look at multimedia resources such as online video clips and PowerPoint presentations that accompany the textbook, and much more (Link – Multimedia Library).

University Policies: All students are subject to UHD’s Academic Honesty Code and to all other university-wide policies and procedures as they are set forth in the University Catalog and Student Handbook, http://www.uhd.edu/campus/handbook.htm. Please ask if you have any questions on the honesty code. A grade of 0 will be given on any coursework where cheating occurs; more severe penalties may result depending on the violation.

Statement on reasonable accommodations: UHD adheres to all applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and

Guidelines with respect to providing reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities. Students with disabilities should register with the Office of Disabled Student Services (S-409) and contact me in a timely manner to arrange for appropriate accommodations.

Class attendance/Make-ups: Please plan to attend every class meeting; you will find it difficult to successfully complete the course if you don't. Please be on time and plan to stay for the entire class, and let me know in advance when you cannot do this. If you miss roll, let me know right after class so you will be marked present on that day.

Cell Phones, iPods, Beepers: Please keep them off and out of sight during class. Thank you.

Missed a class? Whenever you miss class, you should first check the Class Journal on our class web page

(http://cms.uhd.edu/Faculty/BecerraL) to see what material was covered and what the HW assignment is.

Check the class web page regularly to keep up with assignments and for other course information. Missed classes, even for valid reasons, do not entitle you to turn in work late unless prior arrangements are made. Missed grades will be recorded as 0.

Make-up tests are not given. If you miss a test, that grade will be replaced by your final exam grade.

Important dates: August 24, Classes begin; September 7, Labor Day Holiday, university closed; September 8, Official Day of Record; October 29, Last withdraw date - if you stop attending class and do not officially withdraw, you will receive a course grade of “F”; November 25- 28, Thanksgiving Holidays, no classes; December 5, Last day of classes.

Resource materials/Course success:

Where can you get help? You can get help with HW from me during my office hours; help is also available in the Math Lab (N925) which has usual hours of 9 am–9 pm Mn–Th, 9 am–2 pm Fr, and 12 pm–6 pm Sat. You are strongly encouraged to use the

services offered here. This is an excellent place to study and work on problems so that you can receive immediate help when necessary, and you can meet classmates here for study sessions too.

Study Groups: I strongly encourage you to form a study group with classmates to work on HW, and to study for tests. The best way to learn mathematics is to practice, practice, practice! Working through exercises online and from the book and discussing the material with others (including me) will help you become more comfortable and proficient with the course material.

Troubles with HW? (1) HW is the most important part of the course. You should set up a regular schedule to do HW and stick to it. (2) Review your class notes often to keep on top of things, and read the textbook carefully and thoughtfully before you begin an assignment. (3) Your questions are welcome in class, and if there is not enough time to answer all of them, you can also get help with HW during my office hours as well as with anything related to the course. (4) Even if you understand the class lecture, this is only one part of the learning process. You may have troubles once you begin to try HW problems. Remember there are no shortcuts to learning; you must build your own understanding through patience and practice by wrestling with complex ideas by yourself. It takes time to see different sides of math ideas and to mentally develop linkages that will help you apply these in problem solving. This is what HW is for, to give you a chance to practice on your own and develop your own understanding, and why it is so important! So don’t be too worried if you struggle with HW, this is just part of the learning process. Students who participate in class and diligently work on their HW are usually sufficiently prepared for tests - there is no reason to think you are any different.

Course Description/Educational objectives: These are posted on our class web page: http://cms.uhd.edu/Faculty/BecerraL/.

Test schedule (Test dates and material will be confirmed at least one week in advance.)

Test questions will be similar to exercises in MyMathLab and exercises in the text.

Test 1 September 23; Test 2 October 21; Test 3 November 23.

Final exam: Wednesday, December 16; 11:30 a.m. – 2 p.m.