College Algebra
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Illinois State University Mathematics Department
MAT 119, College Algebra, 3 semester hours.
Placement test or credit in MAT 104 required. Not for credit major nor minor nor if had MAT 107. Graphing calculator required. Meets five days a week.
Functions, relations and inverses with emphasis on polynomial, rational, exponential and logarithmic functions. Algebra of polynomials. Solving quadratic, exponential and logarithmic equations. Solving quadratic, rational and absolute value inequalities.
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These Exam dates & information is tentative!! For the most accurate info ATTEND CLASS
Chapters R1-R7
Chapters 1.1-1.7
Chapters 2.1-3.2
Chapters 3.4-4.5
Comprehensive Final Exam Monday May 7th at 8 pm
Math 119, Summer 2001
Instructor: Kevin Thompson Office: STV 312 A
Phone: 438-3392 Office Hours: times by appointment
E-mail: [email protected]
Text: College Algebra, by Ruud and Shell.
An optional student solutions manual is also available.
Calculators: A graphing calculator is required for this course and should be purchased before the first lab session on Thursday, January 20. A Texas Instruments TI-83 is strongly recommended. TI 92 or 89 will NOT be allowed
Withdrawal Dates: The last date to withdraw from this class with no grade assigned is Jan 29, and the last date that you can withdraw with a grade of WX is Feb. 16. After this date, you can not withdraw from individual courses.
Exams: We will have four exams before the final exam which will each be worth 100 points. You may replace your lowest exam score among these four with the percentage you earn on the final exam, if this improves your score. The final exam will be a comprehensive departmental exam which will be worth 200 points. The tentative dates for the four 100-point exams are included on the schedule you have been given. These dates are subject to change and you are responsible for any such changes announced in class. The final exam will be on Monday May 7th at 8 pm-11 pm at a location to be announced later. I will replace your lowest hour exam with the raw( non-curved) percentage on the final.
Quizzes: There will be quizzes given on a regular basis. These quizzes may be given during either the regular class sessions or during the lab sessions, and will be announced at least one day in advance. Each of these quizzes will be worth 25 points. At the end of the semester your quiz total will be scaled to 100 points by calculating the percentage of the possible points that you have earned. Your lowest quiz will be dropped.
Labs: During many of the lab sessions there will be programmed labs for you to work on, which will then be graded. Other labs have been left open so that you can ask questions about homework problems, In these latter cases there will often be quizzes at the end of the sessions, which would be included in the quiz grade (see above). The labs may not be the same days each week, attending class is very necessary. At the end of the semester your lab score will be scaled to 50 points by calculating the percentage of the points that you earned on the collected labs and then awarding you that percentage of 50.
Ex\ If the total lab points begins at 200 and you received 150 of those points, you earned 75%
Now take 75% of 50 giving you 38 (37.5 rounded up) points out of a possible 50 for the labs.
Homework: Homework will be assigned daily, will normally be collected or graded. Homework will be scaled to 50 points. Assignments that will be graded may OR may not be announced when it is assigned. Regardless, in order to do well in this class you should keep up on the homework at all times at all costs.
Attendance: Attendance will not normally be recorded, but poor attendance is very likely to have a negative affect on your grade through reduced quiz and exam scores. If you must miss a class session or a lab session for any reason, it is your responsibility to find out what was covered, discussed or announced during that session. It will not be considered an excused absence if you miss any activity, including an exam, because you were not aware that it had been scheduled (or rescheduled) for a particular day. You will receive a score of zero in such cases.
Make-ups: You are expected to take all exams and quizzes when they are given to the rest of the class, and you are expected to complete each lab during its scheduled lab session. Other arrangements will only be considered if you have a valid, verifiable excuse, and you have discussed it with me in advance. If you must miss an exam for any reason, then you will use your percentage on the final exam to replace that missing exam score. Absolutely No make-ups will be given for a missed exam, regardless of the reason. If you have a valid reason for missing a quiz or a lab, or if you have valid reasons for missing more than one exam then I will arrange make-ups only if I agree that your reasons for missing each time are valid, and you have discussed the problem with me in advance each time. Arrangements in such situations will be dealt with on an case-by-case basis.
Course Grades: There will be 800 possible points for this class, as follows:
4- Exams at 100 points each = 400 points
Final Exam= 200 points
Quizzes = 100 points
Homework= 50 points
Labs= 50 points
800 total points
Grades will then be determined by the total number of points that you have earned during the semester, after scaling the quiz and lab scores and replacing you low exam score (if the final exam percentage is better). The scale will be:
A 90%-100% B 80-89 C 70-79 D 60-69 F 0-59
Additional Help: If there is anything from the lectures, homework, or labs that you do not understand, be certain to get help with it as quickly as possible. It is very important that you understand everything that we have done before we go on to new material. I will answer questions during class when possible, and there will be time allocated during some of the lab sessions for questions. If we are not able to answer all of your questions during these times, then please see someone for help outside of class. My office hours are listed above, and I would be happy to arrange other times with you if these times are inconvenient. Also, the Math Department offers free tutoring in STV 330. The tutoring center's hours will be announced and posted as soon as possible.
Any student with a disability requiring a special accommodation should contact 438-5853 (voice), 438-8620 (TDD).
Office: Stevenson 312A
Office Hours:Tuesday 1-3 and BY APPOINTMENT
Office Phone: 438-3392
