Math 001: Introductory Algebra
Semester: Fall 2006, Room: MRC 316, Times: MWRF 10:00-10:50 am
Instructor: Richard J. Maresh, Associate Professor, Dept. of Mathematics
Contact Information: Office: MRC 521, Phone: 796-3655, Office Hours: MWF 9-10, 12-1, R 9-10, or by appt.
Email: rjmaresh@viterbo.edu
Final Exam: Thursday, 14 Dec 2005, 7:40-9:40 am
Course Description: Real number system, order of operations. Algebraic problem solving, solving linear equations. Cartesian coordinate system, graphs of equations. Exponents and radicals. Factoring polynomials, solving equations by factoring. Credits not applicable toward graduation. Four Credits.
Note: This course serves as a pre-requisite for MATH 110 (College Algebra), MATH 130 (Introductory Statistics), or MATH 155 (Mathematics, A Way of Thinking). You must earn at least a “C” grade to qualify for the next course in your sequence.
Text: Introductory Algebra: A Real-World Approach. 2nd Edition. By Ignacio Bello. (McGraw-Hill, 2006)
Course Goals and Student Outcomes:
1. Students will demonstrate their readiness for learning algebra.
(a) Students will take ALEKS assessment.
(b) Students will work through pre-algebra ALEKS modules indicated as necessary.
2. Students will improve their mastery of algebraic skills.
(a) Students will take ALEKS assessment of algebra knowledge and skills.
(b) Students will work through the ALEKS modules indicated as necessary.
(c) Students will take indicated exams to demonstrate their learning.
3. Students will develop their ability to apply algebraic thinking and procedures to problem solving.
(a) Students will work through the ALEKS modules that focus on problem solving.
Course Procedures and Policies:
MATH 001: Math 001, “Introductory Algebra”, is a not-for-graduation-credit course intended to prepare students for the various courses for which 001 is a pre-requisite, namely MATH 110 (College Algebra), MATH 130 (Introductory Statistics), and MATH 155 (Mathematics, A Way of Thinking). The material is essentially the first year of algebra, which would typically be taken initially in high school, which explains why this course is numbered 001, and why the 4 credits you will earn here do not count toward graduation, even though they do count toward full-time status.
Your placement score indicated that you have not mastered the material in this course, whatever the reason. Your goal here is to finally learn this material and master the necessary skills so that you can be successful in the courses you eventually need to take as part of your college program
ALEKS: ALEKS (Assessment and LEarning in Knowledge Spaces) is a web-based program designed to carefully assess what students know and what they are ready to learn, and then to methodically tutor them in the given material, in this case Introductory Algebra.
Probably the best thing about ALEKS is that it allows each student to take a course specifically designed for their needs – each student in the class will be working at their own pace and working on material they are ready to learn. The implication of this is that I will not be “lecturing” on textbook sections the way you might be used to seeing. My role as instructor here is to monitor your learning and to engage in individual tutoring as the need arises.
Another advantage to using ALEKS is that since it is web-based you can work on your course at your convenience. ALEKS will remember where you left off and will always make sure that you have shown readiness before presenting new material.
By the way, even though you will be expected to do a considerable amount of ALEKS work on your own time, it is very important to understand that it is important to DO YOUR OWN WORK! If you get someone else to do the work you will only be frustrated when ALEKS thinks you know more than you do and starts asking questions you are not ready for. Also the exams must be taken on your own so having someone work through the online material for you will not help your performance on those exams, and hence on your grade for the course.
Textbook: The textbook we will be using is published by McGraw-Hill, who also handles ALEKS for institutions of higher education. Our text has been precisely integrated with ALEKS, so that you can use your book for explanations, worked examples and practice problems as we move our way through the course material. In fact I will be using a feature called “textbook integrations” in which the material will be presented in the same order as the book covers it and quizzes will be given as you finish chapters in the text.
|
Number of
Absences
|
Points
|
|
0
|
+25
|
|
1
|
+20
|
|
2
|
+15
|
|
3
|
+10
|
|
4
|
+5
|
|
5
|
0
|
|
6 or more
|
-2 points each
|
Attendance: A major factor in learning mathematics is a regular and focused schedule of practice. Can you imagine learning to play the piano by only practicing a few minutes a week! You need to practice virtually every day, and for considerable time each day. It takes the same sort of discipline to solidly learn algebra.
My attendance policy is given in the table at the right. Because it is so important that you put in the time, I have a system that rewards regular attendance. I think that a student who has missed as many as 6 classes should seriously consider dropping the course, but as far as my grading system is concerned, I will subtract 2 points for each absence beyond 5, so a person who attends every class will earn 25 points, while a person who misses, say, 8 classes will LOSE 6 points.
In general I will not distinguish between “excused” and “unexcused” absences, although I do consider absences due to participation in a school event, such as an athletic trip or a theatrical production, to NOT be “absences”. In this case, however, it is still important that you put in the extra time to catch up.
|
ALEKS hours
this week
|
Points
|
|
6 or more
|
+5
|
|
5 or more
|
+4
|
|
4 or more
|
+3
|
|
3 or more
|
+2
|
|
less than 3
|
-1
|
ALEKS Time: ALEKS keeps track of how much time you have put in
as well as how much progress you have made. I will be using your ALEKS time as part of the grading scheme, as summarized in the table at the right. Each week there will be a grade assigned based on the time you have spent working on ALEKS over the previous week.
The times INCLUDE the 3 hours plus spent in class, so that 6 hours for 5 points means you would need to work at least 3 hours outside of class to earn those points. In general college students are expected to work 2 hours outside of class for each hour in class. I have made this number a little smaller because I am trying to build in some time for studying the text book.
Some people will need more time to learn the material that others – life is not fair and some people learn things more quickly than others. I do expect each of you, however, to put in roughly 12 total hours per week working on learning the material. This does mean that some of you who are farther along than others might end up finishing the course at some point during the semester! ALEKS will tell you how far along you are and some of you will have a starting point farther along than others.
By the way, there are several “short weeks” this fall. Labor Day (9/4) week and Mid-semester break (10/20) week have only three class meetings rather than four, so these two weeks the 6-5-4-3 (hours) will become 5-4-3-2. Thanksgiving (11/23) week is very short, only 1 class meeting, on Monday; this week the numbers are 2 hrs = 5 points, 1 hours = 3 points, 1 hour = 1 point.
Exams and Quizzes: ALEKS has the ability to construct quizzes at points indicated by the instructor. Since I have integrated ALEKS with our text book I will ask it to give you a quiz on the material in each chapter. These quizzes will be 10 questions worth 2 points each, for a total of 20 points per quiz. There will be 11 such quizzes, a Review chapter and then 10 chapters covering the course material. ALEKS will keep you updated on the next deadline – I have set up a schedule which will allow you to work through the course material by the end of the semester. These quizzes may be taken at any point prior to the deadline, and may be taken twice – the higher of the two grades will count. I will also go through and look at your work so that I may give some partial credit if it is appropriate to do so.
You will also take a paper and pencil exam of my design at midterm and during finals week. I imagine that some of you will not be on schedule and this will no doubt affect your performance on these two exams, but part of success in a course is learning the material within a designated amount of time.
In fact, the final exam will be worth 200 points and will be a combination of two things – 100 points will be based on a paper-and-pencil test you will take during finals week and 100 points will be based on the percentage of ALEKS topics you show mastery of in a final assessment to be taken the last couple days of the semester.
Grading System: At present, and I want to reserve the right to make adjustments to this system as the semester wears on, I see your grade being determined by these four factors:
(1) Attendance: 25 points possible;
(2) Time using ALEKS: 75 points possible (15 weeks x 5 points possible per week);
(3) ALEKS quizzes: 220 points possible (11 quizzes x 20 points each);
(4) Mid-term Exam: 100 points possible
(5) Final Exam: 200 points possible (100 for the percent of ALEKS topics, 100 on exam)
This makes for a total of 620 points. Grades will be assigned according to the scale: A = 90% or higher, B = 80% or higher, C = 70% or higher, D = 60% or higher. You need at least a “C” grade to be allowed to advance to the next course in your sequence.
Help outside the classroom:
If you find yourself having trouble with the material PLEASE get some help! There is regular tutoring provided in the learning center, either on a scheduled or a drop-in basis, and I want to encourage you in the strongest terms to come see me if you have questions. I have regular office hours, listed at the top of the syllabus, and it is my role here to help you master the material. I’d much rather work with you and try to get you over the hurdles than have you fail in the course. So take an active role here in monitoring your learning and do something about it if you are having trouble!
Schedule: Because ALEKS allows students to work at their individual pace you will be at a variety of places in the material throughout the semester. Still, in order to pass the course and move into the subsequent course you will need to finish the material within the semester’s time constraints.
It is possible that some of you will actually complete the ALEKS course before the calendar indicates the semester is over, and that’s fine. I will still have you take the midterm exam on October 13 and the final exam on December 14 with the rest of the class. If you do finish early your ALEKS time and attendance points will be based on the amount of time you were working on the material.
It is also possible that some of you may reach December without completing the material. ALEKS offers a guarantee that if you put in a reasonable amount of time during the semester and do not pass the course your license to use ALEKS can be extended so that you can continue to work on finishing the course during the following semester – in this case you will be given a grade of “I” (Incomplete) so that you can work on completing the course during the next semester. Of course, this is far from ideal since it means you could not yet enroll in the course you need to take for your major, so it should be your goal to see that that does not occur.
Americans with Disability Act Statement:
If you are a person with a disability and require any auxiliary aids, services or other accommodations for this class, please see me or Wayne Wojciechowski in MC 320 (796-3085) within 10 days to discuss your accommodation needs.
ALEKS
Your textbook should come with a username and password so that you can log onto ALEKS (Assessment and LEarning in Knowledge Spaces). Then to be enrolled in my specific course you need the course code, which is:
GQGG6-3KTQN
The first day of class you will each log in and we will take a look at the basics of using ALEKS. I will ask you to work your way through the tutorial so that you become familiar with how to enter mathematical expressions. Then on the second day of class I will have you take the initial ALEKS assessment to get a baseline rating of your skills and readiness for the material in this course.
Key Dates, Fall 2006
11 Sep 2006 Take “Review Chapter Quiz” by this date [62 ALEKS items]
20 Sep 2006 Take “Chapter 1 Quiz” by this date [21 items]
2 Oct 2006 Take “Chapter 2 Quiz” by this date [37 items]
9 Oct 2006 Take “Chapter 3 Quiz” by this date [11 items]
13 Oct 2006 Mid-term Exam (paper and pencil)
19 Oct 2006 Take “Chapter 4 Quiz” by this date [20 items]
27 Oct 2006 Take “Chapter 5 Quiz” by this date [16 items]
8 Nov 2006 Take “Chapter 6 Quiz” by this date [24 items]
13 Nov 2006 Take “Chapter 7 Quiz” by this date [11 items]
20 Nov 2006 Take “Chapter 8 Quiz” by this date [7 items]
1 Dec 2006 Take “Chapter 9 Quiz” by this date [18 items]
7 Dec 2006 Take “Chapter 10 Quiz” by this date [13 items]
Begin Final ALEKS Assessment (half of final exam score)
14 Dec 2006 Final Exam (Thursday, 7:40 – 9:40 a.m.)