Topics in Mathematics II
15-MATH-156

Winter 2008

Text: Excursions in Modern Mathematics.  Peter Tannenbaum, 6th edition, Pearson/Prentice Hall publishers.

 

STRUCTURE OF THE COURSE:

Each student is assigned to a specific lecture and a small group meeting section. Lectures meet both Monday and Wednesday; small group meeting sections meet once on either Tuesday or Thursday. Your lecture section is determined by your small group meeting section. Sections 011 – 015 have lecture MW at 9:00 AM, sections 021 – 024 at 10:00 PM, and sections 031 – 039 at 1:00 PM.  Unofficially, you may attend another lecture if you are unable to attend your regular lecture. However, you must take exams in your assigned lecture. On the other hand, you must always attend your assigned small group meeting section and may not go to another! Lectures present new material from the text. In the small group meeting classes you can ask questions and see the TA work out problems in a small class setting. You will also often be given a short quiz (15-20 minutes) in these meetings. For both the lectures and small group meeting, you are expected to arrive on time and stay the entire period.

CALCULATORS:

You need a calculator for this course. We will use them in lectures, quizzes, and exams. You do not need a graphing calculator— but you will need a calculator capable of doing two-variable statistics, in particular correlation. We recommend the TI-30XII (S or B, but not the TI-30Xa) or the TI-34II as being relatively inexpensive and capable of handling what is required in the other quarters of Topics as well. The TI-36X will also do two-variable statistics.

LECTURES:

Lectures are for presentation of new material. The tentative schedule for what material is to be covered each day can be found on the weekly schedule.

SMALL GROUP MEETING SECTIONS:

The small group meeting section that meets once a week gives you the opportunity to go over and clarify homework and course material with your TA. See the weekly schedule for homework assignments. Each small group meeting section is devoted to going over these homeworks. There will also be a short quiz (15-20 minutes) during some of the small group meetings.

Your small group meeting grade will be based on your homework and quizzes. There is no make-up for work missed during the small group meeting.  When we compute your Quiz grade for the quarter we will drop the lowest score.

EXAMS:

There will be two midterms, one is on Friday, February 1 and the other is on Friday, February 29. The final exam will be a block exam and will not be at the time listed in Learning Opportunities! We will not learn the date and time of the final until somewhere around the middle of the quarter. Do not make any travel plans until you know this date! The midterms will be given during the lecture periods and their dates are shown on the weekly schedule.  Please note the following:

·        All exams have a multiple-choice component; therefore you must bring a #2 pencil

·        You must take the midterms and final exam in your assigned lecture class

·        You must bring a photo ID

·        No cell phone use is allowed during exam periods.

 

HOMEWORK:

There are five homework assignments scheduled for the winter quarter. This homework consists of problems similar to those in the suggested problem list. You must solve these problems completely and then select the correct answer(s) from the choice selection provided on Blackboard.  We will drop the lowest homework grade before calculating the final quarter grade.

If you have any problem reading your homework on Blackboard, inform your instructor immediately.  The computers in the Mathematics Learning Center, room 614 Old Chem, have updated browsers.

 

COURSE GRADES:

Homework and quizzes in small group meetings will be worth 15% (5% home-work and 10% quizzes); each midterm is worth 25%, and the final exam is 35% of your final course grade. Your composite score, based on these weightings, will determine your letter course grade by the following scale:

Letter Grade

Percent

A- to A

85% to 100%

B- to B+

76% to 84%

C- to C+

61% to 75%

D- to D+

51% to 60%

F

Less than 51%

 

 

 

MISSED CLASSES/TESTS/ASSIGNMENTS:

You are responsible for everything that happens in class. This includes material covered as well as any announcements. If you miss a class, it is your responsibility to check with someone else in the class to find out what you missed.

If you miss an assignment or exam, it is entirely at the discretion of the professor whether this is to be handled in any way other than just giving it a zero. What constitutes a “legitimate” excuse is determined solely by the professor! In general, failure to contact the professor at the earliest possible opportunity is cause for rejecting any excuse, no matter how legitimate (e.g., before leaving town if you are called away unexpectedly). You can leave a message (with a description of the situation and a means of contacting you) via email (preferred) or voice mail at the phone number given for each professor, but it is your responsibility to make sure that you actually talk to one of the professors as soon as possible—preferably in-person (in the office, not in the classroom). You will be expected to supply evidence that supports your excuse. Even for a legitimate excuse, reported in a timely manner, the student should not expect to be allowed to make up the missed work.

For exams, we neither plan a special make-up exam time, nor does there even exist a replacement exam. As a consequence, even for those the instructor deems are legitimate excuses, frequently the only remedies are to weight the final more heavily (for a missed midterm) or to give an incomplete (for a missed final).

WITHDRAWING:

You may withdraw with a "W" up until Tuesday, March 4, 2008, the date set by the Registrar.  Do not go past this deadline.

OUTSIDE HELP & OFFICE HOURS:

Office Hours for TAs and professors are spaced so you can consult one of us at a reasonable time. You can also make appointments. TAs hold office hours in Room 614 Old Chem., the professors use their own offices. You may seek help from any of the TAs and professors.

You may also arrange for a private tutor through the Learning Assistance Center.

 

CHANGES IN SYLLABUS:

We may have to alter some aspects of this syllabus as we go along. If so, we will let everyone know about it with ample warning.

GENERAL EDUCATION:

This course was designed following the guidelines of the University of Cincinnati General Education Program.  It satisfies, or partially satisfies the Quantitative Reasoning distribution requirement.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:

The University Rules, including the Code of Conduct, and other documented policies of the department, college, and university related to academic integrity will be enforced. Any violation of these regulations, including acts of plagiarism or cheating, will be dealt with on an individual basis according to the severity of the misconduct.

SPECIAL NEEDS POLICY:

Students with special needs should meet with the instructors as soon as possible to arrange for reasonable provisions to ensure an equitable opportunity to meet all the requirements of this course.  At the discretion of the instructor, some accommodations may require prior approval by Disability Services

 

 

McMicken College of Arts and Sciences 

Last revised 12/19/2007 13:25:56