MA101/102 – Intermediate Algebra Southeast Missouri State ...



MA102 – Intermediate Algebra Section: 01 Days/Time: TWRF 8:00 – 9:45 a.m. Lab: JH106

Instructor: Ms. Laurie Wern Overmann Phone #: 651-2826 Office: JH102 Email: lwovermann@semo.edu

Office Hours: I will be available TWRF 9:45 – 10:45 a.m. and throughout the session. Find me in my office (JH102), or the Math Learning Center (JH104 or JH112). Contact me by e-mail or phone. By phone, be sure to leave your name and phone number. If you e-mail me, for our protection, I can only respond through your university student account. Use Standard English when writing. I do my best to respond to phone messages and e-mails in a timely manner. Include your name, MA102, and your class meeting time somewhere in the e-mail.

COURSE DESCRIPTION: Polynomials, factoring, equations and inequalities in one and two variables, rational expressions, rational exponents, quadratic equations, and systems of linear equations.

Course grade: A, B, C, D, or F. (3 credit hours). Prerequisite: CR in MA101.

PURPOSE OF COURSE: To prepare students for Logical Systems and other university courses.

COURSE OBJECTIVES: A detailed list of the course objectives is listed within the ALEKS computer program.

REQUIRED MATERIALS: A one-semester Access Code for ALEKS, paper, pencils, erasers, a 3-ring binder, and 10 dividers. The software used in the course provides a calculator. You may use your own calculator, but the following types of calculators are prohibited:

• calculators with built-in computer algebra systems

• handheld, tablet, or laptop computers, including PDAs

• electronic writing pads or pen-input devices—Note: The Sharp EL 9600 is permitted.

• calculators built into cell phones or any other electronic communication devices

• calculators with a typewriter keypad

EXPECTATIONS OF STUDENTS TO RECEIVE CREDIT FOR THIS COURSE:

A. Attend all scheduled class sessions and work with either the ALEKS software or an instructor during the entire class period. Students who attend class regularly are most likely to pass the course sequence swiftly and successfully. It is very important for you to ask questions of the instructors if you don’t understand the explanations given by the software.

B. Complete at least 80 hours of on-line practice of the material.

C. Keep an notebook organized according to the rubric provided by your instructor.

D. Complete all in-class quizzes, tests, and ALEKS assessments.

COURSE GRADE: Mastery of course objectives will be determined by ALEKS in-class progress assessments, written quizzes, notebooks and the final exam as indicated below.

|Overall percentage will be determined as follows: |Final letter grade will be determined as follows: |

| | |

|70% Final exam (instructor generated test) |A = overall percentage of 90.0% or above. |

| |B = overall percentage above 80.0% but less than 90%. |

|10% Pencil and paper quizzes over Intermediate Objectives (10 quizzes) |C = overall percentage above 70.0% but less than 80%. |

| |D = overall percentage above 60.0% but less than 70%. |

|10% Notebooks (collected twice) |F = overall percentage less than 60%. |

| |X grade will be awarded for students not taking the final exam. |

|10% Midterm exam (instructor generated test) | |

STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS: If you have special needs, please plan to meet with the instructor as soon as possible so that appropriate accommodations may be arranged.

IMPORTANT NOTES

1. You will take an initial assessment the first week of class. If you score 200 or more objectives on this initial in-class assessment, then you have the option of getting credit for MA102 and you may add a Logical

Systems course to your schedule (limited by availability of open seats). You must complete the assessment and schedule any course changes no later than Friday at 4:00 pm of the first week of classes. You will have to pay for both classes.

IMPORTANT NOTES

2. You will be allowed to work ahead of the schedule for the MA102 course. If you complete all units and required quizzes for MA102 you may request to take the final exam early. If your early final exam grade qualifies you for a grade of A or B, you will have completed MA102 and may opt to work in ALEKS on advanced topics for the remainder of the semester. If your early final exam grade does not qualify you for a grade of A or B, you will be required to review the material and at the instructor’s discretion, you may have one more early attempt at the final exam. Only two early attempts at taking the final exam will be allowed. Everyone who has not earned a grade of A or B on an early final exam must take the scheduled final during final exam week. If you fail to attend class or take a final exam during final exam week, you will receive a grade of X for the course.

ALEKS: You will be working with a software product called ALEKS. Prior to the first day of class, you must purchase your ALEKS Access Code from the Southeast Bookstore or from the office at the Regional Campuses or online through the Southeast Bookstore website. You will be given your ALEKS Course Code by your instructor the first or second day of class. You will access ALEKS by going to .

Your goal should be completing a combined total of 80 or more in-class and out-of-class hours logged into ALEKS. Attending class allows you to get help from an instructor on difficult topics, get correct information about the class, and fulfill your login requirement for the course. Working outside of class gives you an opportunity to continue to practice your skills and achieve mastery.

ATTENDANCE: Attendance is a required component to your success in this course. Your instructor will check attendance every class meeting. You will be expected to attend all scheduled class sessions and work with either the ALEKS software or an instructor or assistant during the entire class period. Because this is a developmental course, University Policy calls for mandatory attendance.

“Developmental courses are extremely important in assisting students who have not demonstrated the skills necessary for academic success at the college level. While grades may not be reduced on the basis of attendance, experience indicates that success in these courses is greatly diminished by poor attendance. Attendance is essential if students are to receive the expected benefits of these courses. Therefore, attendance is required at all class meetings of developmental courses.”

(Undergraduate Bulletin )

Attendance will be during each class period. It is your responsibility to make sure the instructor has not counted you absent, particularly if you are late. You are expected to stay the entire period and work the entire time.

• For a full semester class, after one week’s equivalent number of absences (for six week summer session, this is 1.5 days) the instructor will e-mail you a warning about the lack of attendance and inform you that you will be dropped from the course should the violations continue.

• After two week’s equivalent number of absences (for six week summer session, this is 3 days) the instructor will submit your name to the chair of the Department of Mathematics who will notify the Dean of the College of Science and Mathematics. You will be dropped from the course with an administrative withdrawal recorded on your transcript.

• Absences for university-sanctioned activities are considered excused absences and students will be allowed to make-up class work and assessments missed for these activities. Students who will miss class due to a university-sanctioned activity will be expected to provide the instructor with documentation from university personnel or faculty sponsoring the activity.

CLASSROOM CONDUCT: MA101 and MA102 classes are held in computer labs, so the following policies must be observed:

1. No food or drink may be brought into the lab.

2. Cell phones should be turned off while in the lab. Do not use MP3 players or other devices during exam time.

3. Use of another student’s ALEKS code or allowing another student to use your ALEKS code is a violation of both your contract with the ALEKS Corporation and the Southeast Missouri State University Academic Honesty Policy and is subject to all the penalties listed in the student handbook – including expulsion from the university.

4. Southeast student ID cards will be required to take required in-class assessments and upon request by the instructor. Be sure to bring your Southeast student ID cards with you to all class meetings.

IN-CLASS ASSESSMENTS: In-class tests are used to determine student progress for passing or failing the course. Be prepared to show your Southeast student ID before required in-class tests and assessments. Required in-class assessments will be completed during the following weeks of class:

• Initial Assessment: First week of class

• Midterm Exam: Thursday 5/31/12 (instructor generated exam taken on the computer). Your score on the midterm exam will determine your midterm progress, and is worth 10% of your grade.

• Final Exam: Friday 6/22/12 (instructor generated exam taken on the computer)

• Second Chance Final Exam: Friday 6/22/12 – you must tell the instructor you wish to take this exam during class time. You should plan ahead for this contingency, because it is the only date that you will be allowed to take the final exam a second time.

Drop Date: Friday 6/15/12 – Last day to drop a this first six week session without failing grades.

Schedule of units for the semester: You will take a written quiz after finishing a unit according to the dates covered below. These quiz dates are also noted on your ALEKS calendar. The written quizzes constitute 10% of your final course grade. When you have completed all MA102 objectives, notify your instructor. At this time, you may opt to take the remaining quizzes and MA102 final exam early. See SPECIAL NOTES number 2 above.

| Schedule of units |Unit Objective |Objective Total |

|05/15/12 – 5/18/12 |1 Real numbers/geometry (35 topics) |35 topics |

|05/19/12 – 05/22/12 |2 Linear equations (33 topics) |68 topics |

|05/23/12 – 05/25/12 |3 Inequalities/applications (30 topics) |98 topics |

|05/26/12 – 05/29/12 |4 Exponents/polynomials (43 topics) |141 topics |

|05/30/12 – 06/01/12 |5 Graphing (38 topics) |179 topics |

|06/02/12 – 06/05/12 |6 Factoring & quadratics (20 topics) |199 topics |

|06/06/12 – 06/08/12 |7 Radicals I (30 topics) |229 topics |

|06/09/12 – 06/12/12 |8 Rational Expressions/parabolas (20 topics) |249 topics |

|06/13/12 – 06/15/12 |9 Absolute value (9 topics) |258 topics |

|06/16/12 – 06/19/12 |10 Radicals II & misc. (12 topics) |270 topics |

The ultimate objective of the course is for the student to master as many of the course objectives as possible.

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MA102 – Assessments, Homework, Quizzes, and Exams

During the semester you will be given ALEKS assessments, written quizzes, and a midterm and final exam to help you gauge your progress. You may also complete optional homework assignments that cover all of the objectives in a unit.

ALEKS assessments: ALEKS will give each of you an individualized INITIAL assessment to determine what you already know and it may only be taken in-class. ALEKS also gives you PROGRESS assessments which are like pop quizzes and don’t count as part of your grade. These may be taken anywhere and you should treat them as quizzes and only use your formula sheet. They are a sign that you are making progress learning the objectives of the course. Work from any ALEKS assessment should be labeled and included in your notebook filed under the current section.

Notebooks: All students will keep an organized notebook of their handouts and worked ALEKS objectives. Notebooks will be graded in class twice during the session. These two notebook scores constitute 10% of your final grade. Your instructor will provide you with a grading rubric which details how the notebook should be organized. Follow directions on the grading rubric closely in order to receive full credit.

Homework assignments: Each unit has a corresponding ALEKS Homework assignment which covers each of the objectives in a given unit. These are designed to help you review the material you have learned in a unit to prepare for quizzes and exams. The Homework assignments may be taken as many times as you wish and you may access worked out examples of any of the problems while you are doing them. The grades for these assignments do NOT count toward your grade, but are highly recommended to review and prepare for graded assessments. Homework assignments should be labeled with the appropriate unit and included in your notebook in the appropriate tabbed section.

Written quizzes: At the end of each unit you will be given a written quiz over specific objectives in the unit. Each quiz will be worth 10 points and you will take 10 of these. The quizzes will be graded by the instructor and returned to you. You may ask to take quizzes early, but NO LATE QUIZZES will be given. Your total quiz grades will be determined by adding all of your quiz scores together and dividing by 90 points – which makes one of your quizzes extra credit points (provided that you haven't missed any). Returned quizzes should be included in your notebook in the appropriate tabbed section.

Midterm exam: You will take a Midterm exam the 3rd week of the semester. This score will be used to determine your midterm progress. This exam is excellent practice for your final exam. The exam will be administered by the ALEKS program, but the questions have been selected from the essential objectives you have studied up to this point in the course. Keep all work from the midterm in an organized fashion, numbering all items, writing down the original question, and showing all work. When you finish the exam, the program will immediately show you your score and which items you missed and what the right answer should have been. Grade your assignment, but marking the problems you missed on your own paper and writing down the correct answer. Also write down your percentage so you know whether you passed or failed the exam. 70% or higher is passing. The midterm should be included in your notebook in the material for UNIT 5. The Midterm exam grade will be worth 10% of your final grade for the course.

Final exam: Everyone must take a final exam during final exam week. Even those who started in MA101 and work ahead to take the MA101 Final exam early and pass it must take the MA102 final exam during the scheduled exam week or receive a grade of X for the MA101 course.

Important Exam Rules: For all the initial assessment, quizzes, and exams the following conditions will be followed:

a. Come to class prepared. Bring pencil and paper, your prepared formula sheet, and your student ID.

b. You will be allowed to use the provided formula sheet and whatever notes you choose to write on the back of your formula sheet. You may only have ONE formula sheet. You may not write on the side with the already printed formulas and you may not attach extra pages or post-it notes to the back of the sheet.

c. You can bring your own calculator, but it must comply with the restrictions listed at the beginning of the document. NO WIRELESS DEVISES MAY BE USED AS A CALCULATOR.

d. It may take you more than 1 class period to complete the initial assessment. You will not be able to work in ALEKS outside of class until you have completed the assessment.

e. Exams and quizzes must be completed during the scheduled class or exam time. If this is a problem, you must make arrangements for completing the exam with your instructor.

f. You may not have MP3 players or other devices of this type during the assessment. Phones and other electronic devices will be turned off and stowed in pocket, backpack, or purse. They may not be on the lab work station or in your lap.

g. You will not be allowed to use your other notes (those that are not on the back of the formula sheet) during quizzes and exams. It is highly recommended that as you are given progress assessments by ALEKS that you take them using only the approved formula sheet and whatever notes you choose to write on the back of this sheet. This will give you practice taking the assessments in the same way you take them in class. Students that become dependent on using notes on progress assessments often do poorly on the required quizzes and exams.

h. Review for quizzes and exams by:

• using the review features of ALEKS

• reviewing previous quizzes

• reviewing the notes and worked out problems in your notebook

• doing the provided homework assignments

• organizing the information you’ve learned and summarizing it on the back of the formula sheet you will use during the assessment.

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Final exam retake

If for some reason your score on the final exam does not result in a passing grade for the class, one additional chance to take the final exam is available on Friday 6/22/12 starting the exam between noon and 2:00 pm.

• You must tell your instructor you plan to take the final exam a second time immediately following your first attempt.

• You must make an appointment with your instructor and provide contact information.

• You must bring your SEMO ID with you to JH106 the day of the make-up exam.

• You should bring your formula sheet, pencil and paper with you for this exam.

• No other date will be provided for you to take the final exam a second time, so be sure to plan for this contingency. You will NOT be given special consideration for travel plans or other personal obligations.

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