This syllabus and all supporting documents are available on my webpage:  web.mnstate.edu/fagerstrom

Course Description:  Exponents, factoring, equations, inequalities, systems of equations, functions, exponential and logarithmic functions, polynomials and rational functions. Must have successfully completed Intermediate Algebra or have an acceptable placement score.  Prerequisite:  MDEV 099 (C- or better) or an appropriate test score.  Some prior knowledge of algebra is expected.

MSUM's standard is that one semester credit hour for undergraduates is meant to represent three hours of academic work per week during a regular length semester for the average student who has the expected preparation for the courses that he or she is enrolled in.  This means that you are expected to do algebra for nine hours a week, only 2.5 hours of which are in class.  The remaining 6.5 hours are expected to be outside of class time.  Spending time reading the book, doing homework, and studying for exams is meant to be a significant part of this (or any college level) course.

Course Objectives and Student Learning Outcomes:

Upon completion of the course, students will be able to do the following:

• Solve a variety of algebraic equations.

• Create and understand graphs.

• Work with a variety of functions.

• Apply a variety of algebraic techniques to real world problems and applications.

• Illustrate historical and contemporary applications of mathematical/logical systems.

• Clearly express mathematical/logical ideas in writing.

• Explain what constitutes a valid mathematical/logical argument(proof).

• Apply higher-order problem-solving and/or modeling strategies.

Class Format and Assignment Details:  There will be Electronic Homework assignments, Paper Homework assignments, five regular exams, and a cumulative final exam for this class. 

Each Electronic Homework assignment will be in MyMathLab, which is the homework management system for the textbook publisher.  There is an electronic assignment for every section, which is due the day after we finish the section in class - either Wednesday or Friday, at 11:00 pm.  All assignments are already set up and available on-line.  You should have received an access code when you bought your book in the bookstore, whether you bought the looseleaf version or the electronic-only version.  If you bought or plan on buying your book through another source, make sure that you get the access to the MyMathLab site.  Instructions on how to access the site will be passed out separately in class, or are available here.  If you know that you will be gone or particularly busy on or near one of the due dates, you should do the assignment early.  Working ahead is always allowed.  Note that some days have two assignments due, especially if the sections are short or are expected to be review material.  You have one "attempt" at each problem, but within the system, that means, usually, you will have three tries.  The intent of that feature is to allow for typos or misreading the problem.  If you get the problem wrong initially, reread the problem in its entirety to make sure that you didn't just misread it, and then re-work it from step one (which will usually catch the silly errors, like accidently adding instead of multiplying).  I set the due dates based on my intended schedule, which is available on another page.  If we get behind, I will adjust the due dates appropriately.  All 33 assignments will affect the overall Electronic Homework grade.

The paper homework assignments will be longer, covering several sections in general.  They will be due roughly every third class period.  The due dates are given on the schedule page.  Each paper homework assignment will be scaled to a ten-point scale.  To do that, I will give each problem enough points to allow me to assign reasonable partial credit.  The assignment will be totaled.  For the scaled score I will take your total points, divided by the overall total points available, and multiply by ten.  I will round this in a fairly generous way - if the decimal part starts with a 2 or higher, I will round up; if it starts with a 0 or 1, I will round down.  Therefore, you need to get only 92% to get the full 10 points on the assignment.  Only the scaled score will be used for the overall Paper Homework grade.  I will not accept any Paper Homework assignments late for any reason that is less than two weeks in duration.  Because of this, I will keep only the best 8 paper homework assignments (out of an expected 10 assignments overall).  If you are sick on the due date, or otherwise unable to attend class, it can be turned in by a classmate, friend, roommate, etc., either in class or in my office.  The due time is 2:00 pm on the due date or when I start grading, whichever is later. 

As for most classes, when you have questions or need help, it is usually the most efficient use of your time to ask your instructor in their office.  My office hours are here and my office is Maclean 375 B.  I do tend to have a lot of meetings which can change my office hours.  If that happens, I will pass out updated office hours in class and update my webpage.  There is also help available in the Math Learning Center tutor lab (Maclean 278) and in the main Math Tutor Lab (Maclean 383).  The Math Learning Center hours are 9-6 Monday-Thursday and 9-2 on Friday.  The main Math Tutor Lab hours are 8:00-4:00 Monday-Friday.  Both tutor labs are free, drop-in tutoring.  I will also take homework or general questions in class, but not on the day that the homework is due (you are still free to ask in my office, though, even on those days).

Attendance:  Attendance is mandatory in the sense that you will not be given an opportunity to make up work from class that you miss, and it is up to you to learn the material on your own.  I will not give you the lecture on a one-on-one basis in my office.  Regardless of why you miss, missing class will likely mean that you won't understand the material as well as you should and your homework and exam grades will likely suffer as well.  Unfortunately this statement is true whether you miss class because you just didn't want to get up that morning or if you miss class because you had a major emergency (in fact, the better the reason for missing class is, the more students tend to not understand the missed material no matter how much they try to make it up, since they are distracted by other concerns in their lives).  Missing class is strongly discouraged.  It will not be directly penalized, however, except for exam days, and I do not take a formal attendance each day.  Note that any homework due will not be excused if you are not in class.  You must turn the paper homework assignments in on the day that they are due, even if it is to my office or sent with a friend.  The electronic assignments can be done from anywhere with internet access and can be done in advance, so is also expected to be done by the due date even if you were not in class.

There are certain excused absences that will justify a makeup exam.  For illnesses, I expect that if you are ill enough to miss an exam, you are also ill enough to go to the health center, and I will want to see a note indicating that you were seen or directed to miss class/work (most doctor's offices have such generic notes).  It does not have to say what you were seen for.  For family emergencies such as funerals, I expect to be informed as soon as possible and will expect some kind of appropriate paperwork (such as an obituary notice).  Other emergencies are similar.  For family or personal events, I expect that you will schedule them around exam days or that such events are already planned.  If a family or personal event is already planned and will cause you to miss an exam, it will be excused only if you notify me by Thursday January 23 of the conflict.  For other absences that you should know about prior to the absence (e.g. jury duty, National Guard duty, approved university absences, etc.), I expect to be notified as soon as possible (generally at least two weeks in advance of the absence), and will expect appropriate paperwork.  If you miss an exam due to an excused absence, the makeup exam will be on Study Day.  This semester, Study Day is Wednesday May 7.

Academic Honesty: You are expected to do your own work.  You may certainly work with others and get help on homework assignments, but the work you submit should be your own work.  Note that during exams you will not be allowed to get help from others.  Make sure that you learn the material while you do the homework - that is the purpose of the assignments.  Then during the exam you can demonstrate your knowledge - that is the purpose of the exams.  Cheating and plagiarism will not be tolerated in any college course (or any course at any level).  See the MSUM academic honesty policy for more information and possible consequences of cheating.

Special Accommodations:  Students with disabilities who believe they may need an accommodation in this class are encouraged to contact Greg Toutges, Coordinator of Disability Services at 477-4318 (Voice) or 1-800-627-3529 (MRS/TTY), Flora Frick 154 as soon as possible to ensure that accommodations are implemented in a timely fashion.  Information regarding Disability Services is available at http://web.mnstate.edu/disability/.

Course Requirements:  You are expected to complete daily homework, complete and submit the assignments, and take and pass all the exams on the scheduled date.

Evaluations Standards: Your course grade will include Electronic Homework, Paper Homework, and exam grades.  For more details, see the grade page.

Course Outline:  See the course schedule.

Calculators:  A large part of working with variable expressions in algebra is connected to very similar skills in working with numerical expressions in arithmetic.  If you don't know how to add fractions of numbers, for example, it is very hard to learn how to add fractions of polynomials.  Therefore, calculators are not allowed on the exams in the early part of this course.  However, when we get to exponential and logarithmic functions and their applications, a calculator will be necessary, so a scientific, non-graphing calculator will be required for the later part of the course, in particular, on Exams 4 and the final.  Calculators may occasionally be used throughout the course on the homework assignments (particularly the electronic ones).  The first three exams will be written so that a calculator is not allowed and not necessary.  As for graphing calculators, I have found that they provide a significant advantage to those students who have them.  However, I also find them too expensive to feel that their use is justified, particularly since in real life you wouldn't use them - you would use a graphing program on a computer that would be much more accurate and visually appealing.  Therefore, I do not allow graphing calculators.  This provides everyone a level playing field and is the fairest solution that I have been able to come up with.

A basic scientific calculator costs $15-$30 at Target, Kmart, CVS, Office Depot, or some similar store.  You do not need to have any particular model, but you do need one with "ln" and "log" keys, and I would suggest that you get one with an "ANS" key and a two-line display.  (A two-line display has a line for what you type and a separate line for the answer.) 

General Comments:  For all graded work in this class, you must show work for credit and give exact answers (unless you are specifically told to round).  In general, if you have to write it down, you have to show it to me.  My rule of thumb when grading is either whether I could do a similar calculation in my head and not make a mistake or if the point of the problem is being met (in other words, if the point of the problem is to show a known result, you have to show it in some detail).  If I feel that you needed to show more work, I will indicate it.  I want to emphasize that showing work is a lesson you would much rather learn on the homework than on the exams.  My criteria is the same for both.

I do not curve courses of this level.  I have given a class average of a B+ in a course of this level, and I have also given a class average of a D+.  I grade you as individuals, and by whether or not you personally have mastered the material.  I also very rarely give extra credit, and when I do it is to the entire class.  If you come to my office at the end of the term and ask if you can do extra credit to improve your grade, my answer will be no.  The grading scale and weights for the homework and exams are given here.

The Electronic Homework assignments are graded immediately by the computer.  The Paper Homework assignments and the exams will in general by returned to you the next class day.  If you are not there, I will not give them to friends, roommates, or spouses, nor will I give out grade information on the phone or via email.  (These restrictions are not arbitrary - they are based on federal law regarding student privacy.)  Normally, I include any old assignments with any current ones, but I do not try to pass them back a second time unless you have turned in the most recent assignment.  I will bring the old assignments with me every day, so if you ask at the end of class you can get them then.

I expect you to be responsible for yourself as far as getting notes from a classmate if you miss class.  I also expect you to submit any homework assignments early if you know that you will miss class, whether electronic or on paper.  This includes those instances when the absence is due to an official university activity, jury duty, or family events.

Cell Phones:  Turn off your cell phones when you go to class (this class or any other class).  Cellular phones and other distracting devices generally have no place in a formal or semi-formal setting, such as a classroom.  If your phone rings audibly during class, I reserve the right to require you to leave the classroom for the remainder of the period.  If your cell phone rings, beeps, or has an audible vibrate during an exam I will reserve the right to require that you turn in what you have at that point, without finishing the exam, or to reduce your exam grade by 25%.  The point is that such an interruption can hurt your classmates' exam grades.  In mathematics in particular, regaining a train of thought that was interrupted by a classmate's phone can be very difficult for some students, and their exam grades correspondingly suffer.    I strongly suggest that you always remember to turn off your phone.  (If this does happen, you are free to return to class the next day, and there will be no other consequences.)  Note:  I have found that cell phones on vibrate, when in a backpack next to a textbook, are still quite loud since they reverberate against the book.  If I can hear it at the front of the room or if most of the students next to you react to it, it is still an audible ring.  Keep it on something soft or on your waistband or in your pocket.  Or better yet, turn it off entirely.

In addition, during exams, your cell phone (or any other electronic device other than a calculator) may not be visible at all - you must put it in your closed bookbag or something similar.  If you use it for your watch, you will have to bring a different clock to exams or use the classroom clock.

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