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

Course Description:  Algebra, sets, probability, and statistics. Computational proficiency will be assessed and mastery required. Must have successfully completed Elementary Algebra or Intermediate Algebra or an acceptable placement score. MnTC Goal 4.

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 mathematics 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.

Computational Mastery Exam:  The phrase "Computational proficiency will be assessed and mastery required" in the course description means that there will be a Computational Mastery Exam (CME) in this course.  If you do not pass the exam, you will not pass the course, regardless of your overall course average.  You will have one attempt at the CME in class, and four retake attempts allowed that will be at commonly scheduled times outside of class.  The dates are given on the schedule page.  Passing the exam means that you, separately, pass each of the four portions of the exam, and also the exam as a whole.  The four sections are on arithmetic using whole numbers, fractions, decimals, and percents.

Course Objectives and Student Learning Outcomes:

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

• Demonstrate mastery of rational number computation without the use of a calculator.

• Demonstrate the ability to apply the algebraic principles to represent and solve word problems involving fractions, ratios, proportions, and percents.

• Demonstrate the ability to apply the notions, operations, and representations of set theory to specified situations.

• Demonstrate the ability to analyze and interpret situations using the principles of counting and probability.

• Demonstrate the ability to apply the basic concepts of statistics.  This may include collecting data; representing data using tables and graphs; and finding measures of central tendency, variation, and position.

• Demonstrate the ability to communicate and interpret solutions to mathematical problems in words, either orally or in writing.

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

• Clearly express mathematical/logical ideas in writing.

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

Class Format and Assignment Details:  There will be Electronic Homework assignments, in-class lab assignments, five regular exams, and a cumulative final exam for this class.  Most class periods will have a short lecture followed by an in-class lab that will be due at the end of 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 and a few additional assignments.  The due dates are indicated in MyMathLab, but will vary and will not generally be class days.  Some due dates will be on the weekend, as well.  All assignments can be completed ahead of the due date, and you will always have at least 30 hours to complete them after the material is covered in class.  You should have received an access code when you bought your book in the bookstore, if not, you will need to purchase it separately.  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, and I will try to have at least the following week's assignments available.  For most of the assignments, you will have two "attempts" at each problem.  However, within this system, that means, usually, you will have three tries per attempt, since the system defines an "attempt" as the particular problem with those particular numbers.  The intent of the feature that allows you three answers per attempt 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).  All of the assignments will affect the overall Electronic Homework grade, there will be no dropped assignments.

The in-class labs will cover the material covered that day.  A rough guide on what I intend to cover each day is available on the schedule page.  Each in-class lab 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 In-class Lab grade.  Normally, the labs will be due at the end of class.  If you are not in class, then you will not have an opportunity to do that lab.  Because of this, I will keep only the best 16 lab assignments (out of about 20 assignments overall). 

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 J.  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 9-3 on Friday.  The main Math Tutor Lab hours will be announced, but are usually 8:00-4:00 Monday-Friday.  Both tutor labs are free, drop-in tutoring. 

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 and you will not be able to make up the lab.  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.  However, I do not take a formal attendance each day.  Note that any lab due will not be excused if you are not in class.  The electronic assignments can be done from anywhere with internet access and can be done in advance, so those can and should be done, by the due date, even if you miss 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 22 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 6.

Academic Honesty: You are expected to do your own work.  You may certainly work with others and get help on labs and 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 labs and 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, In-class lab assignments, exam grades, and the Computational Mastery Exam.  For more details, see the grade page.

Course Outline:  See the course schedule.

Calculators:  Calculators are not allowed at any time in this class.  The primary audience for this class are Education Majors that include teaching students who are at the elementary grade level.  A primary goal of this class is to re-familiarize you with the arithmetic skills that students with those majors will need to teach in their careers.  We will be asking you to do arithmetic by hand to build the practice and number sense that you will need in your career.  You have those skills, but they are likely rusty since it has been a while since you used them on a regular, day-to-day, basis.  You will use them on a regular basis in this class.  That practice will also help with the Mathematics portion of the MTLE exam.

General Comments:  For all of the in-class labs and the exams for 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 in-class lab assignments and the exams will in general be 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.

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) 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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