Syllabus for Mathematics 141, Precalculus
Fall, 2007

Instructor:  Sean Raleigh (please call me Sean)

E-mail:  sraleigh@sdccd.edu
        E-mail will be the only way to contact me outside of class. On the other hand, math questions are almost always impossible to answer over e-mail, so please restrict those types of questions to class time. I would also ask that you check this syllabus, the FAQ, and other resources on this web site before e-mailing me since most of the common questions are addressed here.

Office:  I have no office on campus so I won't have office hours. I promise to devote lots of class time to going over homework questions so that you won't need additional hours from me. Also, I encourage you to form study groups to work problems and prepare for tests.

Time:  MW 6:30 p.m.—9:00 p.m.

Location:  F304

Required Texts:  Precalculus, Larson and Hostetler, Seventh Edition.
    Notation Guide for Precalculus and Calculus Students.

Optional Text:  Student Solutions Manual accompanying the main text.

Topics Covered:  We will cover most of chapters 1 though 9 except chapter 8.

Homework:  Homework is due most Mondays (and a few Wednesdays)—check the schedule for the precise due dates. We will plan to spend a significant part of Mondays' lectures working homework problems and answering questions from the assignment. The homework for each week is posted here.
    Homework is graded on completion only. Points are awarded on an "all or nothing" basis. This means that you must at least attempt nearly all the problems to get credit ("nearly all" being subject to my judgment) and if you haven't met this standard, you will get no credit for the assignment. A check mark on your returned homework means that you received credit for the assignment and a "zero" indicates no credit.
    Since individual problems will not be graded, it is your responsibility to make sure you understand the assignment and ask questions about anything that remains unclear after working the assignment. Most of the assigned problems will be odd-numbered since the answers to these problems appear in the back of the text. This can be a blessing or a curse. The ability to check your work and make sure you are on the right track is invaluable. Nevertheless, the temptation is strong to limit yourself to doing a minimal amount of work and then copying down the answer. Keep in mind that the homework only comprises 10% of the final grade, so its purpose is to help you learn, practice, and reinforce the material you need to perform well on the exams.
    Also, you should make every effort to try to work problems before consulting the solutions manual or the back of the book. Imagine what will happen during the tests if you are accustomed to working problems with a solutions manual open in front of you. I reserve the right to award no credit for any assignment that I deem has been "copied" out of the solutions manual or the back of the book.
    You will be able to drop one homework assignment from your final grade. There will be no late homework accepted under any circumstances. If you miss class on a day homework is due, that will be the homework assignment you drop. If you miss class again on a homework day, you will earn a zero for that assignment. No exceptions. You can always turn in a homework assignment early if you know you are going to be gone, but I will not accept homework turned in to my campus mailbox unless you have made arrangements with me in advance to do so.

Tests:  There will be a pre-test, four "midterms", and a final exam. With the exception of the 10% contribution of the homework assignments to your grade, test performance is the sole indicator for your grade in the course. It is therefore crucial that you keep up with the material and study effectively for tests.

Pre-Test:  The pre-test will be given Wednesday, August 29 (the second day of class). It will cover some of the material from Appendix A, so you should take some time to work through as many problems from that section as you can. You will have an hour to complete the pre-test. It will count for only 5% of your final grade. Its main purpose is to help me get a sense of your basic algebra skills coming into the course and to help you recognize the concepts I'll be expecting you to know. Check the Resources page for some helpful web pages that you should review before the pre-test. The pre-test will be graded and returned to you the next class session, Wednesday, September 5. Those who do poorly on the pre-test may want to consider dropping the class and returning to an earlier course for better preparation. The drop deadline is the following Friday, September 7. No calculators or notes are allowed for the pre-test.

Midterms:  The midterms will be administered on certain Mondays (roughly every three weeks—check the schedule) and will cover all the material in the course up through the sections assigned in the homework that is due the week before the midterm. In other words, you will never see material on a midterm until we have had a chance in class to go over the homework in which the necessary material appears. The following chart should make this clear:

Test:	Date:	Study up through section...
Midterm 1:	Monday, September 24	2.1 (HW2)
Midterm 2:	Monday, October 15	3.4 (HW4)
Midterm 3:	Monday, November 5	5.2 (HW6) 4.4 (HW5)
Midterm 4:	Monday, December 3	7.3 (HW8) 6.4 (HW7)

    While the focus of each midterm will be the material covered since the previous midterm, the midterms are cumulative in that you will be expected to answer questions and utilize concepts from all sections of the book covered in the course up to that point. (This makes studying for each midterm a bit harder, but you'll thank me when it comes time to study for the final.)
    You will have an hour and a half to complete the midterms. You are allowed to use a calculator. You will also be allowed a "cheat sheet", and the number of normal-sized sheets you are allowed is given in the chart below:

Midterm 1:		One sheet of paper, one side only.
Midterm 2:		One sheet of paper, both sides.
Midterm 3:		One sheet of paper, both sides, and one side of another sheet.  (3 total sides.)
Midterm 4:		Two sheets of paper, both sides.

Final:  The final exam will be administered on Wednesday, December 19 (the last day of class), and will be completely cumulative, although there will be a bit more emphasis on the material covered since the last midterm: everything past section 7.3 6.4. You are allowed to use a calculator and three normal-sized sheets of paper (both sides) for the final exam.

Notation Points:  Each question of each test will have one extra point attached called the "notation point". This point is awarded on an all-or-nothing basis and will only be earned if there are no notational errors in the work shown. This point is completely independent of the remainder of the points for that question, so it you have notational errors that cause mathematical errors, you will lose points from the problem and you will lose the notation point as well. You may even have the correct answer and correct work, but you still could lose the notation point for various things like, for example, a lack of organization, illegible work, or even a misplaced equal sign. To help avoid such errors, please consult the Notation Guide located in the Resources section of the website. Note that not all sections of the guide cover material from this course and some sections will not be relevant until later in the course.

There will be no makeup exams except in the case of an extreme emergency. What constitutes an extreme emergency will be at my discretion and will require some kind of documentation. If you have to miss class on a midterm day for any reason, you will probably have to drop that midterm and substitute your final exam grade for the missing exam, even if the absence is "legitimate". (See the chart below in the Grading section for the possible grade distributions.)

Calculators:  You are encouraged to have a graphing calculator, although a graphing calculator is not strictly necessary. Some homework questions will require at least a scientific calculator. You will be allowed to use calculators on tests, but tests will be designed in such a way that calculators will not be necessary or even advantageous. This is because all questions will require you to show all your work and not just the result of a calculation. Be very careful about using your calculator. Too often it becomes a crutch and distracts you from the correct conceptual formulation and algebraic manipulation that leads to the correct answer. As we proceed through the course, I will try to indicate where calculators can be beneficial and also how they might lead you astray.

Grading:  The grade distribution will be whichever of the following two distributions yields the higher score. (A spreadsheet will automatically assign the higher of the two calculations.)

OR

Your letter grade will initially be based on the following scale:

I say "initially" because I always curve the final grades. However, this won't be a strict bell curve where the majority of the class earns a C with a few A's and a few F's. The ultimate grade distribution will be based on a B- average with no quotas for any individual letter grade. Also, you are guaranteed to earn at least the grade indicated on the above scale. So, for example, suppose you get 85% in the class, but the class average is 90%. You will still earn a B in the class and a large percentage of the class will be in the A range.
    At the end of the semester, it's natural to be anxious about your final grade, but it is not practical for me to respond to grade requests. Please use the resources provided by the college to obtain your final grade.

Academic Honesty:  Cheating will not be tolerated. This includes but is not limited to copying homework, using unauthorized materials in tests, looking at someone else's paper during a test, collaborating with another person during the test, and other similar activities. You are all adults and you know what constitutes cheating; therefore, I will never accept an excuse of "I didn't know." If there's any question as to what constitutes cheating, please ask before it becomes a problem. I reserve the right to assess a penalty for cheating as the severity demands. The minimum penalty will be a zero on that particular test or assignment. More likely, though, is that you will receive an F in the class. You will also be reported to the dean for any violation. Having said that, I encourage you to work together on the homework problems (this is not the same thing as copying another's completed homework) and study together for tests.

Attendance:  Attendance is required. I reserve the right to drop anyone from the class for excessive absences. Anyone who does not come at all in the first full week of class will be dropped.
    Attendance will not count toward your grade. It is your responsibility to be in class every day and keep up with the material. There will be no makeup exams, so it is also crucial that you check your schedules far in advance and make sure that you're there on test days.

Changes to the syllabus:  I reserve the right to change the syllabus as circumstances necessitate, but no new policy will be enforceable until after you have been notified in class.

Last modified: 10/31/07