In the class we will be covering a wide variety of mathematical topics, without assuming students have specialized math skills. Some of the sections we will cover in your text are numerical patterns in nature, the irrational side of numbers, and Pythagoras and his hypotenuse.
Homework Solutions:
Homework will be assigned regularly. You are encouraged to work together on the assignments, but your final write up should represent your own understanding. Your homework will be graded for correctness, as well as for completeness and quality of work. In practice this means a subset of the problems assigned will be graded for correctness, and some portion of the total grade on an assignment will be allotted for completeness/quality. The semester is long, and it is likely that at some point you will get sick, have 3 exams on one day, need to attend a wedding, or have some other unavoidable yet reasonable excuse for not completing your homework by the due date. Therefore, you may miss one homework assignment without penalty. If you do not miss any homework assignments, I will drop your lowest homework grade. Late homework will not be accepted except in extreme circumstances.
You must keep a notebook that includes all assigned and CORRECTED homework problems plus other write-ups of topics we cover during class. A week or more before each exam I will give you an ordered list of questions or topics from lecture or the text that must be included in your notebook. You will be allowed to use your notebook on the midterm and final. I will collect and grade the notebooks after the test. To keep your notebook up to date you should correct your homework assignments along the way, and take good notes during class activities and lectures.
Attendance in this class is essential for your success. Everyone in class starts with a perfect attendance grade of 10 out of 10. You may miss 2 classes without any penalty to your grade. After that, for each class absence your attendance grade will be lowered by 1 point. (Example: If you miss 5 classes you attendance grade will be 7/10.)
In case of emergency on a test date, please notify me as soon as possible (preferably by email). If your absence is excused, I will either substitute your final exam grade for the missed test, or give a make up test, depending on the circumstances. Test dates will be announced over a week in advance of the date.
Any student who requires accommodations to complete the requirements and expectations of this course because of a disability is invited to make his or her needs known to the instructor and to Marianne Savino, the Director of Services for Students with Disabilities, 120 South Wing, 878-4500.