| Instructor Information | |||||||||||||||||
| Name: | Billy Duke |
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| Phone: | 702.651.7678 |
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| Fax: | 702.651.5881 |
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| Office: | Charleston
Campus, Building I, Room 309P |
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| Office Hours: | Mon. & Wed. 12:10-1:45 pm, Tue. & Thur. 1:50-2:45 pm, also by appointment |
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| Course Information | |||||||||||||||||
| Number/Title: | MATH 097, Elementary and Intermediate Algebra |
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| Sections: | 801 (Call #47021), 802 (Call #47023) |
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| Locations: | Sec. 801: 9:30-10:40 am MTWR Room I-307 Sec. 802: 11:00 am -12:10 pm MTWR Room I-307 |
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| Prerequisite: | Satisfactory ACT/SAT/CSN Mathematics Placement Test score, or MATH 093 with a grade of C or better. |
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| Description: | A one-semester course that is equivalent to the combination of MATH 095 and MATH 096. Topics include solving linear equations in one variable, polynomials, integer exponents, factoring, rational expressions and equations, graphing linear equations in two variable, inequalities, systems of linear equations, radicals and rational exponents, and quadratic equations. |
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| Course Materials | |||||||||||||||||
| Textbook: |
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| Course Objectives | |||||||||||||||||
| Course Objectives: |
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| Policies | |||||||||||||||||
| Calculators: | A scientific calculator is
required for this course. A graphing calculator would be helpful but is not required. I do not allow students to share a calculator on quizzes/tests so be sure to bring your own. If you do not you will have to do the work by hand. Calculators that are part of a cell phone or PDA are not allowed and are also not sufficient for this course. You are responsible for learning how to use your own calculator, I will not answer questions regarding how to use your specific calculator during tests. Calculators are valuable tools that should be used as such to make doing math less tedious. However, their usage in this course should not replace an understanding of the basic mathematical principles taught. Even when you use a calculator you are still responsible for providing a detailed and coherent explanation of the logical mathematic steps you used in solving a problem. |
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| Attendance: | Students are expected to attend class regularly and be PUNCTUAL. Students who find themselves in the position of having to miss numerous classes should withdraw and take the course when regular on-time attendance is possible. If you do not attend class you are still expected to be familiar with the material and be prepared for the tests. You CANNOT be absent on a test day because there are NO MAKE-UP TESTS. |
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| Honesty: | Academic
dishonesty of any kind will not be tolerated. Any incident of academic
dishonesty will be reported to the College, and the most serious course
of action will be recommended. |
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| Cell Phones: | All cell phone usage is banned in the classroom. This includes talking on the phone, listening to voice mail, reading and sending text messages, and using your cell phone as a calculator or for any other purpose during all tests and quizzes. Cell phones should be put away during lecture. |
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| Classroom Civility: | Students are expected to assist in maintaining a classroom environment conducive to learning. In order to assure that all students have an opportunity to gain from time spent in class troublesome behavior will not be tolerated. At a minimum this includes using cell phones or pagers, making offensive remarks, reading newspapers, leaving class early, arriving to class late, sleeping, or engaging in any other form of distraction. Any behavior deemed disruptive or counter productive to the educational goals of this class will be grounds for removal of a student from the class. Repetition of such an offense may result in expulsion from the course. Please be aware that talking to your classmates while I am lecturing is disruptive to other students and to me. The instructor reserves the right to assign seating of his students for lectures and exams as he sees fit. |
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| ADA Notice: | Any
student who qualifies for "reasonable accommodations" in accordance
with the American with Disabilities Act must notify the instructor in
writing of such by the end of the first week of class. Accommodations will be made only for those students with official documentation on file. If you are a student requesting such accommodations do not wait for the Access office to contact me on your behalf - please speak to me directly in the first week of class. The number for the Disability Resource Center on the Charleston Campus is 651-5644. |
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| Religious Holidays: |
CSN is sensitive to the religious obligations
of its students. Any student intending to miss class, quizzes, examinations or
any other course work because of an observance of religious holidays
shall, whenever possible, be given an opportunity to reschedule the logistics corresponding to the missed
work. You must notify the instructor in writing of such an event
before the date of occurrence. This policy shall not apply
in the event that administering the assignment at an alternate time
would impose an undue hardship on the instructor or the College which
could have been reasonably avoided. Any student who neglects to notify the instructor in writing before the date of occurrence will not be eligible to apply this policy. |
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| Changes: | The
instructor reserves the right to change the course syllabus, schedule,
and policies as necessary. Students will be given appropriate notification in the event of any corresponding changes. |
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| Grading | |||||||||||||||||
| Homework: | A
list of suggested homework assignments is provided on my web page. These assignments
are there for your benefit. No textbook assignment will be submitted
for grading. |
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| Quizzes: | There will be twelve 5-point quizzes given randomly throughout the semester. At the end of the semester I will drop the two lowest quizzes, giving a maximum quiz score of 50 points. No make-up quizzes will be given. These quizzes may be given at the start or at the end of class at my discretion. |
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| Exams: | We will have five regular examinations and one cumulative final examination. There are no exact dates for the exams as we may move faster or slower on some material. Exams will be announced at least one week in advance. If you are not on time on test day you will miss special instructions for that test that will not be repeated. There are reviews and answer keys for each regular exam posted on my web site. You should use these reviews as study guides. We will go over these study guides, perhaps not in their entirety due to their length and completeness, the class period before each exam. You should have worked the problems beforehand and come to class with specific questions, don't just come to class expecting to get everything worked out before your eyes. |
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| Show Your Work : | You must show all of your work. Sometimes I may give more partial credit depending on the topic and question but unless explicitly stated or instructed to the contrary you are required to show all work in a well-presented organized manner in order to receive credit. Little work usually receives little or no credit regardless of whether the answer is right or not. Being able to clearly show or explain how you arrived at your answer is an essential part of what a college educated person is able to do. Using correct notation is imperative. Ambiguous, unclear, or incorrectly stated answers may not receive credit. |
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| Calculation: |
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| Tips For Success | |||||||||||||||||
| Study: | If you
want to succeed in this course (or any course), you must attempt the
assigned and suggested work. During a normal 16-week semester, for each
hour of class time, you should spend an additional two hours studying
each week. Thus, for a 3-credit hour course, you should be spending
approximately 9 hours per week studying the material for this course. |
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| Ask for Help: | If you
find yourself falling behind or become even the slightest bit confused,
seek help immediately! Feel free to call or e-mail your instructor at
any time. You should receive a response within 24 hours. Each student
receives 12 free hours of tutoring for each three credit class in which
they are registered. The Tutorial Center on the Charleston Campus is
located in the lobby of the D Building. Additionally, there is an open
Math Lab on the Charleston, Cheyenne, and Henderson Campuses. These Science & Mathematics Resource Centers are staffed with tutors and instructors
(from both Math & Science), and their use is free of charge. Visit
http://www.csn.edu/pages/1558.asp
for more information. |
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| Rework Examples: |
Pay close attention to the
examples found in the book. After reading through
them, write down the problem and try to work it without looking at the
book. |
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| Connections: | When
doing homework problems, try to identify the process and point of doing
the problem. If all you do is crunch out numeric answers, you won't
get very much from them. Many homework exercises are intended to enforce
concepts. If you can see the intended connections, you may find that
you need only work a few problems before you understand them. |
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| Check Answers: |
Use
the back of the book wisely. After completing an exercise,
compare your result with the answer in the back of the book. If the
result is different, try to solve the exercise again. If you believe
your answer to be correct, feel free to ask your instructor, a tutor,
a classmate or a friend. |
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| Affirmations: | Stop
saying "I am not good at math." The more you say it, the more
likely you are to fail. Instead, start telling yourself "I can
do this." Also, don't get discouraged by mistakes, profit by them. Always take the time
to review your work and graded quizzes. The best way to start reducing
the number of careless mistakes is to identify the kind of
mistakes you are prone to making. That way, you know what to look for
when working future problems. |
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| Work Together: |
Exchange
e-mail addresses and phone numbers with some of your classmates. Working
with other students will be very beneficial. Often, another student
can relate to a simple problem and offer advice. If you can clearly
explain how to work a problem to another student, your own understanding
will be greatly enforced. Also, if you cannot explain how to correctly
work a problem, you may find you may need to work a little harder on
some topics. |
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| Other | |||||||||||||||||
| Important Dates: |
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