College of Southern Nevada

T & R, 11:00 to 11:30 on line (Office Hour in Chat)
M, 12:30 to 1:30 & W, 10:00 to 11:00 in H 101-A.

IMPORTANT: Various features in this course, including the required online quizzes, make use of pop-up windows. Thus, to be able to participate in this course, you MUST disable any "Pop-Up Blocker" software installed on your computer.

Most of you will probably do your assignments/quizzes at home or at work. Technical problems on your behalf will NOT serve as a valid excuse for missing due dates. If you are having problems with your computer or do not have the required software, feel free to use any of the on-campus Computer Labs. The locations, contact numbers, and the hours of operations for the CSN Computer Labs can be found online at http://www.csn.edu/pages/444.asp.

There are no acceptable excuses for missing (or failing to complete) a Quiz or Exam. This includes technical difficulties (or other computer problems), children, illness, deaths in the family, traffic court, vacations, or any other legitimate (or imaginary) problems. Quizzes and Exams are available for an extended period of time so that students can make appropriate arrangements to complete the required work. Thus, any missed Quiz or Exam will be scored as a zero, and no make-up work of any kind will be offered. NOTE: This policy does not conflict with the Religious Holidays policy listed above. Observance of a religious holiday allows the student to reschedule any corresponding work, and rescheduling something in advance is significantly different than making up missed work.

You will begin the course by taking a quiz over the information and policies laid out in this syllabus. The score on the Syllabus Quiz will not count toward your overall course grade, but you MUST get a perfect score on it before you are allowed to continue in the course. If you do not get a perfect score, review your answers and this Syllabus, and then retake the Syllabus Quiz. Any Quiz and/or Exam missed due to a failure to take or get a perfect score on the Syllabus Quiz will be scored as a zero, and no make-up work will be allowed or offered.

Around the middle of the term, there will be a 40-point, online Mid-Term Exam (MID), and at the end of the term, there will be a 40-point, online Final Exam (FIN). Each Exam must be completed on or before the specified deadlines listed in the Course Schedule. Any Exam is not taken by the specified deadline will be scored as a zero. Absolutely no make-up Exam will be offered for any reason. Each Exam must be completed within the posted time limit. Unless approved by the instructor, answers saved after time has expired will not be accepted.

It is important to note that each Quiz and Exam in this course will be completed online, and graded by the computer. You are more than welcome to use your calculator, textbook, and any course notes you feel will help, but you are expected to complete the work without any assistance from another person. With that in mind, you will be 100% accountable for the answers you provide, and, thus, no partial credit will be awarded for incorrect answers, regardless of the severity of the corresponding error(s).

Also, since the computer will perform the vast majority of the grading in this course, you are to provide your answers with no attempt to show any work or intermediate step(s). Any attempt to show work as to how you arrived at a specific answer will be viewed by the computer as unnecessary and, hence, your answer will be deemed incorrect. No credit will be awarded for any answer marked incorrect due to a failure to follow these or any future instructions.

As it is possible for the computer to fail to recognize alternate forms of correct answers (Example: If the correct answer is the number "10," an answer of the word "ten" may be marked wrong by the computer), it will be in your best interests to review every Quiz & Exam after it has been graded. If you wish to question the grading of a particular answer, you are welcome and encouraged to do so. If you have an answer you believe was incorrectly marked wrong, it is your responsibility to contact the instructor for a possible adjustment to your score.

Assume John Doe finishes the semester with a Quiz scores of 10, 10, 8, 8, 9, 5, 9, 6, 0 10, 10, & 10, a Mid-Term score of 34.4, and a Final Exam score of 30.5.

His grade is computed as:
10+10+8+8+9+5+9+6+0+10+10+10+34.4+30.5 = 159.9, which is a C.

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. For an accelerated course that is to be completed in 8 weeks or less, the time spent should be doubled.

Unless directed otherwise, when responding to questions, use complete sentences, not phrases. For example, if the numeric answer to a word problem is 60, simply stating 60 or x = 60 is insufficient. Instead, state "There are 60 cats in the barn." This will force you to realize some answers my be incorrect. If you write the sentence, "There are 13.7 cats in the barn," you should realize 13.7 is not a valid answer.

NOTE: For most of the answers on the online quizzes and exams, you are not to write complete sentences or include units of measure. While they may significantly aid in the understanding of the material, the extra verbiage will cause the computer to mark the answer incorrect.

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.