Math 100
Fall 1997
Instructor: Janice Sklensky
Office Phone: (508)286-3973
Office: Science Center 109
E-mail: jsklensk@wheatonma.edu
Course Materials: Functioning in the Real World: A Precalculus Experience, by Gordon, Gordon, Fusaro, Siegel, and Tucker.
A graphing calculator will be useful, although it is not required.
The text, and a calculator if you have one, should be brought to class every day.
Overview:
The primary aim of this course is to prepare you for Calculus. While this includes learning specific material, it is most important that you learn to think mathematically. To that end, you will encounter a variety of topics, and wide variety of challenges. Most of the problems you will solve will not be solved by copying examples. Instead, you will be applying mathematical concepts to a variety of different problems. You will also be faced with some open-ended problems, that you and your colleagues will spend several days deciding how best to answer. These non-routine problems will require that you not only be able to follow instructions, but also that you grasp mathematical ideas. This course may present challenges which require more effort than you have previously experienced, but the rewards are far greater as well! Increasing your ability to think mathematically not only will help you in Calculus, it will allow you to apply mathematics in courses in other disciplines, in your eventual career, and in all other aspects of your life.
You will learn to use a combination of algebraic, graphical, and numerical methods, and to decide which is the most helpful tool in any given context. You will develop your understanding of the mathematical concepts and learn how to apply them to realistic problems, and not merely to perform operations mechanically. You will learn to interpret results, not just to obtain answers. You will use technology not only as a tool for answering questions that arise naturally, but also to learn mathematics.
This class has several important aims. You will learn mathematical thinking, to read and write mathematics, to use technology, and lastly, you will learn specific mathematical skills. All of these are important for Calculus, not only the specific skills.
As you read through how the course is structured, you will see that a lot is expected of you. You will need to spend an average of 9 hours per week on homework, projects, and reading.
Reading:
Reading technical material is an extremely valuable skill, and is becoming more pervasive in all areas of our lives all the time. Moreover, reading and comprehending mathematics is a large part of Calculus. Therefore, it is important that you feel comfortable reading mathematical prose.
You will receive some suggestions for reading a math book.
Every day, part of your assignment will be to read the material that we will be discussing during the next class. Many of you have not read mathematics before. To encourage you, to help you learn how to do it well, and, incidentally, to give you credit for your efforts, I will be posting questions that cover your reading. You will send the responses to those quesions to me by 5pm the day before the next class, following the guidelines for submitting reading assignments. For instance, if on Wednesday I assign reading on Section 1.1, then by 5pm Thursday, you will have read that section, checked my web page for questions on the reading, and sent me your responses. These will be graded on a 2 point scale: 2 points if you respond in full, 1 point for a partial response, and 0 points if you choose not to respond in time.
Homework:
Learning math is best accomplished through a combination of group and individual efforts. I encourage you to work in groups on your homework, but you do not have to. If you do work in groups, you will find that you benefit most from the experience if you have already made a sincere effort on every problem before you meet to discuss them. As for the homework you turn in, all I ask of groups is that each person turn in a complete homework assignment, and that you let me know who you worked with, and certify that you all gave equal effort.
Problems will be assigned every other class meeting, and will be due two classes hence, by 4 pm. Late homework which is received by 4pm the following day will receive at most 50% of the total possible, and no homework will be accepted after that. If you are going to miss class, make arrangements to get the homework to me on time.
Consult your Guidelines for Homework Presentation for information on how your homework should look.
Projects:
To give you an opportunity to solve problems that are more realistic--problems which do not have one "right" answer, and which take several days of pondering and workign to solve to your satisfaction, you will work on 3 projects, in groups, this term. Each group will describe their solution in a paper.
Exams:
It is important for me to make sure throughout the semester that the material you are learning is really making sense to you. To that end, we will have several exams.
Two exams will be "gateway exams". These exams will only take 15-30 minutes of class time. They will not test mathematical ideas so much as the skills which are the foundation of the course. You must get 100% on these exams, but you may take the m over and over again.
In addition to the gateway exams, we will be having two "midterms". Each of these will take the entire class meeting. They may test some mathematical skills, but the primary emphasis will be giving you an opportunity to show me how you've mastered the underlying mathematical ideas.
We will also, of course, have a cumulative final. I am currently leaning towards giving a take-home final, due Wednesday December 17 at 11 am.
Notify me in advance if you will be missing an exam, either by phone or by e-mail. If your reason for missing is acceptable, we will arrange that you take the exam early. If you miss an exam without notifying me in advance, I reserve the right to not give you any make-up exam. I will not give any individual more than one make-up exam during the semester.
Attendance:
Clearly, missing class is not a wise idea. If you do miss class, it is of course your responsibility to find out any assignments, and to get a copy of the notes and of any hand-outs.
Evaluation:
I expect to use the weights below, although I reserve the right to change my mind if the semester does not go as expected.
| Reading HW | 5% |
| HW Problems | 15% |
| Projects | 24% |
| Gateway Exams | 16% |
| Midterm Exams | 20% |
| Final Exam | 20% |
If you question the fairness of any grade, bring it to me within a week of receiving it.
Honor Code:
Please remember to abide by the Honor Code. I take the Honor Code seriously, and will bring a case before the Hearing Board if I see or find anything suspicious. A cheater hurts not only him- or her-self, but also hurts the rest of the class. Moreover, I can usually spot cheating.
Reading assignments: You may discuss the questions with your classmates, but you must enter the responses yourself.
Homework and Projects: You may work with anybody you want. You may use any references you want. However, you must understand how to do every problem, and you must site references. That not only includes any other textbooks, but also naming anybody you worked with or got help from.
Exams: You may not use any notes, books, or colleagues as reference during the in-class exams. You may not use a calculator unless everybody in the class has access to a graphing calculator.
Janice Sklensky
Wheaton College
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
Science Center, Room 109
Norton, Massachusetts 02766-0930
TEL (508) 286-3973
FAX (508) 285-8278
jsklensk@wheatonma.edu
Back to: Precalculus | My Homepage | Math and CS