Math 1010
Dr. Sarah J. Greenwald

Where to Get Help

Office Hours 326 Walker Hall 262-2363
I am always happy to help you in office hours. An open door means that I am on the floor somewhere, so come look for me.

http://www.mathsci.appstate.edu/~sjg/class/1010/ Check this often for lab projects, tests and review sheets and access to the other class web pages. On web pages, an underlined phrase means a link.
http://www.mathsci.appstate.edu/~sjg/class/1010/highlightss01.html Check this after each class meeting for daily class overviews, internet explorer web based problems, and shorter term nightly assignments!

Dr. Sarah's MAT 1010 WebCT is accessible by password from myWebCT http://www.webct.appstate.edu:8900/webct/public/home.pl after following the lab 1 directions. The Calendar is the best place to check for long term assignments, extra credit, and extra office hours, and the Bulletin Board is the easiest way to ask a math question outside of class and office hours. You are responsible for reading all posts - you should check the bulletin board at least twice a week. I prefer that you use office hours since it is easier to discuss material in person, but if you can not make them, then the newsgroup is a great alternative. I usually check the newsgroup numerous times every day including the weekends.

I usually check e-mail once a day during the week. [email protected] is the easiest way to contact me outside of class, office hours, and the WebCT bulletin board.

Walker Math Help Faculty and students answer questions.

You may wish to obtain a tutor through the Learning Assistance Program - for group (free) or private ($$) tutors in D.D. Dougherty.

Required Resources

Course Goals

 Develop problem solving skills and appreciation of liberal arts math.
Develop communication skills by communicating mathematics to a general audience in writing projects, group and class discussions and presentations, and on the WebCT bulletin board.
Develop computer skills and advanced web searching techniques.
Math 1010 has been designated as a writing intensive, numerical data and computer use course.

Topics and Objectives

Financial Mathematics Interest formulas as they apply to the real world - credit cards, student loans, savings accounts, car and house purchases, taxes, retirement...
Statistics To recognize misrepresentations of studies and statistical data in the real world by understanding statistical techniques.
What is a Mathematician? The lives and mathematical work and styles of some famous mathematicians.
Geometry of the Real World Earth geometry and geometry of our universe - doing mathematics the way mathematicians do.

Grades

  • Participation in class and lab activities, on the bulletin board, in assignments graded out of checkplus, and WebCT quizzes 20% Attendance is required. You are expected to contribute to discussions and to read the WebCT bulletin board, and will be randomly called on to present nightly homework (you may pass but this will affect your participation grade). You are also expected to actively engage the material in class and lab. This means that when we are doing a calculation, you must also do this on your calculator, and you are expected to take notes since the book does not contain everything you need to know. The first try of some WebCT quizzes will occur in the lab and will be worth 10% of the WebCT grade for that quiz. No make-ups are allowed, but the lowest score will be dropped. Each quiz will have up to 5 additional tries to achieve a perfect score on the quiz retake, and the highest of this score will be worth 90% of the WebCT grade for that quiz. Department policy mandates that missing more than 8 official and/or unofficial credit hours of absences during the course (careful - each class is 1.5 credit hours and each lab is 2 credit hours!) will result in a grade of F. Missing more than 5 credit hours will result in a lower participation grade. Save your absences for emergencies!
  • Weekly lab projects 35% Work will not be accepted without explanation and must also be turned in on or before the due date. If there is some reason you must miss a class, then obtain the assignment from the web pages. The lowest lab project will be dropped. Every other project will be equally weighted regardless of the total number of points (except those that are marked as counting as two labs). One late lab project allowed over the course of the semester - save this for emergencies.
  • Major topic exams, presentations and/or papers 20% No make-up exams will be given. May occur during the last week of class. You should view exams primarily as a learning experience, as reflected in the relatively low percentage of the grade. This means that exams are not only an opportunity for you to demonstrade your mastery of the material, but are also an opportunity for you to be challenged with new material in order for you to make new connections. To encourage exams as a learning experience some extra points will be granted for test revisions.
  • Final exam Monday May 7 12-2pm 25% Comprehensive. No make-ups allowed.
  • Extra credit Extra credit points will be granted if you answer someone else's math question on the WebCT bulletin board. There will be other extra credit opportunities during the semester for which points will accumulate. When final grades are given, extra credit points are taken into account in the determination of -,nothing or + attached to a letter grade.
    • You can obtain a passing grade in this class by completing your work and missing no more than 8 credit hours of class. You should expect to work hard in this class, and put in the necessary time outside of class in order to complete homework and assignments on time, as I also work hard to help you succeed. To obtain an A in this class, you must demonstrate deep understanding of the material.

    Other Policies

    Material is covered very quickly. Do plenty of exercises, more than those that are assigned. In college, you can expect to spend 2 hours outside of class for each hour in class. Plan to spend at least 8-10 hours per week, out of class, on average, on this course. Attendance and participation are expected and required. Please try to be punctual in attending, as I try to start each class on time. If you must be late to a class, or must leave early, then do still attend, although you can expect that the portion of the class that you miss will be deducted from your attendance allowance. This class does not follow the standard lecture format. There will be days when the activities are designed to be completed during class and handed in at the end of the period. Thus, attendance is required at ALL lecture and lab periods. You are responsible for all material covered and all announcements and assignments made at each class, whether you are present or not. You are also responsible for announcements made on the web pages, so check them often.

    Certain homework or assignments will require use of a computer with web access, as this is a computer intensive designated course. Either you will be given some time in lab to do the assignment, or you will have at least 36 hours to complete such an assignment - enough time to access a computer from school if you do not have one at home. If, due to work or other responsibilities, you cannot access a computer with web access at least once every 36 hours, then you should drop out of this section.

    As mandated for writing designated courses, you will be assigned a significant amount of writing. You will usually have at least one week to complete these projects. Use this time to explore the mathematical ideas deeply, to bring rough drafts or ideas into office hours and to ensure that your writing satisfies the writing checklist. You can expect to have your graded projects returned to you one week after you submit them. Sometimes revisions will be allowed in response to comments I have made on a draft. Respond to the comments-use them as invitations to clarify your understanding of the problem or my understanding of your solution. You cannot turn in revisions unless you have turned in work when it was originally due and you must resubmit the original paper along with the revision. Typically, you will have one week from the time that you receive your drafts to revise your work.

    When writing up work, be sure to give acknowledgment where it is due. Submitting someone else's work as your own (PLAGIARISM) is a serious violation of the University's Academic Integrity Code.

    Methodology

    Asking questions, and explaining things to others, in or out of class, is one of the best ways to improve your understanding of the material. This course is to be an environment in which everyone feels comfortable asking questions, making mistakes, offering good guesses and ideas, and is respectful to one another.

    You should explore each problem and write out your thinking in a way that can be shared with others. Focus on your own ideas. Turn in projects or prepare to present problems even if it they are not complete, even if only to say, "I do not understand such and such" or "I am stuck here." Be as specific as possible. Conjecture.

    In this course, you will be challenged with problems that you have never seen before. I do not expect you to be able to solve all the issues immediately. Instead, I want to see what you can do on your own. Out in the real world, this is important, since no matter what job you have, you will be expected to seek out information and answers to new topics you have not seen before. This may feel uncomfortable and frustrating. I understand this and want to help you through the process. It helps to remember that there are no mathematical dead-ends! Each time we get stuck, it teaches us something about the problem we are working on, and leads us to a deeper understanding of the mathematics.

    In the real world though, you are not expected to face your work alone. You will be allowed to talk to other people and you may even be expected to work with other people. In this class, you are also not expected to face your work alone. I encourage you to talk to me often in class, office hours, and the bulletin board, and group work will also be encouraged.

    I am always happy to help you in class, during office hours (or by appointment), or on the WebCT bulletin board, and will try to give you hints and direction. At times though, to encourage the exploration process, I may direct you to rethink a problem and to come back to discuss it with me again afterwards. This occurs when I believe that the struggle to understand is imperative for your deep understanding of the material.