MAJOR - MerAmec Juggling ORganization - on Thursday from 11 to 11:50 a.m. meeting in the Student Center Quadrangle or Student Center. Juggling Club Web Page URL http://www.jug/wt/major.htm
StLCC at Meramec Web Pages URL http://www.stlcc.cc.mo.us/mcdocs/ Check with the math secretary if I am not in my office when you are free or call me. You may also use email thayer@jug.net or my Web URL http://www.jug.net/wt to contact me for help or information. PREREQUISITE: MTH 007 with C or a satisfactory score on the placement test. Students from other institutions must provide appropriate documentation for enrollment to the instructor on or before Jan. 15, 1999. TEXTBOOK: UNDERSTANDING INTERMEDIATE ALGEBRA - A COURSE FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS by Hirsch and Goodman ADDITIONAL MATERIALS: graph paper and a scientific calculator with trig and log, ln, and exp keys. A scientific calculator may be used on tests. ADDITIONAL STUDY AIDS: Before the end of the first week take the SKILLS TEST FOR BEGINNING COLLEGE ALGEBRA found on pages 9 and 10 in the MATHEMATICS DEPARTMENT'S SYLLABUS. You should get 80% of the questions right or else consider repeating Elementary Algebra to master necessary skills for Intermediate Algebra. The student answer key has more than the answers. Computer software may be used in SW 109 and I will help you with this mathematics software. I would suggest using WinPlot, a free software graphing program from Peanut or other graphing software for this course. After the first week our mathematics department tutors can help you and some library materials are available. Please consider all the HAVING TROUBLE WITH MATHEMATICS, page 8, ideas and read SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO STUDY MATH, page 7, in the Mathematics Department's Syllabus. Please see me as soon as possible for any personal accommodations you require. CHAUTAUQUA TYPICAL CLASS PERIOD: The first part, about twenty minutes, of class is open for answering questions about the previous assignment including exercises, reading material, or classroom notes. You are encouraged to answer other students assignment exercise questions for extra credit points by presenting chalk board work. For each exercises presented and noted as one point on the attendance sheet, one point will be added to your unit test. While presenting exercises is expected, this communication beyond the one point is not graded. Use this time to experiment with your ability to understand an exercise and convey your understanding to others. Don't worry about any mistakes you may make, that's part of learning. In fact, the first student that finds and reports a given textbook or answer key mistake may also report a point on the attendance sheet for that discovery. The second part of class is used to introduce new material with examples and an active discussion. It is generally assumed that prior to the date listed on the Course Schedule, you took notes as you read from the new section(s). You may wish to include the textbook examples in your class discussion of new material and your instructor will cover these and other examples.
Some class time is spent with all students working at the chalk board. Some class time is devoted to group problem solving.
TEAM ACTIVITIES: Some class time is devoted to team work aimed at a deeper understanding of some course topics or their applications. Your instructor will assign you to a team and assign team coordinators. Sometimes a grade may result from this team work. When working on a team, students are to think for themselves treating the instructor as a coach, guide, consultant, and evaluator to the team. Always try to approach your team time with a knowledgeable position based on your personal studies. During team activity, you should display a willingness to generate discussion that leads to answers or more refined questions that converge to solutions to your team assignment. You may be in the dark on some points but being open to change and willing to communicate your points even if mistaken at first helps the team move toward the final goals while helping you understand with greater clarity. At times we need team work to derive all the answers or computations in some assignments. And other times teams provide a natural background for discussion of the material and presentation of solutions. You are expected to help your team reach reasonable objectives on time and demonstrate to me that you are participating on your team in a meaningful way. Also, teams may wish to work as a study group covering daily assignments. This can be implemented via telephone or computer networking. Individual communication is not permitted in class. Please note that individual communication is not very productive while another person is speaking in a group or class room situation. Individual communication is not permitted in class when attention is directed to one individual.
EXPECTATIONS: This syllabus including its Course Approximate Schedule (below), the MATHEMATICS DEPARTMENT'S SYLLABUS, pages 1-11, including ASSIGNMENT SHEETS on pages 2 and 3, INTERMEDIATE ALGEBRA OBJECTIVES on pages 4-6, and MATHEMATICS DEPARTMENT POLICIES on page 11 combined with the St. Louis Community College Spring 1999 Fact Finder student handbook gives you the relevant course, student academic rights and responsibilities, and study guide information. These items will give you a sense of the quality that your instructor works to achieve in this course. Please see me as soon as possible for any personal accommodations you require and please keep in mind that: The quickest way to resolve any difficulty, no matter how small, is to let your instructor know about it as soon as possible. You are expected to read the textbook and take notes from the textbook and from each class. You are expected to finish each assignment on time except perhaps a few of the more difficult exercises that you should ask about in class (and then finish). Definitely ask for individual help when needed particularly if you can not work large portions of the exercises. Review the processes you used to solve home work exercises each day. Remember that you want to stay on top of your work and be able to adequately prepare for the unit test coming in a few days. This generally means you need to develop a dogged attitude with more than several hours per day spent on solving exercises, keeping good notes from the text and class, and doing plenty of daily reviewing likely including some daily memorization. You are expected to contribute to your group's positive progress at all times. Use the enclosed course schedule sheet to keep a record of finished work. Your instructor is located in the math department or you may call the office or home telephone number for extra help. Please call before 8:30 PM if you can.
1. your ability to define and skill at defining terms, expressions, processes, operations, and strategies;
2. your ability to listen, read, speak and write with vocabulary skills essential for progress in mathematics;
3. your understanding of the general application of definitions and concepts and your energy in applying definitions and concepts to your basic areas of interest;
4. your skill in computing accurately and efficiently with and without calculators or computers;
5. your ability to recognize mathematics as a way of thinking and speaking about quantities, qualities, measures, and qualitative and quantitative relationships and to extend beyond to a level where you model your applications;
6. your ability to use mathematics to gather data, to present and interpret this data, to read and understand mathematics reports, charts, graphs, and accounts with and without modern technology;
7. your ability to use a general problem solving technique and incorporate computer and graphing calculator technology to facilitate problem solving;
8. your understanding of the logical structure of a mathematical proof: both formal and informal and both deductive and inductive. Also, your understanding of the logical structure of subject areas within mathematics, and the logical structure of mathematics as a useful part of an individual's philosophy. Make these types of your logical structures meaningful;
9. your ability to demonstrate mental traits such as visualization, curiosity, imagination, creativity, and play related to each concept and strategy to promote understanding and problem solving;
10. your ability to develop attitudes that lead to appreciation, confidence, respect, initiative, and independence for yourself and foster the same for other individuals;
11. your "preparation for" and "ability to" work with others in group activities and problem solving situations with an understanding of group dynamics for innovative decision making as well as conditions of "groupthink" that lead group problem solving astray. within your individual studies, during small group interaction, through all class activities and in your community.*
Consider the above list as you strive for excellence in understanding mathematical ideas and develop corresponding techniques. Add more activities or general goals by experimenting with new ones that may help you increase learning or make learning more meaningful and pleasant. Reorganize your methods and even style of learning for deeper understanding and interest. Pursue the lines of inquiry that you find your mind selects naturally while not diverging from the outline of course material too far. It is OK to spend large amounts of time studying just a few ideas, pages, or problems and as a matter of fact this is YOUR MAGIC for learning mathematics. Also give yourself personal permission for making lots of mistakes. Use the criterion of "when time seems to flow" as your gauge for individual development to realize a sense of accomplishment then personal complexity may change as well. Don't get stuck or stay stuck! Help yourself to be an expressive engaged learner, that is, "be all you can be".
Changes: Some additions, substitutions and/or corrections to this syllabus will be made during the course.
And this syllabus may change due to math department needs or time and activity adjustments.
Copyright © 1982 through © 1999 with all rights reserved by William V. Thayer, PedLog