Math 160        Spring 2010        Lowman


INSTRUCTOR:
Roy Lowman
email: rmlowman@math.uic.edu
phone: 413-3735
office hours: 11:10 -11:50 MWF in 626 SEO
GRADING:
TEXT: Finite Mathematics & Its Applications, Tenth Edition by Goldstein, Schneider, and Siegel. We will cover most of chapters 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, and 8. The online software MyMathLab will be used with the textbook. You are required to purchase a MyMathLab Student Access Kit and register for the course number that will be given to you by your TA.  You can purchase the Student Access Kit in the campus bookstore or online. It is recommended that you buy a paper copy of the textbook. However, there is an abridged electronic version available with your MyMathLab account.

CALCULATOR: A calculator is necessary to do many problems throughout the course, a graphing calculator with matrix, list, and statistics capabilities is required, such as the TI-83 or TI-84.

QUIZZES, SPECIAL ASSIGNMENTS, TA-Anything: At least one quiz and one special assignment will be given before each exam.  i.e. at least three written quizzes and three special assignments.  There may be more than three. There are no makeup's for quizzes, late assignments will never be accepted. Missed quizzes and assignments will be recorded as 0. For the TA-anything grade, your TA can do anything that would encourage you to be a good student and learn the material. Points could be given for attendance, additional short quizzes, homework problems or assignments assigned by your TA.

MyMathLab HW and QUIZZES: Homework and quizzes related to the sections covered in lectures and the textbook will be assigned weekly with deadlines. As a general rule, deadlines will not be extended. It is your responsibility to know when the assignments are available to work on and when they are due.

EXAMS and MAKEUP POLICY: All students are responsible for knowing the material and announcements from lectures and discussions. If you have a valid excuse for missing a midterm let your instructor (not your TA) know in advance. On return give a written explanation of your absence to the instructor (not your TA) at the end of the next lecture. There will be no make up exams and/or quizzes. If your excuse is valid you must take the midterm Pass/Fail and if you pass then your missing exam grade will be replaced with your final exam score. If you fail, your score will be recorded as zero. You can do this for only one exam. If you miss more than one exam you should consider dropping the course. Not finding a parking space, a car problems, car accidents, forgetting and oversleeping are not valid excuses. There will be no make-up for the final exam.

HOW TO STUDY: Skim the material before the corresponding lecture. After lecture read over your notes and redo the examples. Read the book and do it's examples. Then do the assigned problems listed on the syllabus checking each of the answers with the back of the book or in the solutions manual. Bring any questions to discussion. To study for a test go over every problem covered in lectures, all assigned problems, do the suggested review problems at the end of the chapters, do the practice test. You should preview and review often throughout the semester. Chapter summaries at the end of every chapter are often useful for this. Assume that every lecture example will be an exam problem.

NEED HELP?: Your first stop for help with a math course is The Math Learning Center located at 430 SEO open Monday-Friday 9:00AM to 6:00PM.

CLASS ETIQUETTE: Talking in lectures will not be tolerated. If you have a talking problem your instructor will start deducting points from your combined score at the end of the semester. It is bad manners to get up and leave the lecture a few minutes before the class is actually over. If you have a good reason to leave early you should let your instructor know before class starts. You should always come to class on time. However, if you must come in late then remove your coat etc. before you walk in the door and try not to attract attention. You are in a large room with many other students, use common sense. Cell phones: turn them off.

EMAIL: If you want your emails to be read then (a) include the course number in the subject line along with a brief description, (b) In the body of the email indicate who you are and what course in addition to the message you are sending. Emails that only ask questions like: What is on the exam?, What book are we using? When is the final? What room are we in? without indicating what course you are in can not be answered. I teach three courses! You need to be more specific. 

BIG NOTE: MyMathLab is a valuable resource for the course. However, the lectures form the basis for the course not MyMathLab. Good students (this is universal) (a) always go to lectures (b) always do their homework. It is best if you can skim the material before it is covered in lectures. If you can't do this then the lecture will be your first exposure to new concepts. If this is the case, you will often feel lost in lecturs but your brain is still learning. By the time you see your TA in discussion, you should have studied lecture notes, studied worked examples in the textbook and attemped the assigned problems. Your TA will now be in a position to help you fill in the missing pieces. At this point things should start to make sense to you. All of this is consistent with the SQ3R method of study (look it up). Skim or expose your self to what is to be learned. Don't worry if you do not understand, you are just setting up your brain to learn. Formulate a Question about the material that you just skimmed. Read to find the answer to your question (i.e. read with a purpose), Recall  what you just learned. This is not so easy. In math and science classes this usually means doing homework problems, working a lecture example (starting with a blank paper and  no notes),  or covering the worked out solution of a book example and working the problem on your own. Check your answer when finished. If needed re-study the problem and try again. Repeat this until you get it right. It is usually a good practice to do this for lecture examples and worked book examples before you start working homework problems. This is only two R's. The third R is Review. Regaurdless of how busy or behind you are, you must always find time to review. Reviewing on a regular basis puts what you learned into long term memory. With out regular reviewing, most of what you learned will fade away before you take you final exam. Think of SQ3R as the owners manual for your brain. If you know how it works, you can get more out of it. To make this work you must organize your time, otherwise, you will not get past the first R. One final note, when you study mathematics, you should always have a pencil and paper  to write things out as you think them out. This is especially true when using  MyMathLab.  Always use a pencil and tablet to write your work when using the computer to solve homework problems. There is a saying "The way you practice is the way you perform". This is especially true when under pressure and when taking exams. Your exams are all hand written.