Math 120 Section D Syllabus

A graphing calculator is required. The TI-81,82 or 83 is recommended.

Important Dates :

Grades will be based on 5 Quizzes (10 points each), 3 Tests ( 50 points each ) and the cumulative final (50 points). The final score can be used to replace one low or missing Test or the Quiz total. This can be a benefit if you get sick, are called out of town or just want to take a "personal holiday" on one test day. Homework problems will be recommended as we go along but not collected. We will, however, spend much of the class time going over the assigned problems. You are responsible for showing up on test days. Please DON'T ask to reschedule, and I don't give make-ups.

Gradelines will be given when I hand back the tests. Please record the gradelines I give as the course goes along so you know how you are doing. (Add up your scores, add up my gradelines and compare.) At the end of the course I will add up my gradelines to give the overall gradelines. There is no opportunity for "extra credit." Gradelines will be no higher than 65%-C, 80%-B and 90%-A.

Cheating is a poor way to try to pass a course and the faculty here at BC has agreed to be tough about instances of cheating and to announce this in our syllabi. If caught, at the least cheaters will receive an irrevocable 0 on the test in question and other administrative action is possible that may, for example, affect continued student status. Don't do it.

My tests are timed and there is a bit of "time pressure" if the student is uncertain of the material. This is intentional on my part.

One reason is that both you and I need a "reality check" periodically throughout the quarter. It is very hard for the student (and for me in conversations with students) to tell the difference between "familiarity" with the material in the sense of "recognizing" it if someone else does it, and actual mastery of the material.

I don't want students to be "discovering" how to do the problems on the tests. I want them to recognize the type of problem and go right to the solution technique. This math class is part of a sequence leading to higher math classes and other classes where the material is applied. If the student is not "fluent" in the techniques of this course, he or she cannot hope to pass subsequent courses. My usage of the word "fluency" is the same as if this were a foreign language class, and the reason the student must be fluent is the same.

Imagine the following scenario:

A student tells me that he or she can read French and I present that student with a copy of "Le Monde" and ask the student to translate the front page. The student replies that this is terribly unfair. The student says that he or she is "left brained" or "right brained" or something and cannot be expected to just sit down and read the paper, even though he or she says "I really do know how to read French. I just can't do it when you ask me like that."

The student claims that to demonstrate reading ability it is sufficient to be able to translate specific articles with much more time. The student claims that it would be more fair to allow the use of a dictionary and a grammar outline, and that this "test" would still demonstrate reading mastery.

After passing this test the student believes that a French literature and a French poetry class should be within reach.

Sound silly? Well this same argument, with "math" substituted for "French," is used, unashamedly and repeatedly, in almost every math class where tests occur. My response, when it is used in my class, is always the same.

To reiterate:

I know my math tests are fairly hard. That is because I need to find out if you have learned well the many techniques we study in the course. I need to find out if you recognize problems right away, or if it takes a long time before you can dredge something up. This correlates with how much time you have spent on homework outside of class, and with how well you will be able to use the techniques in longer problems in later courses. Typically you will need to spend two to three quality hours of study outside of class for every hour inside to succeed. It may take some people more, and some less. However much time it takes you, your grade will be based on your ability to perform on the exams, and not on whether I like you or feel you deserve to pass or because you really need or want a certain grade or because you like math or don't like math. Except in the case of a documented disability, that performance must take place in the class on the day of the test within the time limits I set.

If my attitude toward these matters does not work for you I strongly encourage you to shop around for an instructor amenable to alternative theories of education.

We can save quite a bit of class time by dealing with the repetitive "Will this be on the test?" question right here in the syllabus.

I will respond to the question "Will this be on the test?" by referring the student to the following statement:

My feeling on this matter is that if you concentrate on understanding the material and the ideas in the class the tests will take care of themselves. I try to telegraph clearly the type of material that will be on tests but I avoid saying that any particular problem will be on the test. This is because I want students to learn everything and not focus on a few trees (at the expense of the forest) too early.

As a practical matter, the more basic a topic is the more important it is. Don't spend all your homework time on the really hard problems thinking you will "get back" to the easier ones later. Do all the easier ones first.