BEGINNING ALGEBRA I

Credits: 04

Section(s) Day(s) Time Rm

50923 Tues-Thurs 6:00 pm¡V8:40 pm MBA 108

(MBA stands for Metro Business & Administration Building)

Instructor: Dr. Joseph Arendt

Office: Mailbox in Part-Time Office, Sci Tech Building, Room 118, Metro Campus

Phone: 1-800-954-8742 same as 1-800-954-TriC. Select College Directory from menu

of choices. When prompted, please clearly state my first and last name.

You will then be connected to my voice mailbox where you can leave

me a message.

E-mail Address: Joseph.Arendt@tri-c.edu

Personal Web Site: http://home.att.net/~arendtj

Office Hours: Before or after class, or by appointment.

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

First of two semester sequence. Includes study of real numbers, basic algebraic operations, linear equations and inequalities, rectangular coordinate system, graphs of linear equations and linear systems. Includes applications and activities to build skills in problem solving.

Lecture Hours: 04 Laboratory Hours: 00

COURSE PREREQUISITE(S):

MATH-0910 Basic Arithmetic and Pre- Algebra; or sufficient score on assessment test; or departmental approval: equivalent coursework.

PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES:

Upon successful completion of MATH-0950, Beginning Algebra I, the student should be able to:

A. Demonstrate an understanding of real numbers, their operations and basic properties including the concepts of sets and number-line graphs.

B. Solve various types of linear equations and inequalities in one variable and graph their solutions.

C. Set up and solve word problems using linear equations.

D. Evaluate formulas and solve formulas for a specific variable.

E. Graph points, lines and linear inequalities on the rectangular coordinate system.

F. Find the slope of a line.

G. Find the equation of a line.

H. Solve linear systems by the graphing, substitution and elimination methods.

Translate and solve word problems using linear systems of equations

INSTRUCTOR'S EXPECTATIONS:

I expect regular attendance, selected homework announced weekly in class to be turned in on time, and ability to explain and use main concepts from this course. Careful reading of my Grading Policy will show that attendance by itself is not part of the grade. Only test scores and homework grades are used. Nevertheless, material from all lectures will appear in the homework and tests, so excellent attendance is highly recommended. Regular attendance fit well with success of students in the previous semester, even though not a guarantee.

The Academic Credit section states, ¡§two hours of significant student study outside of class for each one hour in class.¡¨ This course meets only once a week on Saturday, so one Saturday lecture covers the same material as three lectures during the week. Missing one class means missing a full week of material, which can be difficult to make up. Also, I strongly advise not putting off the homework until the last minute. Please consider the two-hours-outside-lecture rule for how much time to allocate for homework.

TEXTBOOK/INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS:

Beginning Algebra with Applications, Seventh Edition, Richard N. Aufmann, Vernon C. Barker, and Joanne S. Lockwood, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2008

A calculator will be required in this course. The type of calculator recommended is typically priced between ten and twenty dollars. It should have an ¡§a b/c¡¨ key, a change-sign key, and a pi (ƒà) key. More expensive calculators, such as graphing calculators, will also work if one desires to have one, but that is not expected for this course. Sample calculators are the TI-30 series such as the TI-34, the Sharp EL-531V, the Casio FX-250, the Casio FX-115, the Sharp 506g, or Sharp 509g. The instructor will not provide a calculator to students who do not have one.

ATTENDANCE:

Regular class attendance is required, although I will not use attendance in computing the grade in this course. An instructor may withdraw a student for excessive absence if the student has missed the equivalent of one week of instruction unless arrangements satisfactory to the instructor can be made by the student to demonstrate that he/she can make acceptable academic progress (College Policy).

WITHDRAWAL:

Students may withdraw from any semester course prior to the end of the twelfth week of the full term, or 80 percent of any instructional part of term. Specific withdrawal dates are available by term in the Campus Admissions and Records Offices or published in the schedule of courses.

Up to the last day of the twelfth week of the semester, a student may withdraw from a course(s) for any reason. Withdrawal from a course prior to the last day of the second week of the semester will have no notation made in permanent records--withdrawal thereafter will be noted with a "W."

If a student misses class time for the equivalent of one week of instruction, an instructor has the option to withdraw the student for excessive absence. The instructor may elect not to exercise this option, however, and it is the student's responsibility to make sure that an official withdrawal takes place.

All transactions involving withdrawal from courses shall be done in writing and on forms provided by the college. A student's failure to attend classes shall not constitute an official withdrawal. The withdrawal date for this course with no record of the course is June 10, 2008. The withdrawal date for this course is July 18, 2008 with a W on the transcript.

TESTS, QUIZZES & HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS:

There will be four regular tests, plus a cumulative final exam. The homework problems to be collected and graded by the instructor are labeled separately from homework that is recommended to prepare for the tests, but that the instructor will not grade.

FINAL EXAM:

Thursday, July 31, 2008, 6:00 pm¡V8:00 pm, MBA 108 (normal class room and time)

MAKE-UP POLICY:

Only for a verifiable doctor¡¦s excuse will a make-up test be scheduled. This is a strict requirement, but keep in mind that one of the four regular tests will be dropped as explained in the Grading Policy/Scale. For assigned homework, it will be accepted late with a penalty of the instructor¡¦s discretion until that material is covered on an exam, after which that late homework will not be accepted.

GRADING POLICY/SCALE:

A grade of A for 90.0%-100.0%; B for 80.0%-89.9%; C for 70.0%-79.9%; D for 60.0%-69.9%; F for 0.0-59.0%.

Lowest score of four regular tests (not including the final) will be dropped.

20% each (for 60% total) Three regular tests (after lowest dropped)

35% Final exam

5% Homework

Consider if one had 90% on each of the four tests and 90% on the homework, but missed the final exam. One of the four regular tests automatically goes away. This then works out to (90%)(0.2) + (90%)(0.2) + (90%)(0.2) + (90%)(0.05) = 58.5%. That is under 60%, so it is an overall grade of F! This means one can be going into the final exam with a low grade of A, but merely by missing the final exam get an F! Taking the final exam is vitally important!

INCOMPLETE (I) GRADES:

A notation of "I" indicates that a student has not completed all course requirements as a result of circumstances judged by the instructor to be beyond the student's control. A student must complete all course requirements no later than the end of the sixth week of the academic term following the semester in which the "I" was noted. Failure to complete such requirements will result in an "F" (failing) grade. At least three of the four regular tests must be completed before the regular end of the course for a student to be considered for an Incomplete, ¡§I¡¨.

ACADEMIC CREDIT:

In order to award one (1) semester hour of college credit, the Ohio Board of Regents requires two hours of significant student study outside of class for each one hour in class for the equivalent of an academic semester.

DISABILITIES:

Students with disabilities at Cuyahoga Community College are expected to take an assertive role in communicating with faculty and staff members about their need for reasonable accommodation.

If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, if you have emergency medical information to share with me, or if you need special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please contact me as soon as possible.

Please communicate to the instructor any disability that might prevent taking the test in the classroom in the same time period as the other students early in the class well before the test itself is taking place. For my courses, under no circumstances will a regular classroom test or the final exam be given as a take-home test to be done without supervision overnight or over several days. Instead, a different location and time will be provided to students with disabilities who require it, with more time allowed or other requirements that they might have.

MATH TUTORING AVAILABLE

The Math Tutoring Lab will be closed whenever the college is closed.

is free and no appointment is needed!

Math Lab open hours for Summer Semester 2007 are:

Monday & Thursday¡K¡K¡K¡K¡K9:00 AM ¡V 5:00 PM

Tuesday & Wednesday¡K¡K¡K¡K11:00 AM ¡V 7:00 PM

No tutoring on Friday and Saturday.

Phone us at the math lab, (216) 987-4647

The Math Lab will be closed at any time the college is closed.

For details, see our web page http://instruct.tri-c.edu/metromathtutors

If you want to talk to me, I can be reached at arendtj@att.net

Back to my home page.

Last modified May 29, 2008