COURSE SYLLABUS
College Algebra (Dual Credit – ECTC/GCHS) MAT 150 (3 credit hours)
Prerequisite: ACT score of 19+ ; GCHS strongly recommends prerequisite courses of Honors Algebra IIA and Honors Algebra IIB as their standard level Algebra II relies heavily on a graphing calculator and is not meant to develop pencil-and-paper algebraic skills.
Text: PreCalculus, Michael Sullivan, Michael Sullivan, III 2003, 2000, 1996 by Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Course Description: This course includes selected topics in algebra and analytic geometry and develops manipulative skills and concepts required for further study in mathematics. Topics are listed below under Course Content. Students may not receive credit for both MAT150 and any other College Algebra or Pre-calculus course. Credit not available on the basis of special exam.
Course Competencies: Upon completion of this course, the student should be able to:
· Recognize functions and specify the domain, range, and other critical information of a given function.
· Graph linear, quadratic, polynomial, rational, exponential, logarithmic and piecewise functions.
· Write expressions from data, verbal descriptions or graph.
· Solve polynomial, rational, exponential and logarithmic equations.
· Solve application problems using polynomial, rational, exponential, and logarithmic functions.
· Perform operations with functions and find inverse functions.
· Solve linear and nonlinear systems of equations.
· Solve nonlinear inequalities.
General Education Competencies:Students should prepare for twenty-first century challenges by gaining knowledge of human cultures and the physical and natural worlds through study in the sciences and mathematics, social sciences, humanities, histories, languages, and the arts.
Intellectual and practical skills, including
• Inquiry and analysis
• Critical and creative thinking
• Written and oral communication
• Quantitative literacy
• Information literacy
• Teamwork and problem solving
Personal and social responsibility, including
• Civic knowledge and engagement (local and global)
• Intercultural knowledge and competence
• Ethical reasoning and action
• Foundations and skills for lifelong learning
Integrative and applied learning, including synthesis and advanced accomplishment across general and specialized skills.
Course Content:
I. Relation, Functions, Graphs, and Applications - critical information such as domain, range, asymptotes, minima, maxima, intercepts, roots, etc.
· Polynomial (linear, quadratic, nth degree)
· Exponential
· Logarithmic
· Rational
· Piecewise-defined
· Properties of functions
· Operations and composition of functions
· Inverse functions
II. Expressions, Equations, and Inequalities – prerequisite skills such as rules of exponents, use of complex number system, factoring, simplification of radical and rational expressions, application of properties, etc.
· Polynomial
· Radical
· Rational
· Exponential
· Logarithmic
· Systems of linear equations/inequalities
· Systems of nonlinear equations
SUPPLIES
Each student is responsible for bringing the text, notebook paper, graph paper, pencils, erasers, a blue pen, a straightedge, a highlighter, and a scientific calculator to class each day. Graphing calculators will not be allowed during assessments. The use of any type of cell phone, I-pod, I-pad, etc. is not allowed; they should never be visible or heard in my classroom.
TUTORING
After-school tutoring at GCHS is provided free of charge by a certified high school math teacher every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, that GCHS is in session; you may make an appointment with a math instructor, you may go to the math lab on ECTC’s campus, or you may seek out a private tutor. It is each student’s responsibility to, when absent from class, get all class notes and assignments from another student and be prepared for assessments prior to the date of the assessments. Retake exams are not an option.
ATTENDANCE - Due to the nature of the subject matter covered in this course, it is highly recommended that you be in attendance at every class meeting; you are responsible for making up all missed assignments. Borderline grades may be affected in part by the regularity of attendance. All exams will be given on the first day all students are present after the unit’s concepts have been covered. Quizzes may or may not be allowed to be made up.
HOMEWORK - Homework will be assigned daily; it is unreasonable to expect that you will be able to perform well on quizzes and tests without completing all homework in a timely manner. Class time will be given to answer questions as long as it does not keep the new content from being covered sufficiently.
LATE/MAKE-UP WORK – The student is expected to turn in assignments when requested by the instructor; the instructor will announce if late work will be accepted for any given assignment. For excused absences only, make-up work is allowed if completed and turned in within 5 school days. The instructor has the right to announce a date at which time late work will no longer be accepted for the trimester.
GRADING POLICY
Students are responsible for keeping up with grades via Infinite Campus Parent Portal at all times. Standard college grading scale: A: 90 – 100%; B: 80 – 89%; C: 70 – 79%; D: 60 – 69%; E: Below 60%
WITHDRAWAL POLICY
You may withdraw from ECTC credit with a “W” on or before the day of the College Algebra final exam (per GCHS’ second trimester final exam schedule) but your course average will be recorded on your GCHS transcript. If you wish to drop the ECTC portion of this College Algebra class, you must complete an “Elizabethtown Community and Technical College High School Dual Credit Withdrawal Request” form with Mrs. Mona Higdon, GCHS senior counselor.
ACCESSING/checking Your KCTCS EMail - As a student of the KCTCS System, e-mail is an integral part of the distance learning process as well as your everyday process as a student of Elizabethtown Community and Technical College. You get grade information, class registration, and other related information on your email account. In addition, all of your KCTCS information will come through student email. Go to the following link to check your email: https://outlook.com/kctcs.edu .
Your password must be changed via KCTCS User Account Center. You will need to know your student id number to use the User Account Center. Attempting to change your password through your mailbox will fail. Also if your phone has been set to sync with the previous KCTCS email system (prior to July 12, 2012), you will now need to set up your mobile device to work with 365. Help can be found at http://www.kctcs.edu/email/FAQs. For questions regarding the email changes, contact ECTC’s IT help desk at 270-706-8817 between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m, Monday-Friday. To email Mrs. Minton with questions or concerns, students must use the GCHS email address: . Furthermore, you are responsible for consistently ensuring accuracy of all grades in Infinite Campus and making Mrs. Minton aware of any concerns you have asap.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Statement
If you need accommodation because of a documented disability (psychological disability, medical disability, learning disability, and/or physical disability), you must register with ECTC Disability Services each academic term you are enrolled. To register, contact Noel Helm, ECTC Disabilities Coordinator, in Room 111-RPC, or call (270) 706-8455. In the event of an emergency while you are on campus or attending class at an off-campus location, notify ECTC Disability Services immediately if you require assistance.
REQUIRED Satisfactory Academic Standards –
In order to be eligible to receive financial aid, a returning student is required to have met certain standards of satisfactory academic progress during his or her previous attendance, whether or not financial aid was received.
1. A student is required to complete sixty-seven percent (67%) of all cumulative credits attempted, as expressed by the number of hours successfully completed divided by the number of hours attempted. Successful completion would be grades of A, B, C, D, or Pass; unsuccessful grades would be E, F, W, Z or Incomplete.
2. A student is required to meet a minimum cumulative grade point average. ECTC uses a 4-point scale for Grade Point Average (GPA) and requires students to have a 2.0 grade point average after each measured term.
3. Students are expected to complete their degree/diploma/certificate program within a Maximum Time Frame (MTF) of 150% of the required number of credit hours to graduate. e.g., programs requiring 72 credits will have a 108 credit maximum. All attempted hours are counted, including transfer hours, whether or not financial aid was received, or whether or not the coursework was successfully completed.
Students with questions about the Required Satisfactory Academic Standards above should contact the Financial Aid Office.
KCTCS Code of Student Conduct Statement
Faculty and students at Elizabethtown Community & Technical College are bound by principles of truth and honesty that arefundamental for an educational community. Information about academic rights and academic offenses and the student's right to appeal is located in ARTICLE II ACADEMIC POLICIES AND PROCEDURES (2.1 - 2.9) in theKCTCS Code of Student Conduct (Revised June 2009). http://kctcs.edu/Students/Admissions/Academic_Policies/Code_of_Student_Conduct.aspx
PROCEDURES RELATING TO DISCRIMINATION, HARASSMENT, AND SEXUAL MISCONDUCT
1. If a student thinks that he/she has been discriminated against, the student shall inform the chief student affairs officer or his/her designee with thirty (30) calendar days of the occurrence of the alleged incident. The chief student affairs officer or his/her designee shall conduct a preliminary investigation of the discrimination grievance.
2. The student, chief student affairs officer or his/her designee, and other involved parties shall work
informally to negotiate a solution within fourteen (14) calendar days. The informal student discrimination grievance procedure shall be completed within forty-four (44) calendar days of the occurrence of the alleged incident.
3. If the grievance is not resolved to the satisfaction of the student through the informal grievance procedure, the student may file a formal appeal according to the KCTCS Student Code of Conduct.
4. If a student feels he/she has been subject to sexual misconduct, those complaints should be made to the College Title IX Coordinator or other college administrator. Such complaints shall be handled in accordance with the Sexual Misconduct Procedure.
5. The Chief Student Affairs Officer at Elizabethtown Community and Technical College is Dr. Dale Buckles. His phone number is (270) 706-8431 and office location is 100 RPC. If your home college is a college other than Elizabethtown Community and Technical College, please contact the chief student affairs officer at your home college.