MGF 1107 – Mathematics for Liberal Arts II
Fall 2017 (535)
WELCOME
The course is designed to introduce you to a variety of applications of mathematics. You will investigate the history of mathematics, learning about different numeration systems, the Fibonacci sequence and modular arithmetic. You will explore consumer mathematics, learning about consumer loans, mortgages, etc. You will learn about real-world applications of linear and exponential functions. You will utilize graph theory to conceptualize and solve real world problems. You will be introduced to and apportionment voting methods, and investigate their flaws.
INSTRUCTOR
Name: Bill Rush
Email:
Phone:(727) 341-4660
Office Hours: Please check the Instructor Web Page below for current information.
Office Location: SP-SA 243
Instructor Web Page: http://web.spcollege.edu/instructors/id/rush.william
ACADEMIC DEPARTMENT
DEAN
Name:Jimmy Chang
Office Location:Gibbs Campus, SP-SA 215
Office Phone Number:(727) 341-4305
Email:
ACADEMIC CHAIR
Name: David Kolonoski
Office Location: SP-SA 215
Office Phone Number: (727) 341-4757
Email:
WEBSITE: http://www.spcollege.edu/math/
COURSE INFORMATION
Course Description
This course presents topics demonstrating the beauty and utility of mathematics to the general student population and to provide knowledge and skills useful for college, life, and career. The course will include topics related to history of mathematics, financial mathematics, linear and exponential growth, voting and apportionment methods and graph theory. Mathematical connections with music, art, architecture and nature will be explored. Critical thinking skills, problem solving strategies and appropriate use of technology will be used throughout the course.
Course Goals & Objectives
1. The student will employ historical aspects of mathematics by:
a. Using early and modern systems of numeration to write numbers.
b. Expanding another number system in terms of the base 10 system.
c. Converting numbers between base 10 and other base systems.
d. Constructing the Fibonacci sequence of numbers and identifying the occurrence of Fibonacci numbers in nature.
e. Calculating the Golden Ratio and describing its relationship to the Fibonacci sequence.
f. Identifying uses of the Golden Ratio in art and architecture.
g. Utilizing modular arithmetic to determine congruence of numbers and dates.
2. The student will apply fundamental concepts of linear and exponential modeling as well as their applications to practical problems in today's society by:
a. Identifying and modeling change with linear and exponential functions.
b. Determining an appropriate linear model and predicting future outcomes given a set of data.
c. Determining an appropriate exponential model and predicting future outcomes given a set of data.
3. The student will apply fundamental concepts of graph theory as well as their applications to practical problems in today's society by:
a. Distinguishing between graphs, paths, and circuits.
b. Creating and employing Euler and Hamiltonian paths and circuits.
c. Solving problems using spanning trees.
4. The student will apply financial mathematical concepts by:
a. Calculating and comparing simple and compound interest rates.
b. Comparing different investment strategies and types of loans.
c. Analyzing the terms of credit card agreements and finance charges.
d. Determining the cost of home ownership including down payments, mortgages, monthly payments and interest.
5. The student will apply voting and apportionment methods by:
a. Using preference tables to illustrate the results of an election.
b. Using the plurality, Borda Count, plurality with elimination and pairwise comparison methods to determine the outcome of an election.
c. Comparing and contrasting the voting paradoxes.
d. Calculating standard divisors and standard quotas for use with apportionment methods.
e. Comparing and contrasting the different apportionment plans.
f. Comparing and contrasting the apportionment paradoxes.
Prerequisites (Course & Skill Set)
MAT 1033, MAT1100 or appropriate score on the SPC mathematics placement test.
REQUIRED TEXTBOOK & OTHER RESOURCE INFORMATION
Textbook: A SURVEY OF MATHEMATICS WITH APPLICATIONS with MyMathLab access kit OR MyMathLab access kit
Publisher: Pearson
ISBN: 9780134115764 (textbook w/ MML access kit) OR 9780321199911 (MML access kit)
You will also need a scientific calculator.
View theTextbooks site: http://www.spcollege.edu/textbooks/
LEARNER SUPPORT
View theAccessibility Services site: http://www.spcollege.edu/accessibility/
View theAcademic Support site: http://www.spcollege.edu/support/
View theOn-Campus and Online Support site: http://www.spcollege.edu/tutoring/
View theStudent Services site: http://www.spcollege.edu/services/
IMPORTANT DATES
View theAcademic Calendar site: http://www.spcollege.edu/calendar/
DISCIPLINE-SPECIFIC INFORMATION
This course uses MyMathLab (MML). You will access the homework and tests through MML. Once you have registered in MML using the link on this course homepage, you can access MML directly from MyCourses.
Students may find it helpful to have access to Excel for the work in section 12.6 (correlation and regression). The college provides the MicroSoft Office package to all students. For more information, please visit theTechnical Support Desk site: https://mycoursessupport.spcollege.edu/technical-support-desk-call-center
ATTENDANCE
View the college-wide attendance policyincluded in How to be a Successful Student at the site http://www.spcollege.edu/addendum/.
The policy notes that each instructor is to exercise professional judgment and define “active participation” in class (and therefore “attendance”), and publish that definition in each syllabus.
For this class, “active participation” is defined as attending regularly and completing assignments according to dates listed in MyCourses and MML.
GRADING
Your course grade will be determined by the following components and scale.
Component / WeightHomework in MML / 30%
Worksheets / 20%
Tests in MML / 50%
A:90-100% B:80-89% C:70-79% D:60-69% F:0- 59%
Note: A grade of “C” or better must be earned in this course to satisfy the General Education Requirements for the AA/AS degree.
ASSIGNMENTS
Homework (30% of grade): There is MML homework assigned for each chapter section. MML homework has due dates as shown in MML and MyCourses. If you access homework at least once before the due date, you can redo the homework at a later date to improve your homework grade. You must score at least 60% on each section homework to gain access to the related unit test.
Worksheets (20% of grade): These activities are completed in groups from three to five members depending on the length and difficulty level of the assignment. The assignments are designed to reinforce the key concepts from each unit. Time will be allotted during class to begin the activity, but you will need to work with your teammates outside of class to complete the assignment.
Tests (50% of grade): You are given three attempts for each unit test. The highest grade for each test is used. Each time you take a test you will get different questions. The due dates for the tests are shown in MML and on the course calendar in MyCourses.
STUDENTS’ EXPECTATIONS AND INSTRUCTOR’S EXPECTATIONS
I will respond to emails within 24 hours Monday-Thursday and by Sunday evening on Friday-Sunday; if I will not be able to meet this time frame, I will notify the class. The homework and tests in MML are automatically graded. Since the group assignments are manually graded, grades will be posted by Sunday evening after the due date.
To communicate with me outside of class and office hours, please use the MyCourses email. There is a link to Email Instructor on the MyCourses Table of Content; this link makes it very easy to send me an email. Please do not use my college email; your message may be caught in the spam filter, so I won’t see it immediately.
PARTICIPATION, CONDUCT, & ETIQUETTE
SPC has outlined expectations for student behavior. View the Student Expectationsin How to be a Successful Student at the site http://www.spcollege.edu/addendum/.
ACADEMIC HONESTY
Please visit the site: http://www.spcollege.edu/academichonesty/
COPYRIGHT
Copyrighted material within this course, or posted on this course website, is used in compliance with United States Copyright Law. Under that law you may use the material for educational purposes related to the learning outcomes of this course. You may not further download, copy, alter, or distribute the material unless in accordance with copyright law or with permission of the copyright holder. For more information on copyright visit:http://www.copyright.gov/.
STUDENT SURVEY OF INSTRUCTION
The Student Survey of Instruction is administered in courses each semester. It is designed to improve the quality of instruction at St. Petersburg College. All student responses are confidential and anonymous and will be used solely for the purpose of performance improvement.
TECHNOLOGY
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS: https://mycoursessupport.spcollege.edu/technical-requirements-for-mycourses
Students should know how to navigate the course and use the course tools.
Minimum Technical Skills: Specify the minimum technical skills expected of the learner: general and course-specific learners must have to succeed in the course.
MyCourses tutorials are available to students new to this LMS and are located at the beginning of the course. Most features on MyCourses are accessible on mobile devices, although it is recommended that you use a computer for quizzes, tests, and essay assignments.
ACCESSIBILITY OF TECHNOLOGY
· MyCourses (Brightspace): http://www.d2l.com/accessibility/
· Pearson: http://wps.pearsoned.com/accessibility/
· Google (YouTube): http://www.google.com/accessibility/
PRIVACY
· MyCourses (Brightspace): http://www.brightspace.com/legal/privacy
· Pearson: https://support.pearson.com/getsupport/s/privacy
· YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/static?template=privacy_guidelines
TECHNICAL SUPPORT
Please visit theTechnical Support Desk at https://mycoursessupport.spcollege.edu/technical-support-desk-call-center.
INSTRUCTIONAL CONTINUITY PLAN - EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS POLICY
The St. Petersburg College website at http://www.spcollege.edu/ is the official source of college information regarding the status of the institution. Other important information will be communicated via SPC Alert, local media outlets, and the college toll-free phone number 866-822-3978. All decisions concerning the discontinuation of college functions, cancellation of classes, or cessation of operations rest with the President or his/her designee. The College realizes that it is possible for a significant natural disaster to compromise SPC campus facilities sufficiently to disrupt the delivery of classes on campus/campuses for an extended period of time, and is planning ways our operations can continue following such an emergency.
So, in the event that a hurricane or other natural disaster causes significant damage to St. Petersburg College facilities, you may be provided the opportunity to complete your course work online. Following the event, please visit the college website for an announcement of the College's plan to resume operations.
Further, in the event of such a disaster, the instructor will continue using the Learning Management System (LMS) of MyCourses for continuation of all required learning and instructional activities in this course, including the issuing of graded online assignments and expectation of student completion of those graded assignments.
Therefore, in order to keep up with all activities in this course during and after a natural disaster, please plan to continue this course by maintaining online access to MyCourses in lieu of meeting in a classroom—possibly through duration of the course’s regularly scheduled end date. We will finish this course in MyCourses, as directed by your instructor online, and your instructor will use all graded assignments—both online and formerly on-campus—to assess and issue your final letter grade for this course, as normally planned, despite occurrence of the natural disaster.
ACCESSIBILITY
This course is designed to be welcoming to, accessible to, and usable by everyone, including students who are English-language learners, have a variety of learning styles, have disabilities, or are new to online learning. Be sure to let me know immediately if you encounter a required element or resource in the course that is not accessible to you. Also, let me know of changes I can make to the course so that it is more welcoming to, accessible to, or usable by students who take this course in the future.
If you have documentation of a disability or feel you may have a disability:
St. Petersburg College recognizes the importance of equal access to learning opportunities for all students. Accessibility Services (AS) is the campus office that works with students who have disabilities to provide and/or arrange reasonable accommodations. Students registered with AS, who are requesting accommodations, are encouraged to contact their instructor by the first week of the semester. Students who have, or think they may have, a disability (e.g. learning disability, ADD/ADHD, psychiatric, medical/orthopedic, vision, and/or hearing), are invited to contact the Accessibility Coordinator (AC) that serves your campus for a confidential discussion. To find your AC for your specific campus, please go to the college-wide Accessibility Services website: https://www.spcollege.edu/accessibility
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