Online Math 126 Precalculus Isection 10033 Credits

Math 126 Precalculus I

Great Basin College

Fall Semester 2016

Online Math 126 Precalculus ISection 10033 credits

MCML 222

Course ID: owens97634

CATALOG DESCRIPTION

Includes equations, relations, functions, graphing; polynomial, rational, exponential, logarithmic, and circular functions with applications; coordinate geometry of lines and conics; analytic trigonometry; matrices and determinants; and binomial theorem. It is recommended that students have completed prerequisites within two years of enrolling in this course. Prerequisite: Must have completed MATH 96 or MATH 97 or earned a satisfactory score in Accuplacer, ACT, or SAT tests for placement into MATH 126 or MATH 128.

COURSE DESCRIPTION and METHOD OF INSTRUCTION

The overarching goal of this course is to provide you with a solid foundation for the study of calculus. We spend a good portion of the course studying basic functions. We will also touch on some topics from linear algebra: matrices and determinants. We will be covering chapters 1 – 4 and 9 in our text. In order to cover the material, we will be completing about 2 sections a week. This is a flipped classroom so you will view lectures in MyMathLab outside of class the day before our class meetings (Sundays and Tuesdays). In addition to viewing the lectures, you will have a weekly assignment in MyMathLab to complete. There may be some lecture in class, but we will mainly focus on working through problems. All homework and exams are posted the first day of class so you may work ahead if you choose.

LEARNING OUTCOMES & MEASURES

INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION

Instructor: Lynne OwensAddress:Great Basin College

Office:MCML 1361500 College Parkway

Phone:775-753-2152Elko, NV 89801

Fax:775-738-8771

E-mail: (much preferred method of contact WebCampus email)

Office Hours:MW 9:30am – 11am, 4:00pm – 5:00pm or by appointment

REQUIRED MATERIALS

Reliable and dependable internet access

Scanner access

MyMathLab Homework Management System (comes with a free eText): ISBN 03211999X

Scientific calculator (Scientific calculators may be used on exams, graphing calculators may not.)

COMPUTER REQUIREMENTS

This course is online. This course requires that you have access to a computer that can access the internet as well as the following software packages. (For technology tips on using MyMathLab go to the last two pages of this syllabus.)

 A web browser (An up-to-date version of Google Chrome, Safari, or Mozilla Firefox)

Adobe Acrobat Reader (free)

Adobe Flash Player (free)

Microsoft Word

GRADING

Your grade is based on56 homework assignments (there are 59 assignments, but your lowest 3 scores get dropped), 3 exams (there are 4 exams, but your lowest score is dropped, not the final exam), a comprehensive final, anda syllabus quiz. The syllabus quiz is weighted 2%, the homework 33% and the exams (including the final)65%. To find your grade at any given time, you will take 2% of the syllabus score, 33% of the average of the homework score, and 65% of the average of your exam scores and sum those values together. Here is the formula. Grade = 0.02(syllabus quiz score) + 0.33 (average of homework scores) + 0.65(average of exam scores). Recall that the average is found by adding the scores and dividing by the number of scores. Please note: Your grades will appear in MyMathLab NOT WebCampus.

Grade distribution

90% - 100%A

80% - 89%B

70% - 79%C

60% - 69%D

Below 60%F

Please consult the Great Basin College catalogue for information regarding incomplete or “I” grades.

OFFICE ETIQUETTE

• Be on time for appointments.
• Be prepared. If you have questions to bring to my office, make sure they’re ready to go so you do not have to use precious time searching for the material you wish to discuss.
• If you have to miss an office appointment or are going to be late, please call. Don’t leave me waiting for an appointment that is never going to happen.
• Do not text or use your phone during office visits. Time is our most precious commodity; don’t waste it by using our office time together for things not related to our course.

HOMEWORK

All homework is done in the website MyMathLab. You will need to purchase access to this site. Go to and under “Student” click on “Get Registered”. You will need three pieces of information: an email address, the course ID, and either the access code or a credit card to purchase the access code. Click on “OK! Register now.” At this point you will need to input the course ID, owens97634. If you have used MyMathLab before, you already have an account so enter your username and password. If you have not used MyMathLab before, click on “Create” under “Create a Pearson Account”. If you have already purchased an access code, click on “access code” and enter your code. If you need to purchase the access code click on the dollar amount and finish paying for the course. For those of you awaiting financial aid, MyMathLab grants a 14-day temporary pass. Use this so you can still do your homework while awaiting funds.

You will have weekly homework due on Fridays in MML. I strongly recommend that you do not leave all of your homework for Friday; for better retention (and your sanity) I urge you to work on math throughout the week. This will also increase your chances of asking questions during the week when there are resources (me, tutors) available to assist you. The lectures in your homework that are recorded by me are my intellectual property and cannot be reproduced, copied, or shared.

QUIZZES

There is only one quiz in this course, the syllabus quiz. It is the only assignment that you will do in WebCampus. It is located in the Week 2 Module in WebCampus. It is due September 2, 2016. After the due date, I will import the grade from the syllabus quiz to MyMathLab so that all your grades will be in a single place.

EXAMS

Like your homework, your exams are done online in MyMathLab. Your exams must be supervised by a proctor. If you will be taking your exams at a Great Basin College campus or at Nevada State High School, we already have proctors in place. If, however, you are not near a GBC campus or are not a student at NSHS, please provide me with the name and email address of someone (not a relative or friend—a boss or a teacher is a good choice) willing to serve as a proctor. Do this soon—do not wait until your first exam is due to provide me with this information. Please be aware that other institutions may charge for proctoring your exams.

You have an exam after every chapter, except chapter 9. Exams are due on the Tuesdays after the work for the chapter has been completed. Unlike the homework, you are allowed only 1 attempt on the exams. In order to take your exams, you must earn a minimum score of 70% on the review for a given chapter. Make sure you budget your time so you can complete the reviews and the exams by the due date. Late exams are not accepted.

Because computers cannot assess partial credit, it is important that I see your work on exams. In that sense, please treat your exams like regular pencil and paper exams and write down your work. You will turn in your work using the drop boxes in WebCampus. To turn in your work:

1. Make sure your work is legible and the problems are numbered.
2. Immediately upon completing your test, scan your work and save it as JPG file. I will not accept PDF files. Do not change your work after you have completed the test; if you missed problems on your test do not go back through your test and write down the correct answers on your paper. I want to see the work you did that supports the answer you put into the computer. If your scanner only uses PDF format, you will need to convert your work to JPG format by using the following websites to convert to JPG format. or
3. Upload your scanned work into the drop box in WebCampus.

If you fail to meet any of these conditions, I will not look at your work, which in turn means you will not be eligible to receive partial credit where deserved. All exams are due by 11:59pm of the given due date; however, please check with your testing center/proctor for hours of operation.

Use of your book, notes, websites (other than the test site), cellphones, or any other device (outside of your testing computer) that can access the internet is not allowed while taking exams.

A Word about Late Homework/Exams

Whenever you request an extension for homework or exams, you are asking to be treated differently from all the other students in the course. Since this is inherently unfair, I do not accept late homework. However, you do get to drop 3 of your homework assignments. If you are in a situation where you cannot get your work in on time, those assignments/exam will be the one(s) dropped. Also, all of your work for this course is available on the first day of class. This means you could take your final exam on the first day of class if you so desired. If you know in advance of a conflict, say your fifth cousin is getting married on the day an exam is due, you should exercise the option of turning your work in early rather than attempting to turn it in late.

If some unusual circumstance arises—a medical emergency or an unexpected military assignment that takes you away from class for a significant length of time, please contact me as soon as possible. It is always better to deal with these issues before work is due rather than after, if possible.

Reviewing past work

If you would like to review past work for studying purposes, click on the Gradebook tab in MyMathLab. You will see three time options for viewing old assignments/tests: Past 2 weeks, Past month, Entire course to date. Just select the appropriate time frame and then click on the assignment you wish to review. Note: MML only lets you review assignments that you have attempted. If you did no work on an assignment, you will be unable to access the material through the Gradebook tab. Instead, click on the Study Plan tab, and access the desired section. The Study Plan will let you practice problems and will give you access to all the tools available in your homework.

Attendance/Missing Class/Withdrawing from Class

I do not take attendance, but I strongly encourage you to attend class. Once you have enrolled in this course, you are responsible for withdrawing yourself from the course when necessary. In other words, I will not withdraw you from this course for excessive absences. Instead, at the end of the semester, I will calculate your grade like normal. Obviously your grade will be negatively impacted by any zeros you have earned for missing work. So, for example, if you stop doing your homework in the middle of the semester, your likelihood of failing the course is very high.

The last date you can withdraw from this class is November 2, 2016. If you fail to turn in your withdrawal paperwork by that time, you will receive whatever grade you have earned by the end of the semester.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Please note the syllabus is a guide and we will follow it to the best of our ability, but there may be times when a homework or exam date has to be changed. Please check your email or announcements regularly in WebCampus in case such changes have occurred.

HOMEWORK/EXAM DUE DATES

MYMATHLAB vs. WEBCAMPUS

We use two management systems in this course, MyMathLab and WebCampus. This is not meant to cause confusion. Here’s the difference between the two systems. Your book, homework, lectures, and grades all live in MyMathLab. Use WebCampus to communicate with me and/or other students via the GBC Coffeehouse or through email or to submit written work to me. I will primarily communicate with you in WebCampus, so please check email and announcements regularly.

EXPECTATIONS

Remember, this is a 5-credit course. Depending on your level of comfort with the material, you can expect to spend 15 hours or more per week in this class. This class by itself is the equivalent of having a part-time job.

Every week, my expectation is that you are reading the appropriate sections in your textbook, viewing the lectures, and completing your homework.

I will assume that you are checking your email and announcements regularly in WebCampus. Missing important information that was provided in an email or an announcement is not a valid reason for requesting an extension.

ACCESSIBILITY STATEMENT

Great Basin College is committed to providing equal educational opportunities to qualified students with disabilities in accordance with state and federal laws and regulations, including the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. A qualified student must furnish current verification of disability.

This course is designed to be compatible with most universalscreen readers. If you are a student needing video and/or audio captioning, GBC's Disabilities Office will provide captioning for you in this course.

The Disability Service Office, located in the Leonard Student Life Center, will assist qualified students with disabilities in securing the appropriate and reasonable accommodations, auxiliary aids, and services. For more information or further assistance, please call775-753-2271.

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY

The University and Community College System of Nevada expressly forbids all forms of academic dishonesty, including (but not limited to) all forms of cheating, copying, and plagiarism. Plagiarism is presenting someone else’s word, ideas or data as one’s own. When a student submits work that includes the words, ideas, or data of others, the source of that information must be acknowledged through complete, accurate, and specific references; and if verbatim statements are included, through quotation marks as well. In academically honest writing or speaking, the students will acknowledge the source whenever: