I. Math Curriculum

II. Departmental Requirements for Prealgebra (Also see Departmental Course Information for all courses.)

III. Instructor Information

IV. Calendar and Grading Information

V. Class Rules

VI. Homework Guidelines

VII. Homework Assignments for Test 1 and Test 2

VIII. Success in Prealgebra (textbook, pages xvi – xix)

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Course Purposes: To enable students to gain a solid foundation in basic algebraic techniques which is grounded in a clear understanding of arithmetic. Exercises to develop good mathematical communication skills and study skills are major components of the course.

Course Sequence:

Students may skip courses at the beginning of this sequence based on previous knowledge, but should not expect to skip courses after beginning the sequence. Students who find that their course placement is below the level that their math background would indicate have the entire first week of classes to take appropriate pretests and change courses accordingly. A "fast-track" course is available at some campuses for students who wish to complete two courses in the sequence during one semester.

Students who wish to prepare for the TASP test during the current semester should be enrolled in a course no lower than either MATD 0370 (DVM 1173) or MATD 0360 (DVM 1163).

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Text: Prealgebra by Alan S. Tussy and R. David Gustafson

Attendance is expected. Students may be dropped by their instructor for excessive unexcused absences, for failing to make sufficient progress, or for disciplinary reasons. It is the student's responsibility to withdraw him/herself from the course before the deadline if he/she stops attending class for any reason.

TASP Warning: If you are taking this course to comply with Texas Academic Skills Program (TASP) requirements*, Texas law requires that:

Reinstatement Policy: Students who withdrew or were withdrawn generally will not be reinstated unless they have completed all course work, projects, and tests necessary to place them at the same level of course completion as the rest of the class.

Incomplete grades (I) are given only in very rare circumstances. Generally, to qualify for a grade of "I", a student must have completed 13 weeks of classes, including all exams, homework, and assignments, have a passing grade, and have a personal tragedy occur within the final three weeks which prevents course completion.

Students who need additional assistance should consider registering for a Lab course for Prealgebra (MATD 0125). Free tutoring is also available at the Learning Labs at most ACC campuses. Videotapes that follow each chapter provide worked-out solutions to most of the examples in the text and the Self-Check problems can be checked out for use in the Learning Resource Centers at various campuses. The Computer Centers at Rio Grande, Northridge, Riverside, and Pinnacle provide computer tutorials.

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Dr. Mary Parker, NRG 2147, Phone: 223-4846 (leave messages), mparker@austincc.edu http://www.austincc.edu/mparker/ Department fax number: 223-4641

Office hours: MW 2:45 - 4:10 pm, TH 10:30 – 11:30 am, 2:45 - 3:00 pm
I am available for appointments at other times.

Grades: You will have six grades (five tests, one combined homework and daily work grade). These will be averaged: A 90-100; B 80-89; C: 70-79; D: 60-69; F: below 60.

If you feel that you need to do less homework or classwork to perform satisfactorily on the tests, consult with the instructor in advance. Modified assignments are available for students with previous good test grades. Arrangements for modified assignments must be made before the regular assignment is due in order to be counted.

Test 1: Chapter 1 – 2 (about Sept. 13)

Test 2: Chapters 1 – 4.4 (about Oct. 4)

Test 3: Chapters 1 – 6.2 (about Oct. 27 )

Test 4: Chapters 1 – 8.2 (about Nov. 15 )

Test 5: Chapters 1 – 9.5 (definitely on Dec. 14)

Some of the tests will be in class and others in the Testing Center at NRG. The last test will definitely NOT be in the Testing Center. (You will need your ACC student ID and a picture ID, like your driver’s license, to use the Testing Center.) Since one of the objectives of the course is clear communication about mathematics, part of your grade on each test will be based on how well you communicate what you are doing. (For example, neatness counts and you will be expected to show all of your work on problems.) Tests must be done entirely on your own, with no help from anyone else. Violating the rules of the testing center, or giving or receiving help on tests is scholastic dishonesty, and the punishments are severe.

A student who misses a test or who makes a low grade on a test may petition to have that test grade replaced by a later test grade. Such a written petition must

1. be turned in within two weeks of the time the test is returned,
2. include a description of what went wrong and how that will be avoided in the future,
3. include all the problems on the test, worked correctly, with correct form, and in order.
4. include a plan for spending at least one hour in the Learning Lab each week.

Deadlines for the tests will be enforced very strictly. When the test is in the testing center from Monday through Wednesday, you are expected to take the test on Monday or Tuesday, and then there is an extra day for you to take it late if your car broke down on Tuesday.

One of the main tasks in the Prealgebra course is to sharpen your mathematics communication skills. This begins with taking careful and accurate notes on solutions to problems that are done in class. Next, you must learn to read solutions to problems in the text and understand why each step has been included and what it means. Finally, you should be able to produce solutions that have all of those steps. In this class, those are called "exemplary solutions". You will not have to do those on every single homework problem, but you must demonstrate that you are able to do them on every type of problem. This is the most crucial part of the foundation for success in algebra courses.

Each day you are expected to participate in the class activities and you will receive a grade for that. Each Tuesday you are required to turn in the homework problems from the material covered the previous week and you will receive a grade for that. The combination of these gives you one grade that will count the same as a test.

You earn two points for participating in the class activities every day you are in class for the entire period, with one point deducted if you are present but miss more than 10 minutes of class. You earn three points for each weekly homework assignment if it is turned in (and complete) on the day it is due and two points if it is turned in up to a week late. No homework will be accepted more than a week late. There are 109 possible points. Notice that this allows for a few to be late or missed without dropping below 100.

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V. Class Rules:

1. In accordance with school policy, you may not bring food or drink into class.
2. Please turn off or mute volume on beepers and cellular phones so as not to disrupt class.
3. Arrive for class a few minutes early so that you can have your materials out and be ready to start class on time.
4. Disruptive behavior (talking to others while I am lecturing, rudeness, etc.) will not be tolerated.
5. Class discussion will focus on the material being presented and will be about matters relevant to the entire class. Discussion of your individual situation belongs in office hours or, occasionally, in the part of the class time that I have identified as devoted to working individually with students.
6. Children are not allowed to attend class with you.
7. Remember you are here to learn; be prepared to participate in class discussion. We are all unique individuals and in this class everyone's opinion will be respected whether we agree or disagree.
8. Counseling services are available to help you with a variety of needs. If you would like more information please ask.
9. Office hours are available -- regularly scheduled and by appointment. Ask immediately if you need help! I am here to help you learn. Getting behind even one day will cause you to be confused and frustrated. Getting behind more than a couple of days is likely to cause you to fail. Don't let that happen!!
10. Quiz problems will never be accepted late. A moderate amount of extra credit is available to everyone.
11. Tests may not be taken late. Some flexibility in the time to take the test is already allowed in the testing scheme.
12. All students must take the final exam at the scheduled time. There are no exceptions.
13. If you enroll in the class late, you are subject to the same rules as students who enrolled in the class before the class began. The standard grading scheme allows enough flexibility for all students to make up a reasonable number of absences.
14. Cheating will not be tolerated.
15. Remember that November 23, 1999 is the last day to withdraw from (or be reinstated in) a class.

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As you do your homework, keep a record of your work on a cover sheet. Put all the sections in the same week’s homework on one cover sheet. List all the problem numbers in the assignment for each section and put a symbol beside each to indicate your progress.

All the cover sheets should be together at the beginning of the assignment, and the actual problem solutions, in order, following the set of cover sheets.

Grading: The following factors will be considered in assigning a grade.

• Is it reasonably complete?
• Is the required cover sheet provided?
• Are the ratings on the cover sheet correct and honest?
• Is there at least one exemplary solution of each type of problem in each section?
• Are your exemplary solutions really as well-done as those in the text?
• Is it submitted in a thin folder, with no other material, with the problems labeled by chapter and section, and with everything in order, so that it is easy to find each part of the assignment?
• Does the cover page indicate the date the assignment was due and the date it was turned in?
• Is it submitted on time? (Homework will never be accepted "in installments". What’s turned in at the first is all that will be graded.)

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Read pages xvi - xix and write a paragraph mentioning at least two ideas in it which were new to you.

Chapter 1 Review: All problems

Chapter 1 Estimation: page 35-36. All problems.

Chapter 1 Variables: page 68. All problems.

Chapter 2, All Sections: Vocabulary, Concepts, and Notation: All odd-numbered problems

Practice: All problems ending in 1, 5, or 9

Applications: All problems ending in 1, 5, or 9

Writing: Pick any one from this section and do it.

Review: All odd-numbered problems.

Chapter 2: Signed Numbers: page 140. All problems

Chapter 3, Sections 1 – 3: Vocabulary, Concepts, and Notation: All odd-numbered problems

Practice: All problems ending in 1, 5, or 9

Applications: All problems ending in 1, 5, or 9

Writing: Pick any one from this section and do it.

Review: All odd-numbered problems.

On the day the test goes into the testing center, Sept. 14, predict your grade on Test 1 (in writing) and give appropriate supporting information. If your grade on the test is within five points of your prediction, you will earn five extra credit points. There is a sliding scale so that if you're prediction is within 10 points of correct, you'll earn some extra credit. (Within 6 points gets 4 pts extra, within 7 points gets 3 pts extra, within 8 points gets 2 pts extra, within 9 or 10 points gets 1 pt extra.)

• Do the Chapter 1 Test and the Chapter 2 Test as if they are tests and grade yourself. Mark that grade clearly at the top of the pages.
• Write a page summarizing what you need to work on more before the actual test.
• Use the Chapter Reviews and the Cumulative Review at the end of Chapter 2 to do further work on topics that you had difficulty with on the Chapter Tests.
• Make a list of the topics you found most difficult initially and write a sentence or two about what you now understand better about each of them now.
• (For later tests, this supporting information should include your corrections to the previous test, on a separate sheet of paper and attached to the original test.)
• Make a cover page for this assignment that summarizes (a) your grades on the practice tests, (b) the names of the types of problems you worked more on, (c) what problems you did for that extra work (labeled by chapter and section as you do the homework problems), and (d) your best prediction for your test grade, based on all the information you have available.

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Chapters 3, 4, 5, 6 All Sections: Vocabulary, Concepts, and Notation: All odd-numbered problems

Practice: All problems ending in 1, 5, or 9

Applications: All problems ending in 1, 5, or 9

Writing: Pick any one from this section and do it.

Review: All odd-numbered problems.

Key Concept sections at the end of Chapters 3 and 4: All odd-numbered problems.

Estimation section on page 320: All odd-numbered problems. Pay particular attention to the difference between the instruction "compute" and "estimate".

On the day the test goes into the Testing Center (Tuesday, Oct. 5) predict your test grade (in writing) and give appropriate supporting information. Same credit scheme as for Test 1.

Test 1 corrections: As soon as possible after Test 1 was returned, rework all problems that you missed on Test 1, skipping a couple of lines after each. Have the instructor check these during class. After you know that you have worked them correctly, after each, write a sentence explaining what your error was. Then write another sentence about what you will do in your studying to help you remember how to do this correctly. Attach this to the original test.

• Do the Chapter 3 Test it was a test and grade yourself. Mark that grade clearly at the top of the page.
• Pick 10 problems from the Chapter 4 Review, sections 1 -- 4, take them like a test, and grade yourself. Write your grade clearly at the top of the page.
• Write a page summarizing what you need to work on more before the actual test.
• Use the Chapter Reviews to do further work on topics that you had difficulty with on the Chapter Tests.
• Make a list of the topics you found most difficult initially and write a sentence or two about what you now understand better about each of them now.
• Make a cover page for this assignment that summarizes (a) your grades on the practice tests, (b) the names of the types of problems you worked more on, (c) what problems you did for that extra work (labeled by chapter and section as you do the homework problems), and (d) your best prediction for your test grade, based on all the information you have available.

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Last updated August 25, 1999. I attempt to keep the Web pages up-to-date, but do not promise to do so. To have up-to-date information about assignments and deadlines, you must attend class to obtain the handouts and hear the class discussion and announcements. And, of course, activities, lectures, and other classwork are designed to help you learn the material!

Mary Parker, mparker@austincc.edu