Before you can use the software, I need to send you signup information. By the first day of class, I will send this to everyone who is on my class roster and has submitted Orientation Form (including your score on the Prerequisite Review). If you want to start early, you must contact me in advance, though I can't allow you to start until your name shows up on my roster.

You cannot begin working in the software until you have a license code, unless you request Temporary Access (see below).. This should come in your MyMathLab information you buy. You should work enough in the first week in order to not get behind. If you have taken the Prerequisite Review and have submitted Orientation Form 1 and passed the pretest and don't have a username and password by the day classes begin, please email me right away and ask me for it. If you enroll after classes begin, please send me your Orientation Forms 1 immediately.

Don't forget to bring your username and password with you if you go to use the software in a Learning Lab. You might also want to take along the web address for MyMathLab - pearsonmylabandmastering.com.

In order to use this program, you will need a computer with the following minimum requirements:

This section of the course uses the MyMathLab computer software package. The software provides video explanations and includes an audio component so that you may listen to the explanations. You will do a significant part of your work on the computer. See the video How to Enter Answers (linked in the very first announcement once you enter MyMathLab for this course) to see how to use the software to enter math symbols and answer questions. Please be sure you read through the Course Policies page on quizzes and homework carefully so you understand how you need to work in the software.

Day to day, you should do the following (any time you see something bold and italic Like This, that means you should click on the menu item to the left of this window to go there):

• Look at the Course Schedule in MyMathLab to find out what you are supposed to be working on this week. So, for example if today were Week 2, we should be starting section 1.4.
  
  
• For each section, start by reading the Lesson Notes, then watch the Video, and finally, look under "Online Assignments" in MyMathLab to work the Online Homework (and Quizzes).

  You can find the Lesson Notes, Lesson Videos, Quizzes, and Test Reviews in MyMathLab
  The Written Homework assignments (and solutions) will be posted in Blackboard.

• You also need to read through what the textbook says about this section, so you should go to Chapter Contents (Textbook & Videos), then choose Chapter 1, and then Section 1.4 and click on "View the multimedia eText" (or "Watch the videos for this section" if you prefer to watch the videos first). Read/watch the material on 1.4 to get a pretty good idea of what is going on; maybe go back and forth between the book and the videos until you think you understand what the section and you think you are ready to try the homework. You should also read through the Lesson Notes and the Lesson Video linked in the course schedule as well. (Don't worry, the online homework has hints and examples to help you along...)
  
  
• Now, go to Online Assignments and choose "Section 1.4" and work through the problems there (it doesn't matter which one you start with; I would just start at the beginning). If you don't understand how to do a problem, you can click on "Help me solve this" to get step by step help or "View an example" to see the problem worked for you; once you go through that, you will be given another similar problem to work on your own. You can also click on "Textbook" to go back and read up in the book about the topic or "Ask my instructor" if you have tried everything else and it still doesn't make sense (this emails me directly with a link to this question, so I can see exactly what you are trying to do). Once you have entered your answer, click on "Check answer" to see whether you got it right; if you did, you can move on, otherwise you can try again with a similar problem.
  
  
• If you are struggling with something in this section, you might want to go to the Study Plan and do some work on section 1.4 there.
  
  
• Look to see if there is a quiz after section 1.4 - nope, it comes after 2.3, at the end of the week.
  
  
• Go back and do all of this again for section 2.1. Do the same for sections 2.2 and 2.3 for that week.
  
  
• At the end of the week, it's time to do the Written Homework 2 worksheet (linked from the Weekly Schedule). Print this out, do your scratch work on another sheet, and then copy your work and solution onto the worksheet in the space provided. After you finish this, you should upload a scan/picture of your work to your instructor (please be sure to look at your picture and make sure it is easy to read). Instructions for doing this are posted in Blackboard.
  
  
• Now it's time to take the quiz; go back to Online Assignments and take "Quiz 2 (1.4, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3)" (notice, it's right after the online homework for 2.3...). If you do well on it (80% or better), you can move on. If you didn't make an 80% or better, you need to go back and work in the Study Plan some more to practice before you try to take the quiz again. You get 3 chances total to take this quiz; I will take your highest score. Remember, on all quizzes, you can stop and click "Save for Later" if you need to stop during the middle and go take care of something else or if you get started and realize you really are't ready for it after all; you can then go back later and finish the quiz (but you can't go back and see or change any of the problems you have already seen).
  
  
• Lather, rinse, repeat throughout the course. As always, please contact me if you have any questions or problems.
  
  
• If you're ever in doubt about what computer work to do next, you probably won't go too wrong by just going through the Assignments (Online HW & Quizzes) page in order; of course, you still have to do the written homework, test reviews, and tests, but this page tells you when to do the online work. (Be sure the tab at the top is clicked on "Show All" to see everything.)

Before you can start doing any actual work in the course, you must take the online Quiz labeled "Trigonometry Pretest" (under the "Online Assignments" menu item). You must make an 70% on this quiz before you can move on in the course. Relax, there are two bits of good news about this: First, you can take it up to 3 times (and see what mistakes you made and how to fix them between times), and, second, it doesn't count towards your course grade in any way. It covers material that you should already know before you start this class. You should review for it before you take it by taking the Review for the Trigonometry Pretes (you are required to work through this before you submit Orientation Form , in fact). If you are having serious problems passing this pretest, you need to contact me right away, so we can discuss whether you need to be in a different class. Once you make an 70% or better on this pretest, you can move on and begin working on the chapter 1 homework. (If I see that you haven't passed this pretest in a reasonable amount of time, I will contact you to discuss your situation if I haven't heard anything from you.)

In this class, you will be in charge of your learning in a way that is different from a traditional lecture class. The format of the course is somewhat self-paced, which means you may complete the material before the end of the semester. It also means that you may spend less time on familiar topics and more time on troublesome topics. In order to complete the course within the semester, you must generally keep up with the weekly schedule and test schedule provided. In order to succeed in this class, you should plan to spend about 16 to 20 hours each week (or more, if necessary) working on the material, depending on how much of the material is already review for you. The program is available all day everyday, so you can work on it at times that are convenient for you.

Even if you start working on the course early, you may not take tests right away. Especially early in the course, the tests may not even be available right away. If you are working ahead and want to test early, please contact me at least one week before you want to take it to see if I can get the test to your testing center early. It is possible to finish the course early if you work enough hours and learn quickly enough.

Be sure to go to the Getting Started checklist (make sure you haven't forgotten anything) and that you have completed the different Orientation Forms by the appropriate deadlines. If you don't submit these in time, you may be dropped from the course.

Free tutoring is available at the Tutoring Centers (Learning Labs) at most ACC campuses. Visit http://www.austincc.edu/tutor/ for more information.

Online tutoring is also available through the Pearson Tutor Services (click on the menu item for that on the left-hand side of your MyMathLab window).