All sections of Math 150 are self-paced. You do most of the studying and test-taking on your own, based on the instructions given on the course web site.
There is one scheduled meeting every week, in small sections in a computer lab. During that time, a TA will do a short presentation on the material for that week, and then be available for additional questions and help. You can ask questions about the computer system, about the mathematics, or just work on your homework problems.
As long as there is room in the computer lab, it does not matter which meeting you go to. Click on the Schedule link to get a complete list. You can go to more than one lab meeting if you want. However, if we run out of room in the computer lab, the people who are officially scheduled for that time will take precedence.
Attendance at the weekly meetings is recommended, but not required. However, it is highly recommended that you attend one of the scheduled meetings the first week of classes. If you can't make it at your scheduled time, go to one of the other meetings. We will show you how to log into the main web site for this course, and show you around. Before you go, read the section Before the First Meeting in the Getting Started file.
There will be Supplemental Instruction meetings for this class. Details will be posted in the Schedule once they become available. SI is a time to work through homework and talk with other students in the class. There will be an SI leader available to help you.
We don't sign people into sections that the registrar shows as full. You can sign up for any section that has space available, and attend at a different time if you want.
If you add the course late, you are responsible for catching up with HW 0 through 4 by the end of week 4 of the course. The deadlines for the first assignments are not enforced so that you can take them until the end of week 4, but by then you need to be caught up, even if you added the class very late.
The course coordinators are Fritz Keinert and Jun Pan. The TAs are Brian Estervig, Dave Gan, Anchalee Khemphet, Jeremy Knutson, and José Ponce. The SI instructor will by Bryan Visonnavong. Click on the "Instructors" heading for more information about your instructors.
Prof. Keinert handles everything computer-related: web site, online exams, score keeping, etc. Prof. Pan handles other requests: adds and drops, disability accommodation, deadline extensions, etc. The TAs answer questions about the material.
Barnett/Ziegler/Byleen, Finite Mathematics for Business, Economics, Life Sciences and Social Sciences, custom edition of 11th edition for Iowa State University, Prentice-Hall, ISBN 0536433704 [book site for standard edition].
The ISU custom edition is a shortened version of the full book. If you get a copy of the full book elsewhere, you can use that, you just won't be able to sell it back to the bookstore. If you have a copy of the 10th edition, you can also use that, as long as you are willing to hunt for the corresponding material in the older book. Some material has been moved around between chapters, but it is all there someplace.
You will need a calculator fo this course, but it does not have to be graphing. You are also allowed to use the Excel spreadsheet as a calculator, both during homeworks and on exams. We won't teach you Excel in general, but we will show you in class how to do specific calculations related to the course topics.
You also need access to a computer which has the MathXL plugin installed. You can access the course web sites from any machine, but to do homework or exams you need the plugin. It is installed on all machines in Carver 250 or 449.
If you plan to use MyMathLab on your personal computer, use the Installation Wizard to install the MathXL plugin. Only install MathXL; once it wants to install TestGen, kill the wizard. More detail is in the MML help file. You can bring your laptop to class or to an office hour if you want, and we can help you.
You will need an access code to do any of the assignments for this class. The access code comes bundled with a new book, or it can be purchased separately in the bookstore or online. The access code also gives you access to an online version of the book.
You need the access code to do any work in this course. If you are waiting for financial aid to come through, read the following information from Pearson:
Many of you are asking about Grace Period for MyMathLab and MyStatLab, and although we don’t have an official solution, we do have a work-around that your schools can use this fall.
- If the students with financial aid concerns go to http://www.pearsonhighered.com/mmlspecialaccess, they will see a form to fill out.
- Once they complete this form, Customer Technical Support will let the student into MML/MSL within 48 hours.
- The student will then have up to 17 days to purchase a hard-copy MML/MSL Access Kit, tell Customer Technical Support the code, and be let into their course permanently.
If you have ever created an account in any MyMathLab, MyStatLab, MyFinanceLab etc, you can continue to use that login name and password. The TAs will show you how to jump through the required hoops to get into the new online class. If you have used MyMathLab for Math 150 at ISU before, you don't need a new code.
We will be covering parts of appendix A (review of algebra), and chapters 1 through 8 and 11. The main topics are
You will find the details in the weekly lesson plans.
Your grade will be based on homework assignments (40%) and exams (60%). All assignments are completed online in MyMathLab. The homework assignments can be done from any computer, the exams have to be taken in one of the Math computer labs. There is also the possibility of receiving up to 3% of extra credit. See the Grades web page for details. More details on homeworks and exams are below, in this document.
The grade cutoffs are fixed. See the Grades web page. There is no rounding up involved in computing the scores. If you have 79.99%, that is not an 80%.
You can work ahead. All the assignments for the entire term are posted from the beginning. We have had students in the past who finished the class in the middle of the term. If you think you are done, talk to a course coordinator to make sure.
MyMathLab has a tool labeled Overall Score, but it was so misleading that we disabled it. Download the Math 150 Grade Estimator spreadsheet, and enter your scores. That will give you your actual current score. Your midterm and final grades will be based on the same calculations.
Every assignment has a due date. Make sure you stay ahead of the deadlines. We will only grant exceptions for verifiable and unforeseeable circumstances. Unforeseeable means: if you know beforehand that you will be out of town for a sports meet, you have to work ahead. Verifiable means: if you get sick, be prepared to back it up with a doctor's note.
If you cannot finish an assignment on time, ask Prof. Pan for an extension as soon as possible. For foreseeable events, that means before you leave town. For other events, that means as soon as possible afterwards. Even with the flu you can still send email.
The first two homework assignments have a deadline, but you can actually complete them until the end of week 4. That is for the benefit of students who add the class late. Don't get used to it, that only works for the first two assignments.
Attendance at the weekly meetings is recommended, but not required.
It doesn't matter which session you attend, as long as you attend at some point during the week. You can go at a different time than what is listed in your schedule. You can go at different times in different weeks, if you want.
The same thing goes for attending Supplemental Instruction meetings.
Homeworks are done in MyMathLab, from any computer which has the MathXL browser plugin installed. There are three kinds of homeworks: regular homeworks, Excel homeworks, and practice exams.
There are 12 regular homeworks. Each of them contains 20 problems, worth 2 points each. The problems can be done and re-done in any order, independently of each other.
The first one is a special Homework 0 about course policies, which will quiz you on items in the syllabus. If it is in the syllabus, you are supposed to know about it, and this HW 0 will make sure of that. You cannot do any other assignment (except HW 1) until you have finished HW 0 with a 100% score. That is not as harsh as it sounds: you can repeat each question individually until you get it right.
You have all sorts of help available during the regular homeworks: you can call up an online version of the relevant textbook section, you can ask for a solved similar problem, you can ask to be walked through the problem step by step. Some problems have videos attached.
If you use one of the helps, or if you type in the wrong answer 3 times, you need to click on Similar Problem for a new version of the same problem. You can repeat each problem until you get it right. It is only the last score that counts for each problem. The system does not even save any earlier scores.
There is really no excuse not to get 100% credit on all the homework, except that you didn't spend the necessary time on it. As an extra incentive, you will get 1% extra credit if you complete all the regular and Excel homework problems with at least an 80% score.
Also read the Homework section in the FAQ web page.
There are 4 Excel homeworks. They each contain only 1, 2 or 3 problems (usually multi-part), and are worth 15 points each. These problems are too big to solve by hand; you have to use technology.
The intention is that you will do those problems using Excel. We will teach you in class how to do that, and there are also Excel tutorials to teach you. However, we have no way of checking what you actually use. Some of them could be done with a graphing calculator, or by other means. Either way, you will need some kind of technology.
The Excel tutorials are only for learning how to use Excel. You don't have to turn them in.
Exams are different from homeworks in several respects: You don't have any of the help functions available, and you don't get feedback until you are done with all questions. You are limited to 3 tries, and there is a time limit. Many students have reported that the first exam was a shock to the system, so we put in some practice exams.
The practice exams are a bit shorter (10 questions instead of 12), but otherwise identical to the real exams. You can take them from any computer.
Practice exams only carry a small amount of credit (10 or 20 points each), and they don't count towards the extra credit for passing all homeworks at the 80% level, but you have to try them at least once. You cannot take an exam until you have taken the corresponding practice exam at least once.
The password for all practice exams is "practice".
There are four quizzes and the final exam. This is where most of the credit for this class comes from. You have 3 tries for each. Don't waste them.
The recommended procedure is this:
Don't wait until the last possible moment to take the exam. There may be lines outside the labs (if too many people are procrastinating), or you may run into computer problems or other snags.
There are four quizzes spread through the term, corresponding to the four major topic: algebra review, linear equations, linear programming, probability and statistics. Quizzes have to be taken in the computer lab. See the previous paragraph for details. The quizzes have a 60 minute time limit.
In theory the deadline is at midnight on the deadline day (usually a Sunday, except for the Final). In practice the deadline is whenever the computer labs close that day. You should start no later than an hour before closing time (2 hours for the final), to make sure you have the full time available.
The final exam is comprehensive, with a 120 minute time limit. The final will be available until Friday afternoon of finals week, whenever the computer labs close that day. There is no specific time for the final exam. You can take it before Finals Week if you want.
If you need help with the material, you can go to any lab meeting and ask the TA there, or go see one of the TAs during office hours. All office hours are in the same room (Carver 463) near the computer lab, not in the TAs own office. Look at the Schedule for details.
The line of students waiting for office hour help has gotten quite long a few times, usually right before a test. In such cases, the TA holding the office hour has the right to impose rules that guarantee that everybody gets a turn within a reasonable time.
The TA may work with students in groups, he/she may set up some students to work on something together while he/she helps other students, he/she may limit the time for each student to 5 minutes (after which a student would have to go to the end of the line and wait their turn again).
The course coordinators also have office hours, but those are not for help with the material. Contact Prof. Pan if you need an add/drop slip signed, permission to make up an assignment, or other special arrangements. Contact Prof. Keinert with any questions or problems involving the course web site, online assignments, or grades.
If you have a documented disability and require accommodations, you should obtain a Student Academic Accommodation Request (SAAR) from the Disability Resources office (Student Services Building, Room 1076, 294-6624 or TDD 294-6335, disabilityresources@iastate.edu or accommodations@iastate.edu). Please contact your Math 150 course administrator early in the semester so that your learning needs may be appropriately met.
More information about disability resources in the Mathematics Department can be found at http://www.math.iastate.edu/About/AccommodationPol.html.