This is the repository for old announcements from the course home page. There may also be more details here than were posted on the home page.
"My Overall Score Has Dropped"
As of this morning, we are counting the quiz as part of the overall score. Generally, quiz scores are lower than homework scores, so many students will see a drop in their scores. Unfortunately, that is the way it is: the Overall Score is now much a more realistic estimate of your current standing than it was before.
Quiz 1 deadline extended to Sunday evening
I have extended the deadline for Quiz 1 to Sunday evening, September 28. Labs are open Saturday and Sunday afternoon and early evening (until 9pm). Check the exact hours at http://orion.math.iastate.edu/mathlab/index.html/. If you have questions: Supplemental Instruction is available 2-4pm Sunday afternoon.
This is only for Quiz 1 and Practice Quiz 1, not for the Excel HW 1.
Don't wait until the last possible minute, or you may not get in.
"You Have No Subscription To This Site "
A few days ago I recommended to call the Pearson help line if you run into this message. Today I figured it out myself, at least in one case.
I tried to do an assignment on a Macintosh, using Safari. It said "you have no subscription to this site". Later it said something about cookies, so I started playing with the cookie settings. It turns out that you have to enable third-party cookies, then it works.
Details can be found in the FAQ file, item S-4.
Quiz 1
Detailed instructions about quiz taking are in the syllabus. Check them out. The deadline is this coming Friday, Sep 26, but don't wait until the last possible minute. You get more tries and fewer lines to wait in if you start earlier. Do the practice quiz first, on your own.
MathXL on all machines
Pearson has changed their MathXL player to a Flash version that supposedly runs on all machines and browsers. Give your Mac another try, or see if it works in a computer lab where it didn't use to work. Let me know what you find. You may have to run the Installation Wizard first. Like before, only install MathXL; no need to install TestGen.
"You Have No Subscription To This Course"
or something like that. We are getting more and more reports of this message. Pearson Helpline says that you should call them at (800) 677-6337 while you are sitting in front of your computer. It could be a variety of things: out of date browser, flash blocker, firewall settings, etc. They will talk you through it.
Assignment Deadline is Today
The first three homework assignments are due today (Friday, Sep 19) by midnight. If you have a good reason to request an extension, contact Prof. Jun Pan, not Prof. Keinert.
MyMathLab Help Line
The student help line for MyMathLab is (800) 677-6337. They are the only people who can help with password problems. Your Math 150 instructors cannot see your password, nor change it.
Many other problems, such as the message "You have no subscription to this site", are caused by trying to use a Macintosh computer or a nonstandard browser. Use a Windows machine and Internet Explorer.
Goal Seek Accuracy and Excel HW 1
It turns out that the default accuracy in Goal Seek is sometimes not good enough for the 5 decimals requested in Excel HW 1. I have written up instructions on how to increase that accuracy. Go to the Excel Help File.
More assignments posted
The next batch of assignments has been posted. The rest will follow shortly.
What about "omitted assignments"?
I explained that last time: the Current Score calculator in MyMathLab only counts assignments whose deadline has expired. At this point, that is only the first two homeworks. Use the current grade estimator spreadsheet for a better estimate of your grade. The scores that say "omitted" are grayed out in the gradebook, but you can see that they are there.
Excel HW 1 is available
Inform Prof. Keinert if there are any problems with it. This homework will not be discussed in class until next week, so don't worry if you don't know how to do it yet.
Grade Estimator posted
You can download a current grade estimator spreadsheet. I have also turned on the Overall Grade feature in MyMathLab, but that is pretty meaningless right now. It is only based on your scores from the assignments whose deadlines have passed, which is only the first HW so far. Overall Grade will be more realistic later in the term, but still not as good as the spreadsheet.
Supplemental Instruction starts Thursday, September 4
SI will meet in Carver 250 on Sundays 2:10-3:00pm, 3:10-4:00pm, Tuesdays 4:10-5:00pm, Thursdays 4:10-5:00pm, 5:10-6:00pm.
Labor Day
Monday classes do not meet this week because of Labor Day. If your regular meeting time is on Monday, you can come and attend any other meeting this week, as long as there is room in the lab (schedule).
Textbooks
The University Bookstore has received more textbooks. They asked us to announce the following: Students that participated in our reservation program that used a debit or credit card were already charged for the book and then given a pink coupon to pick it up later. Those students need to come in and pick up the book from the shelf and take it to the back textbook counter. They will then need to present the coupon along with their charged receipt to get the book at no charge since they had already paid for it