instructors
|
Jim Ellis
office: Carver 374
office hours: Tuesday 1:00-2:00, Wednesday 11:00-1:00, Thursday 1:00-3:00
email: jsellis@iastate.edu
|
Alison Allen
office: Carver 441
office hours:
email: ajallen@iastate.edu
|
overview
This course will be at your own pace. Recitation
instructors will answer any questions that you have on the course material, but
you will be expected to learn the material on your own. This means reading
the book, doing practice problems and coming to recitation with questions
prepared.
text
Precalculus (Third
Edition) by
Beecher, Bittinger, Penna
recitations
You may attend any recitation that is convenient for
you, not just the one for which you are scheduled. You also may attend more
than one if you wish.
recitation schedule
On your schedule you will see one of the recitations listed
above. You will also see a time slot for Carver 449. This is a computer lab in
Carver. You will attend orientation at that time during the first week; you
don't have to go back on subsequent weeks.
computer exams
All testing in this course will be done via computer in one
of the Carver labs, either 449 or 250. The testing software is called
MapleTA. There are
two types of objects available in MapleTA:
pretests and exams. The
exams determine your grade and must be taken in Carver 449 or 250; you
must sign in and show your ISU card. The pretests are there for practice.
You may take them as many times as you need to and they may be taken from
any computer with internet access. The details of this will be explained
during the lab orientation the first week of classes.
You may not use anything on the
exams except pen/pencil, scratch paper, and a
calculator (except on unit exam 2).
If you bring your own scratch paper, you may not use paper that has any
mathematics on it. In particular, when the formula sheet is provided, you may not bring a printed version of it to the lab; you must
use the version online. You may not use email, instant messenger, telephones,
search engines, etc, while taking an exam. You may have two windows open: one
for WebCT, the other for MapleTA.
You must pass the pre-test to take the exam. You may take each
exam three times, but only once per day. Only the highest
score is counted. You do not have to take the
exams at any particular time - you may take them any time the computer labs are
open. Here is the exam schedule:
| exam |
opens |
closes |
points available |
| online testing practice |
Aug 25, 8:00 a.m. |
Sept 12, 11:55 p.m. |
20 |
| unit 1 exam |
Sept 3, 8:00 a.m. |
Sept 14, 11:55 p.m. |
26 |
| unit 2 exam |
Sept 15, 8:00 a.m. |
Sept 23, 11:55 p.m. |
25 |
| unit 3 exam |
Sept 24, 8:00 a.m. |
Oct 5, 11:55 p.m. |
20 |
| unit 4 exam |
Oct 6, 8:00 a.m. |
Oct 14, 11:55 pm. |
20 |
| unit 5 exam |
Oct 15, 8:00 a.m. |
Oct 26, 11:55 p.m. |
20 |
| unit 6 exam |
Oct 27, 8:00 a.m. |
Nov 02, 11:55 p.m. |
20 |
| trigonometry final exam |
Nov 3, 8:00 a.m. |
Nov 7, 11:55 p.m. |
100 |
| unit 7 exam |
Nov 10, 8:00 a.m. |
Nov 18, 11:55 p.m. |
20 |
| unit 8 exam |
Nov 19, 8:00 a.m. |
Dec 7, 11:55 p.m. |
20 |
| unit 9 exam |
Dec 8, 8:00 a.m. |
Dec 14, 11.55 p.m. |
20 |
| analytic geometry final exam |
Dec 15, 8:00 a.m. |
Dec 19, 10:00 p.m. |
75 |
*** all test times are subject to computer lab hours.
plan ahead to be sure that you will be able to take the test! ***
computer lab schedules
how to study in this course
Here is what you should do:
-
read the chapter in the book corresponding to the
practice problems each week
-
attempt to answer several questions in the practice set
on MapleTA
-
carefully write down any questions you have, and take
those questions to a recitation
suggested practice problems
grading scale
There are 366 points (231 for 141 students) available. The cutoffs for
letter grades are as follows:
| A |
90% |
| A- |
85% |
| B+ |
82% |
| B |
78% |
| B- |
75% |
| C+ |
72% |
| C |
68% |
| C- |
65% |
| D+ |
50% |
| D |
47% |
| D- |
43% |
