Text: ALEKS360 "18 week subscription," integated with Miller/O'Neill/Hyde: Basic College Mathematics, 2nd Ed. (McGraw Hill)
Note: The online subscription to the ALEKS360 program contains an electronic book from which pages can be printed when desired.

Objective
    The principle objective in our course is to develop an understanding and ability to manipulate basic mathematics--which includes arithmetic operations with the set and subsets of real numbers and their various applications.  We will also explore some introductory concepts in Geometry and Algebra. We will be covering chapters one through ten.

    This foundational course serves as an indicator of the success level one may expect in the course that follows, Elementary Algebra.  The level of success in this course is directly related to the amount of commitment you make in time and effort.

Homework
 
The homework in this course is completed primarily online, and consist of the ALEKS learning system.  You must purchase a standalone User's guide for ALEKS360 which contains the twenty-digit ALEKS Student Access Code that you will need to enter the Aleks web site for our course.  
The ALEKS User Guide is available  on online textbook sites. It is also available through the campus bookstore, but will be less expensive if purchased online through ALEKS.
If you think that it may be valuable to have a hard copy of a textbook as a reference and additional source of explanation, you may use any Basic Mathematics text.

Quizzes:     A short quiz (10 points each) will be given on Wednesday of every week in which there is no exam scheduled.  Quiz problems will be similar to homework problems.  There will be approximately 8 quizzes, of which the three lowest scores will be dropped.  There will be no make-up quizzes--no exceptions.  If you miss a quiz, then you will receive a score of zero for that quiz.

Exams:     There will be 4 exams during the semester (100 pts each), and a final exam (200 pts).  Retakes on any of the 4 semester exams (not for the final exam) will be available, providing that you complete the associated Review provided on Aleks360 and achieve an 85% or better score.  All retakes must be taken on Aleks.
No make-up exams will be given--no exceptions.  Any scheduling conflicts must be resolved before the exam date.

Tentative exam dates: 2/16, 3/16, 4/18, and 5/16
Final Exam will be on Wednesday 5/25, from 8:10am to 11:00am

Grading Policy
Homework  100 pts (corresponding to the percentage of completed assessments in Aleks)
Quizzes       100 pts 
Exams         600 pts 
Total           800 pts  (total possible points)

The final course grade will be based on the percentage of points earned out of the total possible, and on class and homework performance.  Attendance is considered to be part of class performance.

A 93% - 100% and at least 85% on your final exam
B 85 - 92%  and at least 75% on your final exam   
C 77 - 84%  and at least 65% on your final exam  
D 69 - 76%  and at least 55% on your final exam 
F 0 - 68% 

Note: The course may be taken for Pass/No Pass (P/NP), with a Pass grade being the equivalent of "C" or better.  If you want this option, you must select it through your CoM Student Portal by the deadline. It is no longer processed through your instructors.

***It is strongly recommended that students attend all classes and do at least all assigned problems.***

 Electronic devices – Turn your cell phones off before class starts. 

Academic dishonesty – Academic dishonesty is not tolerated.  Cheating on any quiz or exam will result in a grade of zero for that quiz or exam (not to be dropped).

Excessive absences – Absences are strongly discouraged.  A day’s absence will mean a great deal of material missed.  It is usually very difficult to “catch up” on missed material in a math class.  Schedule appointments so they do not conflict with your class schedule.

Teacher’s note:
My goal as your teacher is to make the math content in our course as accessible to you as possible.  However, you must be willing to be an active participant in this process or little or no learning will result.  Also, the learning is not just between you and me—it takes place in your interaction with each other as well.  Collaboration in learning our course content is encouraged—except on quizzes, exams, and during lecture of course. You are also encouraged to visit me during office hours.  The Tutoring Center (peer tutoring/LC160)and Math Lab (SC115) are also excellent resources you may wish to investigate.