Lynchburg College

Fall 2017

Syllabus for

MATH 102 A Precalculus I

 

Instructor: Dr. Kevin Peterson
Text (required): Practical Pre-Calculus, 1st Edition by Kevin Peterson

Office: Hobbs 314 Office Phone: (434) 544-8374 Email: peterson@lynchburg.edu

Office hours: Tuesday, Thursday  11:30-1:00pm ·  or by appointment.

Course: 102 PRECALCULUS I (3)

 Prerequisite: Two years of High School Algebra

COURSE OBJECTIVES

Students will meet these goals by achieving the following objectives:

In-class work and class participation: Bring your homework and notes to each and every class.  Everyday there will be a quiz, group work, a homework check, or other activity that may require the work from your homework.  Each of these activities will be worth "class participation" points (there are a total of 200 points possible).  It may be from any assigned section. 

Attendance: Attendance at each scheduled class meeting is considered mandatory. Part of your grade is based on class participation.  Because of this, “legitimate” or “excused” absences are not treated any differently in regards to missed work.  If you are not present, then you cannot contribute to the cooperative problem-solving process. Class participation, attendance, quizzes, class activities and doing the homework (on time) is 1/3 of your grade or 200 of 600 points. You may send your homework to me via email on days you are absent ... but you will receive a zero for any missed in-class activities. If a student misses 5 of these assignments, they will lose 100 class participation points. Students with 6 or more missed class assignments, will lose 200 points.

Students who habitually: arrive  late for class, leave early, sleep, use their phone, don't ask questions, don't answer questions, or are otherwise unengaged  and unprofessional in the class will receive zeros for class participation.

 If you miss a scheduled test you will receive a grade of zero. At the end of the semester your grade on the comprehensive final exam will be substituted for the zero. There are NO "make-up" tests.

Email: I will regularly email the class with updates, problems, solutions, quizzes, and information about the class.  You are expected to check your email (at least) once a day (especially during times when school is cancelled).  I will always use the subject line "Math 102".  You should respond to emails (that require a response) within 24 hours, as will I. 

Respectful Conduct: Everyone in the class will be respectful and considerate of others. Please observe classroom policies found in the Hornet.

Arriving late for class. Late class arrivals are disruptive and inconsiderate;

moreover, they may be regarded as absences. Students who frequently arrive late

may be asked not to return to class.

 

Talking in class: I encourage all students to participate in class discussions. Please keep all

discussions to the topic at hand. Personal conversations are disruptive and inconsiderate. Students

who frequently disrupt the class may be asked not to return.

Cheating and Plagiarism: Cheating and plagiarism are serious offenses and will not be tolerated. Plagiarism is the act of presenting someone else's work as your own (this someone may be another student, a tutor, a member of the faculty, or an author). Any student caught cheating or committing plagiarism will be subject to disciplinary action. See handbook for details.

ADA Statement:  Lynchburg College is committed to providing all students equal access to learning opportunities.  The Disability Services Coordinator (DSC) works with eligible students with disabilities (medical, physical, mental health and cognitive) to make arrangements for appropriate, reasonable accommodations.  Students registered with the DSC who receive approved accommodations are required to provide letters of accommodation each semester to each professor.  A meeting to discuss accommodations the student wishes to implement in individual courses is strongly suggested. Accommodations are not retroactive and begin when the accommodation letter is provided to faculty. For information about requesting accommodations, please visit http://www.lynchburg.edu/disability-services, or contact Julia Timmons, timmons.j@lynchburg.edu, phone (434)-544-8687.

Grades: Your course grade will be based on three main components.
1. Tests : 3 tests each worth 100 points

2. Quizzes, Projects, and Class participation: Worth a total of 200 points
3. Comprehensive final exam: 100 points

There are 600 points possible. The grades will be given on the following scale.

A+: 595-600

A :  545-595

A-:  540-545

B+: 535-539
B :  485-534

B-: 480-484

C+: 475-479
C :  425-474

C-: 420-424

D+: 415-419
D :  365-414

D-: 360-364

 

Tentative Exam Schedule:

Test 1 Sept 22

Test 2 Oct 27
Test 3 December 1

Final Tuesday Dec 12 9:00 am  

Withdrawal Policy: If you wish to withdraw from this course, it is your responsibility to do so.

Course web page: Any modifications to the course policies and/or course syllabus will be announced on the course web page (URL is given above).

Tutors: The Mathematics Learning Lab (MLL) offers many services to Lynchburg College students. One can obtain free tutoring from lab assistants trained to help students with mathematics. The MLL schedule can be found at http://www.lynchburg.edu/x2840.xml

Topics Covered:

Chapter 1 Foundations of Algebra

Chapter 2 Equations

Chapter 3 Functions

Chapter 4 Trigonometry