CHAMP Algebra I Course Syllabus FALL 2015 For more information and updates see: www.d2l.msu.edu Last updated on: August 25, 2015
Contents Who/What/Where/When 3 People to Know.............................................. 3 Places to Be................................................ 3 Expectations 3 What I Expect From You........................................ 3 What You Can Expect From Me.................................... 4 Schedules and Dates 4 Tentative Weekly Schedule........................................ 4 Grades 5 Overall................................................... 5 Assessment - Homework......................................... 5 Assessment - Quizzes........................................... 5 Assessment - Midterm Exams (Exam 1, Exam 2, Exam 3)...................... 5 Assessment - Statistics Exam (Stats. Exam).............................. 5 Assessment - Standardized Multiple Choice Final (Mult. Final)................... 6 Assessment - Written Final....................................... 6 Supplies 6 Attendance Policies 7 Late Assignment Policy......................................... 7 Additional Help 7 Notes to Students 8 Topics List 9 Other Policies 10 Academic Honesty............................................ 10 Limits to confidentiality......................................... 10 Accommodations for Students with Disabilities (from RCPD).................... 10 Disruptive Behavior........................................... 10 MSU 2
Who/What/Where/When People to Know Instructor Name Rick Hensh Office Location D201 Wells Hall Email hensh@math.msu.edu Home Page users.math.msu.edu/users/hensh/ Teaching Assistant Name Jordan Johnson Office Location Email jjohnson@steppingstoneschool.org INSTRUCTIONAL COORDINATOR Name Dr. Charles Seebeck Office Location C113 Wells Hall Email seebeck@math.msu.edu G.A.T.E. DIRECTOR Name Susan Sheth Office Location Room 8 Kellogg Center Email gifted@msu.edu Places to Be Expectations WEEKDAYS LOCATION TIME ITEM Tuesday MSU Tollgate Education Center 6:00-8:30PM Class What I Expect From You There are exactly fifteen class meetings. I expect you to come to each of the meeting ready to be an active, hardworking, diligent, and competent learner. In each class you should bring your supplies, your completed homework, and any questions that may have so that we can cover them before moving on to new material. I expect you to visit the Forums and Study Labs when you need help or anything is unclear. MSU 3
What You Can Expect From Me I will be doing my best to present clear, useful lessons which are relevant to the course goals, homework, and exam material. Each class meeting with typically contain: A chance to ask homework questions from the previous week s assignment. A quiz covering the previous week s material. Alternatively some weeks may have exams here covering several weeks material. A new lesson covering up to one chapter worth of material! Each class you will receive the graded assessments from the previous class (such as a quiz/exam) along with your graded homework for the current week. I will update the grade book on D2L as soon as possible so that you always have a realistic view of how you are doing in the class and so you can let me know if there are any mistakes. Schedules and Dates Tentative Weekly Schedule Updates can be found on D2L. MSU FS15 CHAMP Alg 1 Tentative Schedule Date Week In Class Assessment Class Topics Additional Info 9/1/2015 1 N/A 1.7, 1.9, 1.10, & 2.7-2.9 9/8/2015 2 Quiz 1 3.2-3.6 & 4.1-4.6 9/15/2015 3 Quiz 2 5.1-5.10 9/22/2015 4 Quiz 3 6.2-6.10 9/29/2015 5 Exam 1 7.1-7.4 10/6/2015 6 Quiz 4 7.5-7.10 10/13/2015 7 Quiz 5 8.3, 9.1-9.7 10/20/2015 8 Quiz 6 10.2-10.5 & 10.7-10.8 10/27/2015 9 Quiz 7 11.1-11.7 11/3/2015 10 Exam 2 11.7-11.10 & 12.2-12.3 Receive Stats Packet 11/10/2015 11 Quiz 8 12.4-12.9 & 13.1-13.3 11/17/2015 12 Quiz 9 13.4-14.1 Receive Stats Exam 11/24/2015 13 Exam 3 14.2-14.7 12/1/2015 14 Mult. Final Review Stats Exam Due 12/8/2015 15 Written Final Review MSU 4
Grades Overall Your course grade will be based on: HW Quizzes Exam 1 Exam 2 Exam 3 Stats. Exam Mult. Final Written Final TOTAL 7.5% 10% 15% 15% 15% 7.5% 15% 15% 100% Final grades will be determined by: Course Grade No Grade C C+ B- B B+ A- A % Grade [0,55) [55,63) [63,70) [70,76) [76,81) [81,86) [86,90) [90,100] This scale may be curved throughout the semester to be more lenient. Such a curve is at the discretion of the instructor. Assessment - Homework Weekly homework is essential for doing well in the class. Homework will contribute 7.5% of the grade calculation, but also will be used to evaluate students whose grade is on the border. Late homework assignments will not be accepted for a grade. They can still be turned in and will be evaluated to give the student feedback. All students are expected to adhere to the University s policy concerning academic integrity. Assessment - Quizzes Most weeks when there is not an exam you should expect a quiz. Quizzes are meant to be 10-20 minutes in length. These quizzes must be taken individually, without the aid of your book or notes and will contribute to 10% of the overall course grade. Typically calculators are allowed except when otherwise specified. Assessment - Midterm Exams (Exam 1, Exam 2, Exam 3) Midterm Exams are tentatively scheduled for October 1st, November 5th, and December 3rd. We will strive to give at least 75 minutes for each exam although the actual amount of time my vary. The exams must be taken individually, without the aid of your book or notes and will each contribute 15% of the overall course grade. Calculators are allowed on all midterm exams. Assessment - Statistics Exam (Stats. Exam) The statistics exam covers the statistics packet (given out at a later date). You should read the statistics packet thoroughly before attempting the statistics exam. The statistics exam is a take home exam so you have as much time as you want to complete it. The statistics exam will contribute 7.5% to your overall course grade. It is important to remember MSU s academic honestly policy for this exam as you are not allowed to seek assistance from friends, family, the internet, or other outside sources. MSU 5
Assessment - Standardized Multiple Choice Final (Mult. Final) The Standardized Multiple Choice Final Exam is 40 questions and you get exactly 40 minutes to complete this exam. This exam is tentatively scheduled for December 10th. No calculators are needed or allowed. The score used in the course grade calculation is the national percentile ranking. This exam counts towards 15% of your overall grade. Assessment - Written Final The Written Final Exam is worth another 15% of your overall grade and is scheduled for December 17th. We will strive to give at least 90 minutes for this exam. Supplies Course Materials: CATEGORY ITEM DESCRIPTION Textbook Algebra I: Expressions, Equations, and Applications Author: Paul A. Foerster For reading and learning Standard Paper, Pencil, and Eraser For taking notes etc. Electronics Internet Access For updates/announcements Electronics Calculator (TI-83/84 Preferred) For in class and at home computations. In Class Materials: It is mandatory that you bring your textbook, paper, pencil, erasers, and calculator with you to every class. Please make sure you have extra pencils and batteries for your calculator in case of emergencies! MSU 6
Attendance Policies Given the class s speed and how much that material builds on itself it is important to be at every class. If you must miss a class please let the instructor know as soon as possible so that we can come up with a plan to keep everyone up to speed. You are responsible for all material covered in class including updates to the tentative schedule. Late Assignment Policy Homework - Late homework can be submitted in the following class if a student is absent. The score is typically not recorded however the student s work will be evaluated and given feedback by the graders. Quizzes - If a student has an excused absence they my take a make-up quiz during the Study Lab(s) the following week. Please let your instructor know which lab you will attend so that he/she can make the appropriate arrangements. Exams - If you must be absent on an exam day (including the final) please speak with your instructor A.S.A.P to devise a plan that works well for everyone. Additional Help Typically each week there are Study Labs at a variety of times and locations listed below: CITY LOCATION ROOM WEEKDAY TIME East Lansing Wells Hall C314 Sunday 3:00-4:30 PM East Lansing Wells Hall TBD Tuesday 7:15-8:45 PM Lapeer TBD TBD TBD TBD Novi Tollgate Education Center Same as class Tuesday 6:00-6:30 PM Novi Novi Library 2nd Floor Meeting Room Sunday 2-4:00 PM Please check D2L for any weekly changes/cancellations. The Study Labs are a chance for students to come and work on their homework or study for upcoming quizzes/exams and ask for help when stuck. Students are required to visit the Study Lab at least once throughout the semester. This attendance is counted as the equivalent of one homework. However, it is recommended that students come to these whenever possible. In addition there is virtual help available on http://forums.msu.edu where students can pose homework questions and get help from other students and professors. MSU 7
Notes to Students Calculators and other supplies. There are lots of calculators that can do all sorts of things. In this class and the majority of math classes at MSU the TI-83 or TI-84 (all models) are the standard. The TI-89 and TI-Nspire are out right banned because they can do algebra (and a good amount of calculus). TI-83s are often available used from www.amazon.com for under $50. If you have a calculator of another brand please let the instructor know as soon as possible and allow the instructor to hold on to it for a week to determine it capabilities and whether or not it can be permitted in the class. Grades and D2L Grades will be posted and updated weekly on D2L (http://d2l.msu.edu). Please check these regularly to see how you are doing in the course. Also make sure that grades on your papers match the grades that I have on record. Mistakes can happen. In addition, you can use these grades to see what letter grade they are currently earning in the course. A good way to work/study Work all throughout the week. Not just the night before class! Although we meet for class only once a week it is extremely important that you work on math 4+ nights a week to really put this material to memory. We have all experienced trying to cram for an quiz/exam and recognize that while you may get short term success, this is no way to learn an entire class (especially when the material builds on each week before). I recommend setting a schedule like this: Wednesday - Read over the HW problems and attempt any of the ones you think you can do on scrap paper. Thursday - Find a couple more difficult problems that you are less sure on and reread the section(s) they are in. Try them on scrap paper. Friday-Saturday - Repeat above as needed (asking for help from siblings, parents, http://forums.msu.edu, and Study Lab(s) as needed). Saturday - Write up final solutions in HW packet. Sunday-Monday - Study for Quiz/Exam. Practice some random problems from the book. Try timing yourself and not using your notes/the book. Study Labs and Forums Again I encourage you to seek help as needed. I have found that the Study Labs are a great place for students to get together and work on math. They are especially nice because students can ask each other how to do a problem. They can get another type of explanation from a peer and everyone s knowledge grows. Parent Teacher Conferences (for the parents) Around the middle of the semester (updates will be on D2L as available) there will be an opportunity for the parents and instructor to meet about your student s performance in the class. We would like to encourage every parent to attend however if you cannot please email the instructor to get any important information. The G.A.T.E. office will send your student s Progress Report to you and a copy to your school. MSU 8
Topics List Expressions and Equations Solving Equations, Problems That Lead to Expressions and Equations. Operations with Negative Numbers Equations That Need To Transformations, Problems That Lead to Two-Transformation Equations. Distributing: Axioms and Other Properties Distributing Multiplication Over Subtraction, More Distributive Properties, Like Terms and Common Factors, Axioms for Adding and Multiplying, Properties of Equality. Harder Equations Equations With Like Terms, Equations With Like Terms and Distributing, Equations With Variables in Both Members, Equations That Involve Decimals, Literal Equations and Formulas, Problems That Involve More than One Expression. Some Operations with Polynomials and Radicals Introduction to Polynomials, Names of Polynomials, Product of Two Binomials, Factoring Quadratic Trinomials, Factoring Quadratic Trinomials - Third Term Negative, Factoring Quadratic Trinomials - First Coefficient Not 1, Factoring a Difference of Two Squares, Squaring a Binomial, Factoring Trinomial Squares, Radical, Irrational Numbers, and the Closure Axioms. Quadratic Equations Evaluating Radical Expressions, Equations Containing Absolute Values, Equations with Squares, Equations with Trinomial Squares, Completing the Square, Solving Quadratic Equations by Completing the Square, The Quadratic Formula, Vertical Motion Problems, The Discriminant. Expressions and Equations Containing Two Variables Evaluating Expressions Containing Two Variables, The Cartesian Coordinate System, Graphs of Equations Containing Two Variables, Intercepts and Rapid Graphing, Slope and Rapid Graphing, Find an Equation from the Graph, Finding the Intersection of Two Graphs by Accurate Plotting, Solving Systems of Equations by Substitution, Solving Systems by the Linear Combination Method, Problems Involving Two Variables. Linear Functions, Scattered Data, and Probability Probability. Properties of Exponents Prime Numbers and Prime Factors, The Operation Exponentiation, Exponents, Products, Powers, Exponents and Quotients, Negative and Zero Exponents, Powers of 10 and Scientific Notation, Problems Involving Numbers in Scientific Notation. More Operations with Polynomials The Greatest Common Factor, Factoring Polynomials That Have Common Factors, Common Binomial Factors, Factoring by Grouping, Solving Quadratic Equations by Factoring. Rational Algebraic Expressions Introduction of Rational Algebraic Expressions and Equations, Simplifying Rational Algebraic Expressions, Multiplying and Dividing Rational Expressions, Least Common Multiple, Adding and Subtracting Rational Expressions, Combined Operations and Special Cases, Long Division of Polynomials, Fractional Equations and Extraneous Solutions, Problems Involving Ratio and Proportion, Problems Involving Probability and Other Rational Expressions. Radical Algebraic Expressions Sums, Differences, Products, and Quotients of Radicals, Binomials with Radicals, Square Roots of Variable Expressions, Radical Equations, The Pythagorean Theorem and Applications, Higher-Order Radicals, Rational and Irrational Numbers. Inequalities Number-Line Graphs, Solving Inequalities, Compound Inequalities, Inequalities Containing Absolute Value, Inequalities: Given x, Evaluate the Expression, Linear Inequalities with Two Variables, Systems of Equations and Inequalities. Functions and Advanced Topics Functions, Direct and Inverse Variation Functions, Function Terminology, Trigonometric Functions, Quadratic Functions, Solving Quadratic Inequalities by Completing the Square, Solving Quadratic Inequalities by the Quadratic Formula. MSU 9
Other Policies Academic Honesty Article 2.3.3 of the Academic Freedom Report states that The student shares with the faculty the responsibility for maintaining the integrity of scholarship, grades, and professional standards. In addition, the (insert name of unit offering course) adheres to the policies on academic honesty as specified in General Student Regulations 1.0, Protection of Scholarship and Grades; the all University Policy on Integrity of Scholarship and Grades; and Ordinance 17.00, Examinations. (See Spartan Life: Student Handbook and Resource Guide and/or the MSU Web site: www.msu.edu.) Therefore, unless authorized by your instructor, you are expected to complete all course assignments, including homework, lab work, quizzes, tests and exams, without assistance from any source. You are expected to develop original work for this course; therefore, you may not submit course work you completed for another course to satisfy the requirements for this course. Also, you are not authorized to use the www.allmsu.com Web site to complete any course work in this course. Students who violate MSU academic integrity rules may receive a penalty grade, including a failing grade on the assignment or in the course. Contact your instructor if you are unsure about the appropriateness of your course work. (See also the Academic Integrity webpage.) Limits to confidentiality Essays, journals, and other materials submitted for this class are generally considered confidential pursuant to the Universitys student record policies. However, students should be aware that University employees, including instructors, may not be able to maintain confidentiality when it conflicts with their responsibility to report certain issues to protect the health and safety of MSU community members and others. As the instructor, I must report the following information to the Department of Police and Public Safety if you share it with me: Suspected child abuse/neglect, even if this maltreatment happened when you were a child, Allegations of sexual assault or sexual harassment when they involve MSU students, faculty, or staff, and Credible threats of harm to oneself or to others. These reports will trigger contact from the Department of Police and Public Safety who will want to talk with you about the incident that you have shared. In almost all cases, it will be your decision whether you wish to speak with that individual. If you would like to talk about these events in a more confidential setting you are encouraged to make an appointment with the MSU Counseling Center. Accommodations for Students with Disabilities (from RCPD) Michigan State University is committed to providing equal opportunity for participation in all programs, services and activities. Requests for accommodations by persons with disabilities may be made by contacting the Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities at 517-884-RCPD or on the web at rcpd.msu.edu. Once your eligibility for an accommodation has been determined, you will be issued a Verified Individual Services Accommodation (VISA) form. Please present this form to me at the start of the term and/or two weeks prior to the accommodation date (test, project, etc.). Requests received after this date may not be honored. Disruptive Behavior Article 2.III.B.4 of the Academic Freedom Report (AFR) for students at Michigan State University states: The student s behavior in the classroom shall be conducive to the teaching and learning process for all concerned. Article 2.III.B.10 of the AFR states that The student has a right to scholarly relationships with faculty based on mutual trust and civility. General Student Regulation 5.02 states: No student shall... interfere with the functions and services of the University (for example, but not limited to, classes...) such that the function or service is obstructed or disrupted. Students whose conduct adversely affects the learning environment in this classroom may be subject to disciplinary action through the Student Judicial Affairs office. MSU 10