Linfield College
Division of Continuing Education: Adult Degree Program
Course Syllabus for MAT-115

Instructor: Dr. Gowri Meda

Welcome to Intermediate Algebra!! Please read and understand this syllabus.

PART A
A1. Course Number, Title, Credit hours
A2. Instructor’s Contact Information and Biography
A3. Prerequisites for this Course
A4. Required Text and Course Materials
A5. Course Content and Course Objectives
A6. Pedagogical Approach
A7. Class Assessment and Grading Scheme
A8. Academic Honesty Policy
A9. Missed Assignments and Quizzes Policy
A10. Disability Statement

PART B
B1. Activities and assignments for week of February 13-19
B2. Activities and assignments for week of February 20-26
B3. Activities and assignments for week of February 27-March 5
B4. Activities and assignments for week of March 6-12
B5. Activities and assignments for a TWO-week period of March 13-26
B6. Activities and assignments for week of March 27-April 2
B7. Activities and assignments for week of April 3-April 9
B8. Activities and assignments for week of April 10-April 16
B9. Activities and assignments for a TWO week period of April 17-30
B10. Activities and assignments for week of May 1-7
B11. Activities and assignments for week of May 8-14
B12. Activities and assignments for week of May 15-21

PART A
A1 . Course Number, Title, Credit hours:

A2. Instructor’s Contact Information and Biography:
Email: From the course webpage, click on the icon with the title Email Instructor and then click on Compose Message. You will be given a message screen. Compose your message as usual and hit post button.

My Online schedule: I will reply to your messages on at least four days out of Monday through Friday and I would like to reserve Saturdays and Sundays for my family. However, if I am not out of town on weekends, I will try to reply to your messages. If you have a math question, then please post them in the GROUP Discussions area (information about your GROUP Discussions area is discussed in A7 below.) and I will respond in the same group- area so that everyone in the group can benefit from your question and my answer. Please email to my personal inbox only if you have a non-math question that you want to discuss with me.

My Biography: I am originally from India although I have been residing in the US for the last 15 years. Since receiving my Ph.D. degree in mathematics in 1997 from Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, I taught math full-time for five years. Since September 2002, I have been teaching math part-time at a community college and also part-time online classes at Linfield since September 2003. I enjoy teaching math and I am looking forward to working with you this semester. When I am not doing math, I like to paint (both oil and water color) and I thoroughly enjoy my time with my family which includes my husband and our three year old son (and also two cats!). By the way, please call me by my first name: Gowri—“Gow” rhymes with “Cow” and “ri” rhymes with “be”.

A3. Prerequisites for this Course: High School Algebra I and geometry, or equivalent.

A4. Required Text and Course Materials (available at the bookstore):
McKeague. Beginning and Intermediate Algebra (1st ed.) packaged with WebCT access code: Thomson Publishing

A5. Course Content and Course Objectives: Content will include: Number systems and their properties, solving linear and quadratic equations, solving systems of equations, polynomials and factoring, graphing linear and quadratic equations, graphing inequalities, exponents and radicals, operations on rational functions.
In this course you will

• review and relearn basic properties of the real number system
• develop the algebraic skills and techniques needed to solve linear and quadratic equations
• learn to apply algebra to real world problems

A6. Pedagogical Approach: In order to succeed in this online class, you must take on an active role in completing all the course objectives. The structure of an online class requires students to be very disciplined in their study habits. A succesful student in an online environemnt must be willing and able to learn the material independently by reading the textbook, doing the homework, participating in online class discussion (see A7 below where I provide details in discussion groups) and completing all assignments. As an instructor in an online environment, I facilitate your learning by providing a weekly plan with readings and assignments to complete. I am available to answer your math questions through the discussions group. However, in an online course, it is crucial that you develop the skills to learn the math content independently through reading the text. Since our math communications will be solely through discussion-group messages, you should be prepared to read my response-messages and learn math by understanding the math content of my messages.

Section A7 below provides you the specifics of classroom assessment. PART B of this syllabus lists the activities and assignments for each week. In this Online environment, while you have the advantage of studying the material at a time of the day that fits your schedule, it is crucial that you understand that each week you will have a list assignments (readings,online quizzes and group-discussions and also exams in some weeks) to complete and there is no flexibility in the due-dates of these assignments. Hence, be sure to read and understand the next two sections very carefully.

In this class you are advised to:
• complete the reading assignment on time.
• complete the homework (do not turn it in)
• Participate in the group discussion in a timely manner on a regular and consistent basis.
• Complete the online-quizzes/exams on time and follow all the rules that go with it.

In this class you can expect that I will:
• respond to your math-questions
• respond to messages sent to my “email”
• actively manage this webpage

A7. Class assessment and Grading Scheme:
Your course grade will be based on the following assessment areas. Please also see the next section “Grading Scheme” which explains how I will determine your Course-grade.

• Weekly Online Group-Discussion and Participation: By Tuesday morning, I will assign you to a group. Once I have assigned you to a group, you can only access your group-discussion. To access your group from the homepage, click on Discussions- Area and then click on the only GROUP that you will be able to access.
  By each Monday, I will post one or two discussion thread-messages (referred to as DQ threads) in your Group. Each DQ thread message will contain one or more math questions for you to answer and post (as a threaded message -directions for threading will be provided in my discussion-message-thread that I will start) in the group area by Sunday midnight of the week. These are asynchronous discussions and so you may post your message at a time of the day that is convenient to you. However, please post your response to the discussion questions ( that I post in your group on each Monday, as I mentioned earlier) as early in the week and preferably by Wednesday midnight of the week so as to allow time for discussion. If you do not participate in one week, then you lose participation points for that week and you cannot make up those points in another week
  Responses posted by various students are intended to serve as a starting point for math-conversations in your group about the week's topics. Hence, you are expected to read other students' answers to these discussion questions and engage in math discussions with your group members. So in addition to posting your messages to the my DQ threads, please also be willing to post extra messages of the following nature: ones where you may agree with a group member's solution and thus post a positive message ( such as : good work!) or ones where you respond to math questions posted by a group member.
• Weekly online Quizzes: Almost each week you will be required to take a quiz online. The weekly quiz will be posted on the Wednesday of the week and will remain available until 11:55 pm on Sunday of the week. Please also see PART B of this syllabus to view in which of the weeks the quizzes take place. You may take your quiz at any time during the available period but once you start an online quiz, you will have to finish it in three hours. Hence, do not start your quiz until you are absolutely ready.
• EXAMS: There will be three online EXAMS. Please see PART B of this syllabus to view the availability period for each of the EXAMS. You may take your EXAMS at any time during the available period but once you start an online EXAM, you will have to finish it in five hours. Hence, do not start your EXAM until you are absolutely ready

  I will calculate your grade based on the following grading scheme

  Assessment Area	Percent of Course-grade
  Weekly Online Group-Discussions and Participation	10%
  Weekly Online Quizzes	30%
  Three Online EXAMS	60%
  TOTAL	100%

  Each week, you will be given a score for the weekly-group-discussion and participation category and an Average Participation Score will be made available to you as a row in MY GRADES icon on the homepage. As stated above, this average participation score (based on your participation in group discussions each week- please see A7 for details) counts towards 10% of the course grade.
  
  Similarly, each week's quiz score will be displayed in MY GRADES and an Average Quiz Score will be made available to you as a row in MY GRADES. As stated above, this average quiz score counts towards 30% of the course grade.
  
  Similarly, each EXAM score will be displayed as soon as you submit the EXAM and an Average EXAM Score will be made available to you as a row in MY GRADES. As stated above, this average EXAM score counts towards 60% of the course grade.
  
  Your course current-percentage is thus a WEIGHTED sum of the three categories in the table above. Hence, your course percentage is the SUM of the Average Participation Score, Average Quiz Score and Average Exam Score. A row with the label current-percentage will be displayed in MY GRADES. Note in particular that each category is weighted differently and that the EXAMS are indeed weighted heaviest.

  Grade	Percent
  A	90-100%
  B	80-89%
  C	70-79%
  D	60-69%
  F	0-59%

  A8. Academic Honesty Policy : Cheating and plagiarism will not be tolerated. Any student found to be engaging in either of these activities at any point in the course will receive a failing grade for the assignment and/or entire course and may be subject to further college sanctions.

  A9. Missed assignments/quizzes/exams policy:
  No make-ups are allowed for missed Group Discussions, Participation, or Online quizzes/exams. If you have an emergency that does not allow you to take an online exam, contact me immediately or as soon as possible by email and before the exam/quiz due date. In such emergency situations, at my discretion, a make-up exam may be given to you (with possible penalty). It is your responsibilty to plan your semester in a way that you will be able to complete quizzes, exams and discussions on time. Computer crashes and inability to access this class online will not be considered as valid reasons for make-up quizzes and exams and hence it is important that you have back-up plans so as to avoid such situations.

  A10. Disability Statement: Students with documented disabilities who may need accommodations, who have any emergency medical information the instructor should know, should communicate with the instructor as early as possible, no later than the first week of classes.

PART B
This is a tentative calendar. I will make an announcement if I ever have to make changes to the following.

B1. Activities and assignments for week of February 13-19

1. Reading Assignment: Chapter One: The Basics
2. Suggested Homework: Please do the following exercises from your textbook. I do not collect homework. However, I will post solutions to these questions so that you can check your answers on your own.
   In what follows,
   " every odd" from 1 through some number means 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 ….. and so on
   " every other odd" from 1 through some number means 1, 5, 9, 13 ….. and so on.
   Section 1.1: 1 through 85
   Section 1.2: 1 through 69 every other odd
   Section 1.3: 1 through 69 every other odd
   Section 1.4: 1 through 73 every other odd
   Section 1.5: 1 through 79 every other odd
   Section 1.6: 1 through 41 every other odd
   Section 1.7: 1 through 47 every other odd
   Section 1.8: skip
   Section 1.9: 1 through 41 every other odd
3. Group Discussion and Participation: See section A7 of this syllabus for participation requirements.
4. Weekly Online Quiz: Take online quiz titled Quiz ONE. See A7 for details.
5. Post your Bio: Click on the icon Communicate and then on Discussion Area. In the discussion area, under the topic INTRODUCTIONS, you will see that I have posted a Bio thread. Using the Bio thread, please post your Bio by Sunday, so that we can all begin to get to know each other.
   

B2. Activities and assignments for week of February 20-26

1. Reading Assignment: Chapter Two: Linear Equations and Inequalities, Section 2.1 through 2.5 and 2.8
2. Suggested Homework: Please do the following exercises from your textbook. I do not collect homework. However, I will post solutions to these questions so that you can check your answers on your own.
Section 2.1: 1 through 93 every other odd
Section 2.2: 1 through 59 every other odd
Section 2.3: 1 through 67 every other odd
Section 2.4: 1 through 51 every other odd
Section 2.5: 3 through 23 every other odd
Section 2.8: 1 through 55 every other odd
3. Group Discussion and Participation: See section A7 of this syllabus for participation requirements.
4. Weekly Online Quiz: Take online quiz titled Quiz TWO. See A7 for details.

B3. Activities and assignments for week of February 27-March 5

1. Reading Assignment: Chapter Three: Graphing and Linear Systems
Sections 3.1, 3.2. 3.3, & 3.4
2. Suggested Homework: Please do the following exercises from your textbook. I do not collect homework. However, I will post solutions to these questions so that you can check your answers on your own.
Section 3.1: 1 through 43 every other odd
Section 3.2: 1 through 23 every other odd
Section 3.3: 1 through 67 every other odd
Section 3.4: 1 through 11 every other odd
3. Group Discussion and Participation: See section A7 of this syllabus for participation requirements.
4. Weekly Online Quiz: Take online quiz titled Quiz THREE. See A7 for details.

B4. Activities and assignments for week of March 6-12

1. Reading Assignment: Chapter Three: Graphing and Linear Systems,
Sections 3.5, 3.6 & 3.7
2. Suggested Homework: Please do the following exercises from your textbook. I do not collect homework. However, I will post solutions to these questions so that you can check your answers on your own.
Section 3.5: 1 through 9 every other odd
Section 3.6: 1 through 41 every other odd
Section 3.7: 1 through 37 every other odd
3. Group Discussion and Participation: See section A7 of this syllabus for participation requirements.
4. Weekly Online Quiz: Take online quiz titled Quiz FOUR. See A7 for details.

B5. Activities and assignments for a TWO week period of March 13-26

1. Reading Assignment: Chapter Three: Graphing and Linear Systems, Section 3.8
2. Suggested Homework: Please do the following exercises from your textbook. I do not collect homework. However, I will post solutions to these questions so that you can check your answers on your own.
Section 3.8: 1 through 15 every odd
3. Group Discussion and Participation: See section A7 of this syllabus for participation requirements.
4. EXAM-ONE: Take online EXAM titled EXAM-ONE and based on chapters one, two and three. EXAM-ONE will be available to you from March 22 until 11:55 pm on March 26.See A7 for details.

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B6. Activities and assignments for week of March 27-April 2

1. Reading Assignment: Chapter Four: Exponents and Polynomials,
Sections 4.1 through 4.5
2. Suggested Homework: Please do the following exercises from your textbook. I do not collect homework. However, I will post solutions to these questions so that you can check your answers on your own.
Section 4.1: 1 through 63 every other odd
Section 4.2: 1 through 53 every other odd
Section 4.3: 1 through 45 every other odd
Section 4.4: 1 through 27 every other odd
Section 4.5: 1 through 37 every other odd
3. Group Discussion and Participation: See section A7 of this syllabus for participation requirements.
4. Weekly Online Quiz: Take online quiz titled Quiz FIVE. See A7 for details.

B7. Activities and assignments for week of April 3-9

1. Reading Assignment: Chapter Five: Factoring,
Sections 5.1 through 5.4
2. Suggested Homework: Please do the following exercises from your textbook. I do not collect homework. However, I will post solutions to these questions so that you can check your answers on your own.
Section 5.1: 1 through 33 every other odd
Section 5.2: 1 through 53 every other odd
Section 5.3: 1 through 45 every other odd
Section 5.4: 1 through 27 every other odd
3. Group Discussion and Participation: See section A7 of this syllabus for participation requirements.
4. Weekly Online Quiz: Take online quiz titled Quiz SIX. See A7 for details.

B8. Activities and assignments for week of April 10-April 16

1. Reading Assignment: Chapter Five: Factoring, Sections 5.5 & 5.6
Chapter Six: Rational Expressions, Section 6.1
2. Suggested Homework: Please do the following exercises from your textbook. I do not collect homework. However, I will post solutions to these questions so that you can check your answers on your own.
Section 5.5: 1 through 45 every other odd
Section 5.6: 1 through 53 every other odd
Section 6.1: 1 through 23 every other odd

3. Group Discussion and Participation: See section A7 of this syllabus for participation requirements.
4. Weekly Online Quiz: Take online quiz titled Quiz SEVEN. See A7 for details.

B9. Activities and assignments for a TWO-week period of April 17-30

1. Reading Assignment: Review chapters four, five and section 6.1. The midterm will cover these materials.

2. Group Discussion and Participation: See section A7 of this syllabus for participation requirements.
3. EXAM-TWO: Take online EXAM titled EXAM-TWO and based on chapters four and five. EXAM-TWO will be available to you from April 26 until 11:55 pm on April 30. See A7 for details

B10. Activities and assignments for week of May 1-7

1. Reading Assignment: Chapter Eight: Equations and Inequalities in Two variables,
Sections 8.1, 8.2 & 8.4
2. Suggested Homework: Please do the following exercises from your textbook. I do not collect homework. However, I will post solutions to these questions so that you can check your answers on your own.
Section 8.1: 1 through 23 every other odd
Section 8.2: 1 through 49 every other odd
Section 8.4: 1 through 15 every other odd
3. Group Discussion and Participation: See section A7 of this syllabus for participation requirements.
4. Weekly Online Quiz: Take online quiz titled Quiz EIGHT. See A7 for details.

B11. Activities and assignments for week of May 8-14

1. Reading Assignment: Chapter Nine: Rational Exponents and Roots, Sections 9.1 & 9.7
Chapter Ten: Quadratic Functions, Sections 10.1,10.2 & 10.5
2. Suggested Homework: Please do the following exercises from your textbook. I do not collect homework. However, I will post solutions to these questions so that you can check your answers on your own.
Section 9.1: 1 through 27 every odd
Section 9.7: 1 through 39 every odd
Section 10.1: 1 through 11 every odd
Section 10.2: 1 through 27 every odd
Section 10.5: 1 through 17 every odd
3. Group Discussion and Participation: See section A7 of this syllabus for participation requirements.
4. Weekly Online Quiz: Take online quiz titled Quiz NINE. See A7 for details.

B12. Activities and assignments for week of May 15-21

1. Reading Assignment: Review Sections 8.1, 8.2 & 8.4 , 10.1, 10.2 & 10.5
2. Group Discussion and Participation: See section A7 of this syllabus for participation requirements.
3. EXAM-THREE: Take online EXAM titled EXAM-THREE and based on chapters eight and ten. EXAM-THREE will be available to you from May 17 until 11:55 pm on May 21. See A7 for details