Mathematics 101

Basic Algebra With Applications

Fall Semester 1997
Alan H. Stein

Purpose

Meeting Times

Textbook

Listserv Mailing List

Course Structure and Grading

Suggested Exercises

Final Examination

General Policies Applying to All My Courses

Tip of the Day

Purpose

Basic Algebra is designed to prepare students for college level mathematics. Although the course carries college credit, it is not itself considered a college level course and the credit does not count towards graduation from The University of Connecticut.

You should not be registered for this course unless you have taken and failed the Q-Course Readiness Test. If you have not taken that test, you should immediately make arrangements to take it; it is quite possible that there are other courses far more appropriate to your needs.

Meeting Times

Section 31: 8:00-8:50 AM on Monday, Wednesday and Friday
Section 32: 12:30-1:20 PM on Monday, Wednesday and Friday

Textbook

Intermediate Algebra, 2nd edition, by Tobey and Slater. It is also highly recommended that you check out other algebra books in the Kirschbaum Library.

Listserv Mailing List

The class has a listserv mailing list set up. The name of the list is WMA101-L and it is hosted on uconnvm.uconn.edu. Every member of the class is expected to sign on to the list and to participate.

Subscribing to the Mailing List

To sign on to the mailing list, send the message

sub WMA101-L John Doe

addressed to listserv@uconnvm.uconn.edu, replacing John Doe with your own name. That single line should comprise the entire body of your message. No subject is needed. Note that you may subscribe from any Internet address; you do not need to be in the UConn domain. If you have any difficulty, contact your instructor.

Posting a Message to the Mailing List

To post a message to the mailing list, simply address it to WMA101-L@uconnvm.uconn.edu. Other than that, it may be handled the same as any other email message.

Course Structure and Grading

Structure

Note: The structure described below is not the standard course structure being used by other instructors. This course will be structured differently from most other courses. Thus, some of the policies below conflict with the general policies listed elsewhere in your instructor's virtual classroom. In such cases, the policies here override the general policies. There will be very little lecture, under the philosophy that all the material in the course has already been explained to students in previous courses in middle and high school and each student needs to work on different items.

By the end of the semester, students will be expected to be proficient in most of the material in the first nine chapters of the textbook. Students will work at their own pace, with assistance from the instructor where needed, although the instructor will spend a short time approximately once per week explaining key algebraic ideas.

As students become proficient in the material in each chapter in the textbook, they will take examinations on those chapters. Course grades, as outlined below, will depend almost totally on their performance on those examinations.

Tests will be available for each chapter, with a combined test for chapters 8 and 9. Tests may be taken at any time during either Mathematics 101 class, during your instructor's office hours, or any other time you can arrange with your instructor.

Tests for each chapter may be retaken as many times as necessary (although not more than once during any class) until a passing grade of 80% is earned for that chapter. Note that no partial credit will be given. Note also that students who take examinations for the same chapter more than once will have different examinations each time.

Grading

The course grade will be determined as follows:

Number of Chapter Exams Passed	Course Grade
8	A
7	B
6	C
5	D
0-4	F

Grade Adjustments

Several other factors as detailed below may be used to either raise or lower your course grade up to one full letter grade.

Bonuses for Outstanding Performance on Examinations

A grade of 90 or above on at least half the exams passed will increase your course grade by one +/-. A grade of 90 or above on all the exams passed will increase your course grade by two +/-s. For example, someone who passes 6 exams gets a C. If that person earns 90s on at least three of them, the grade increases to C+. If that person earns 90s on all six, the grade increases to B-. The bonus given for a perfect grade is double the bonus given for a grade of 90 or above. A student who earns a grade of 80 on a chapter examination may attempt to raise his or her grade to 90, but risks losing credit for the chapter by doing worse on the second try.

Adjustments Based on Appropriate Preparation

It is expected that students will properly prepare for each chapter examination before taking it. In order to encourage students to properly prepare, a student's course grade will be raised by one +/- each time her or she passes a chapter examination on the first try; on the other hand, it will be decreased by one +/- each time he or she takes examinations twice for the same chapter without meeting the required standard.

Penalties for Poor Attendance

Since it is important for students to put in a consistent effort throughout the semester, including studying in class when they are not ready to take an examination, attendance will be taken and will count. Missing three classes will result in a penalty of one +/- in the course grade, missing six classes will result in a penalty of two +/-s in the course grade, and so on. Students are expected to stay for the entire class session. Thus, students who come late to class or leave early will be considered to be absent.

Exception

Students who have successfully passed all eight chapter examinations will be excused from further attendance.

The Grading Algorithm

The grade will actually be calculated by a computer program as follows:

1. A point total will be calculated as follows:
   1. A preliminary adjustment factor will be computed as follows. Double the number of perfect exam scores will be added to the number of scores of at least 80%. The preliminary adjustment factor will be set to 4 if this number is at least double the number of exams passed, 3 if this number is at least 1 1/2 times the number of exams passed, 2 if this number is at least equal to the number of exams passed, 1 if this number is at least half the number of exams passed, 0 otherwise.
   2. 1 point will be added to the adjustment factor for each exam the student passed on the first try.
   3. For each exam, the number of unsuccessful attempts will be divided by 2 and the integer part of the quotient will be subtracted from the adjustment factor.
   4. The number of absences will be divided by 3 and the integer part of the quotient will be subtracted from the adjustment factor.
   5. If the adjustment factor comes out greater than 1, it will be reset to 1; if the adjustment factor comes out less than -1, it will be reset to -1.
   6. The adjustment factor will be added to three times the number of exams passed to get the point total.
   7. If the point total is less than 15 but the student passed at least five chapter exams, the point total will be reset to 15.
   8. If the student failed to fill out the student Information Form or failed to provide an Email Address, the point total will be reset to 0.
2. Once the point total is calculated, the grade will be calculated according to the following table:

   Point Total	Course Grade
   24	A
   23	A-
   22	B+
   21	B
   20	B-
   19	C+
   18	C
   17	C-
   16	D+
   15	D
   <15	F

The Mid-Semester grades will be calculated the same way except that the adjustment factor will be added to six times the number of exams passed rather than to three times the number of exams passed and if the student's point total is less than 15 the student will need to have passed only two chapter exams rather than five to have the point total reset to 15.

Final Examination

The final examination for Mathematics 101 will be held on December 12, 1997 between 11:00 AM-1:00 PM. At this time, students will have one last opportunity, without penalty, to retake examinations for any chapters they have not yet passed or for which they wish to try to raise their grades.