Syllabus: Math 95 Algebra III
Clackamas Community College – Winter 2010

Welcome to Math 95! In this course you will apply the algebra skills you have already learned to rational, radical, quadratic, exponential, and logarithmic functions. You will also see how these function types can be applied to model growth and decay.

Grades: Your grade will be computed from homework, handouts, tests, and a final exam. It's easy to recover from a bad homework or weekly handout, but it's much harder to recover from a bad test. Make sure you master the material as early in the process as possible, because I don't offer extra credit or make-up work. Anything that allows a student to pass a class even though s/he isn't prepared for later coursework doesn't help. It erodes the integrity of both this course and the next math course you take.

Attendance: Students should plan on attending every class, on time. Students who miss one or more classes, even for excellent reasons, almost always suffer in their understanding of the material and in their grades. If you must miss class, you are responsible for any and all material missed. You are also responsible for downloading handouts from http://www.brucesimmons.com/alg3/handouts.html.

MathZone Homework: You will do the graded portion of your homework on the MathZone website at http://www.mathzone.com. Your MathZone homework grade is scaled to a total of 100 points.

Textbook Homework: You willl have a handout listing textbook problems. These problems will help you learn material that is not found on MathZone. This material will be on your tests, and final exam, so be sure to do it and ask questions in class as appropriate. I will not collect or grade written homework.

MathZone and your textbook: If you have a MathZone account from Math 60 or 65, that should still work for this class. If you bought a new textbook from the CCC bookstore, a free MathZone account was bundled with your book. Otherwise you will need to purchase an account from the website or the bookstore. MathZone gives you access to the textbook on your computer screen (you can't print it out, though). If you are comfortable reading math on a computer screen, you do not have to buy a textbook at all.

Problem Assignments: Every week you will be given a Problem Assignments handout. These are two or three page handouts which serve two purposes: to allow me to see and comment on your written work, and to supplement the book homework with more advanced problems. If you miss a class, you are still responsible for turning in your work on time. You can download and print out your own copies from http://www.brucesimmons.com/alg3/handouts.htm. Your Problem Assignment grade is scaled to a total of 100 points, the same as your MathZone homework.

Tests and Final Exam: You will have an hour and fifteen minutes for each test and almost two hours for your final exam. The tests and exam are all closed-book with no notes allowed. See the course calendar for test dates.

Course Grade: Your grade for the course will be determined by the number of points you earn through homework, supplementary problem assignments, a quiz, tests, and a final exam as shown in the table below. I don't offer extra credit or make-up work.

At the end of the course I will add up all the points you earned and divide the number of possible points. Your resulting percentage will correspond to a letter grade: 90% or higher for an A, 80% for a B, 70% for a C, 60% for a D, and less than 60% results in an F. Your final course grade will be available via myClackamas (my.clackamas.edu), usually within a couple of days after taking the final.

Please also note: Withdrawal from the class is the responsibility of the student. A grade of “I” (incomplete) will be given only if 75% of the work for the course has been completed with a grade of “C” or better, and by prior, individual arrangement with the instructor. An “audit” grade (“X”) implies attendance and participation and must be arranged with the instructor.

It is my intent that we stick to these grading criteria and follow the schedule outlined on the attached calendar, but I reserve the right to make changes, after soliciting students' input, as I see fit.

Other info:

Special Needs If you are a student with a disability and you believe that your opportunities to be successful in this class are affected by that disability, please contact either of the following:

    Betsy Pacheco , CCC Disability Resource Center Coordinator    CC109
    503-657-6958 x2794          betsyp@clackamas.edu

    Rose Lefebvre, Accommodations Specialist                                CC108
    503-657-6958 x5319          rosel@clackamas.edu

Math Lab The Math Lab is an excellent resource. Student tutors are available (for FREE!) and no appointment is necessary. The Math Lab also has other materials that you may find useful. They keep ridiculously long hours and are located in Streeter 137.
Late Work In general, late work is not accepted. But if you know you are going to miss class, please check with me beforehand to discuss the possibility of making up the work you’ll be missing.
Academic Integrity Academic honesty is expected from all of you. Violations of academic integrity undermine your own education, the hard work done by all your classmates, and my own efforts as an educator. Any violations of the college’s Guidelines for Acceptable Student Conduct will result in disciplinary action. See the Student Handbook. In other words, all of the work you submit for the course must be exclusively your own and completed according to the guidelines provided for each assignment.
Objectives & student learning outcomes See http://math.clackamas.edu/math/outlines/math095.htm.