Fall 2016 Course Syllabi

make a mistake…we’re all friends here, and we all make mistakes…but we learn from our errors

and by being involved.

Homework:

Homework is an important part of this course. All homework must be completed

in MyMathLab, which is a website that supports this course and uses videos, homework help,

and other multimedia, including your eText (the electronic version of the textbook) to help you

learn.

You will need an access code the first time you register to use MyMathLab

. The access code will come with your MyMathLab

Student Access kit or can be purchased using a valid credit card at the Pearson registration

website. Once you log in with the

course ID (schwinler45214)

and your access code, you will

select a login and password for future logins.

Homework will consist of selected problems from the exercise set in Pearson MyLab/Mastering

for each section covered in the course. The problems are similar to those in Exercises at the end

of each section from the textbook. You must keep up with weekly homework to have success in

this class.

Homework is due each Sunday by 11:59 pm

and will be automatically scored within

Pearson MyMathLab. You get three attempts at each problem so you can learn from your

mistakes, but you should not just repeatedly guess until you get the correct answer.

I recommend keeping a notebook with the problems you solve and the work you did to solve

each problem so that you can use the printout of your homework and your notebook as study

aids for the exams. You must score a minimum of 70% on each assigned section in MyMathLab

in order to be able to continue on to the homework for the next section. Assignments that are

not completed by the suggested due date will be marked “Past due”. Past due assignments can

still be completed after the due date, but I strongly discourage students from falling behind

more than a day or two. Obviously, you should have the assigned homework completed to the

best of your ability before taking the exam over the homework material as well.

No credit can be given if a question is skipped completely. There really is no excuse for skipping

a question in MyMathLab entirely as there are examples and help hints to get you through each

problem. View an Example walks you through a similar problem with no penalty, Help Me Solve

This may take one of your three attempts away but walks you through the homework problem

you're solving step-by-step, and Similar Exercise gives you another chance to demonstrate your

skills by solving a similar problem. The Ask My Instructor tool also allows you to e-mail me about

a problem that you are having difficulties with. Practicing your algebra skills and obtaining

feedback are the reasons for doing homework. Overall, homework in MyMathLab is worth 670

points, about 45% of your final course grade in Intermediate Algebra.

Projects:

In addition to the lesson homework in Pearson MyMathLab, four projects will be

assigned throughout the semester. Each project will consist of 3-7 applications (word problems)

that you will work using a strategy called "5-Steps for Problem Solving". Projects will be graded

and returned in class with comments and feedback.