Course Syllabus

Finite Mathematics, M118

Please also read the Departmental Syllabus for this course.

Section: 12410
Class Day and Times: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8:00am - 9:15am
Class Location: Ballantine Hall (BH) 228
Instructor: Alex Kruckman
Email: akruckma@indiana.edu
Office and Office Hours: Rawles Hall (RH) 315; 12:00-1:00pm Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays
Important dates:

• Thursday, September 14: Exam 1 (8:00-9:15am, in class).
• Saturday, October 14: Common midterm exam for Math M118 (8-9:30 am, Fine Arts 015).
• Sunday, October 22: Last day for automatic withdrawals.
• Thursday, November 16: Exam 3 (8:00-9:15am, in class).
• Friday, December 15: Common final exam for Math 118 (2:45-4:45 pm, Fine Arts 015). 

Announcements and class information: Official course announcements will be made through Canvas. You are required to set your Canvas notifications so that your receive these announcements. Failure to do so will not be considered a legitimate excuse for missing assignments or any other thing that might be announced via Canvas. Go to Account -> Notifications and set Announcements to be received immediately. 

Textbook: Finite Mathematics, 6th Edition, by Maki, Thompson, and McKinley.

Calculators: No calculators (or any other electronic devices) are allowed on the exams for this course, and you do not need to buy a calculator for M118. The exams will be written so that it's reasonable to do the necessary calculations by hand. You may find you need a calculator for some of the WebWork problems and problems from the textbook - if you don't have one, there are many online calculators you can use. But to prepare effectively for the exams, it's a good idea to only use a calculator on the homework when you really need it.

Grades: Your course grade will be computed using the weights listed at the side or bottom of this page. The result will be rounded to the nearest whole number of percentage points, and then the letter grade will be assigned using the following scale:

Exams: Will will have four exams this semester. Exam 1 and Exam 3 will be held in class (usual room, usual time). The Midterm and Final Exams are departmental exams, meaning that all of the students taking M118 this semester take the same exam at the same time. These will be held in a different classroom, yet to be determined. 

See the important dates section above for the dates and times of these exams, and let me know as soon as possible if there is a conflict! Make-up exams are only possible in the case of excused university-related or medical absences. If you have a conflict with a departmental exam, you must submit a departmental Request for Variance form within the first three weeks of class.

Homework: The graded homework in this course will be done through the online homework system WebWork. Students who do not have access to a personal computer should plan to work their WebWork assignments from a Student Technology Center (STC) on campus. For locations, see: https://stc.iu.edu/framework/Apps/Public/SiteRes/LabInfo.cfm (Links to an external site.)

There is one WebWork problem set for each section of the textbook. Each problem set will open at 8am on the first day that we cover the corresponding material in class, and you will have one week to complete the problem set. Problem sets are due at 8am on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and individual due dates are listed in the course schedule below. I recommend you start the assignments as soon as possible after they open.

Late WebWork submissions will not be accepted, but I will drop your three lowest WebWork scores.

Additional, suggested problems are posted on Canvas as ungraded homework assignments (these are the assignments named Section 1.1, Section 1.2, etc.). You are not required to complete these or turn them in. However, I highly recommend that you attempt at least some of the recommended problems from each section of the textbook. They are also a good source of review materials for the exams.

Academic Misconduct: The Department of Mathematics expects its students to comply fully with Indiana University policies on academic integrity. The Penalties for a student caught cheating in M118 may include a final course grade of F* (the star tells the registrar that the F is due to cheating) along with probation, suspension, or expulsion from the University. Academic misconduct will be reported to the Office of Student Ethics. Students should review the Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct, posted at: http://studentcode.iu.edu/ (Links to an external site.)

Religious Holiday Policy: If you will miss class, especially a class during which there will be an exam or other required work, for a religious holiday, you must inform me during the first two weeks of the semester. Procedures and campus policy can be found at: http://vpfaa.indiana.edu/docs/religious_observances/religious-observances-statement.pdf (Links to an external site.)

Resources: This is a challenging class! But you have many resources available to help you. These include:

• Office hours: 12:00-1:00pm Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays in Rawles Hall (RH) 315.
• Departmental Help Sessions: Monday-Thursday 4-6 pm in the Mathematics Learning Center, Swain East (SE) 340. Starts Monday August 28th and ends Thursday December 7th.
• Academic Support Center Tutoring: Sunday-Thursday 7-11 in Briscoe, Forest, and Teeter dorms. Starts Monday August 28th and ends Thursday December 14th.
• The "Email instructor" button in WebWork: This will allow you to send an email to Noah Riggenbach, the graduate student AI for this course. Please only use this option if you're really stuck on a WebWork problem, and please ask precise focused questions - It's very hard to effectively answer questions like "I have no idea how to get started!" over email.
• Help videos: Available at The Finite Show.
• Practice exams: Available at M118 Practice Exams.

Schedule: The day-to-day schedule of lecture content below is an approximate prediction and may change. But the important dates in bold are fixed will not change. The WebWork Open and Due dates are unlikely to change - if they do, I will send out a Canvas announcement.