Course Syllabus

Welcome to MATH118 - Finite Mathematics!

Classes meet from 11:15 to 12:05 each Monday, Wednesday and Friday in the Recreational Sports & Aquatic Center, room 110. The instructor is Graham White (grrwhite@iu.edu), with office hours Wednesday and Friday 12:30 - 2:00, in Rawles Hall room 263. The associate instructor is Aolong Li, with office hours 3:00 - 5:00 on Friday in Swain East 045.

A more detailed syllabus is available here - FALL 2018 M118 - Departmental Syllabus.docx - but here are the most important points.

• There are four exams - two in class, on Friday September 14 and Friday November 9, and centrally-run midterm and final, at 8:00-9:30am on Saturday, October 13 and 2:45-4:45pm on Wednesday, December 12. Please ensure that you can attend at these times. If this is impossible, talk to me as soon as possible. The exams are the main component of your grade. No calculators, phones, smart watches, textbooks, notes, etc are allowed in any of the exams. The four exams are worth 17%, 23%, 18% and 27% of your grade, respectively. Exam grades may be curved.
• There will be regular problem sets, assigned and automatically graded through WeBWorK, which should be accessible through the assignments section on the left. I intend to assign two problem sets each week, due at midnight each Thursday and Sunday. There may be variations to this schedule around holidays and exams. The first set will be due Thursday of week 1. Collectively, these problem sets will contribute the remaining 15% of your grade. To obtain the full 15%, you need to correctly complete 90% of the total problems assigned. This is a friendlier version of allowing you to drop 10% of the problem sets, so no special consideration will be given for circumstances which affect your ability to complete a single problem set by the due date. If you encounter circumstances affecting more than one problem set, please come and talk to me.
• Both the detailed syllabus and the Canvas website contain lists of suggested practice problems from the textbook for each section of the course. You are encouraged to attempt these, and we are happy to discuss them during office hours, but they are not compulsory, and will not be submitted or graded.
• The last day for automatic withdrawals is Sunday, October 21.
• There are many resources available for additional help with this course.
  • I will have office hours from 12:30 to 2:00 on Wednesday and Friday, in Rawles Hall, room 263. You are very welcome to come and ask me questions, or request that I talk more about any topic.
  • The associate instructor, Aolong Li, will also have office hours, from 3:00 to 5:00 on Friday in Swain East 045.
  • The department runs help sessions from 4pm to 6pm, Monday to Thursday, in Swain East room 340.
  • There are instructional videos here - The Finite Show.
  • There are practice exams here - M118 Practice Exams.
• The course textbook is Finite Mathematics, 6th edition, by Maki, Thompson and McKinley. If you have a copy of the 5th edition, then I expect that will be sufficient, as long as you watch out for renumbering of sections and exercises.
• The course grade will not be curved as a whole. Grades will be assigned as follows:
  • A+: 99-100
  • A: 92-98
  • A-: 90-91
  • B+: 88-89
  • B: 82-87
  • B-: 80-81
  • C+: 78-79
  • C: 72-77
  • C-: 70-71
  • D+: 68-69
  • D: 62-67
  • D-: 60-61
  • F: 59 and below.

 You are welcome to contact me at grrwhite@iu.edu with any questions.

Some extra notes:

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. 

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.)

Additional, suggested problems are recommended and included as ungraded homework assignments. 

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.)

Learning Outcomes: See the departmental syllabus in the files section.

Other University Information

Bias-Based Incident Reporting: As your instructor, one of my responsibilities is to create a positive learning environment for all students. Bias incidents (events or comments that target an individual or group based on age, color, religion, disability, race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status or veteran status) are not appropriate in our classroom or on campus. What should you do if you witness or experience a bias incident? See it? Hear it? Report it by submitting a report online (biasincident.indiana.edu) or calling the Dean of Students Office (812-855-8187).

Disability Services for Students: Every attempt will be made to accommodate qualified students with disabilities (e.g. mental health, learning, chronic health, physical, hearing, vision neurological, etc.) You must have established your eligibility for support services through the appropriate office that services students with disabilities. Note that services are confidential, may take time to put into place and are not retroactive; Captions and alternate media for print materials may take three or more weeks to get produced. Please contact Disability Services for Students at http://disabilityservices.indiana.edu or 812-855-7578 as soon as possible if accommodations are needed. The office is located on the third floor, west tower, of the Wells Library, Room W302. Walk-ins are welcome 8 AM to 5 PM, Monday through Friday. You can also locate a variety of campus resources for students and visitors that need assistance at: http://www.iu.edu/~ada/index.shtml

Sexual Misconduct and Title IX: As your instructor, one of my responsibilities is to create a positive learning environment for all students. Title IX and IU’s Sexual Misconduct Policy prohibit sexual misconduct in any form, including sexual harassment, sexual assault, stalking, and dating and domestic violence. If you have experienced sexual misconduct, or know someone who has, the University can help.

If you are seeking help and would like to speak to someone confidentially, you can make an appointment with:

The Sexual Assault Crisis Services (SACS) at (812) 855-8900 (counseling services)
Confidential Victim Advocates (CVA) at (812) 856-2469 (advocacy and advice services)
IU Health Center at (812) 855-4011 (health and medical services)

It is also important that you know that Title IX and University policy require me to share any information brought to my attention about potential sexual misconduct, with the campus Deputy Title IX Coordinator or IU’s Title IX Coordinator. In that event, those individuals will work to ensure that appropriate measures are taken and resources are made available. Protecting student privacy is of utmost concern, and information will only be shared with those that need to know to ensure the University can respond and assist.

I encourage you to visit stopsexualviolence.iu.edu to learn more.