Course Syllabus

 

Finite Mathematics, M118

Section: 4883
Class Day and Times: Tuesday, Thursday 11:15am-12:30pm
Class Location: Rawles Hall 100
Text: Finite Mathematics by Maki, Thompson, McKinley, 6th Edition
Instructor: Iulia Demeter , idemeter@indiana.edu
Office and Office Hours: RH258

Monday 2:00-3:00pm

Tuesday 12:35 -1:35pm

Thursday 12:35 -1:35pm

Important dates: Last day for automatic withdrawals is Sunday, October 21.

Exam 1: Thursday, September 13, from 11:15-12:30 in RH100

Midterm exam (common): Saturday, October 13 from 8-9:30 am, room TBA

Exam 3: Tuesday, November 13, from 11:15-12:30 in RH100

Final exam (common): Wednesday, December 12 from 2:45-4:45 pm, room TBA

Make-ups are almost NEVER allowed. I will not drop any of the four exams. If you think you have to miss an exam due to conditions not under your control, you must notify me in advance (at least 2 weeks before the exam) to discuss your option(s). In case of sickness, you have to contact me within 24 hours and show me complete doctor’s documentation.  If you have a schedule conflict, you must discuss it with me as soon as possible and bring documentation, as appropriate to the situation. No one will be allowed to take any exams earlier, regardless of the circumstances. 

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. 

Calculators: No calculators are allowed on the exams for this course. The use of them during the exams is considered as academic dishonesty.

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.)

Usually, you will have 2 assignments each week due 2 times a week: an assignment opened on Tuesday will be due on Friday and an assignment opened on Thursday will be due on Tuesday. Due time is 9am. WeBWorK should be checked daily to see if new assignments have been posted.

10% of the WeBWorK will be dropped at semester’s end in recognition of the fact that on occasion good students will miss some of the assignments due to reasons beyond their control (nobody will get a score over 100%). Consequently, WeBWorK due dates will not be extended on a student-per-student basis. 

For WeBWorK related questions, please use the ”Email instructor” button attached to each problem. Keep in mind that answering questions by email might be difficult and I do not promise you’ll always get an answer. It's better to find a human being to help you than rely on the email help. I strongly encourage you to come to the office hours and make good use of the Departmental Help Sessions.

When all parts of a WeBWorK problem have been completed, most browsers will display a “green bar” confirming that your work on that particular problem is finished and your answers have been accepted as correct. Firefox is a good browser in this respect. No matter what browser you elect to use, your work will be saved and recorded each time you hit the submit answers button. Note that some problems are presented in stages and that each next part of such problems requires that you hit “submit answers” twice in order to see those next parts appear. Always be sure that WeBWorK shows you a 100% score for each problem before you conclude that your work on that problem is finished.

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.)

Resources: You should begin your homework as soon as possible after the lecture it is assigned. If you have difficulties, you have many resources available to help you.

-MY office hours (see top of the page)

-Departmental Help Sessions: 4-6 pm in the Mathematics Learning Center (SE 340). Help Sessions will begin on Monday, August 27, the second week of classes. There will not be any tutoring on Monday, September 3 (Labor Day), during the week of November 18-25 (Thanksgiving Break), or during the week of December 10-14 (Finals Week).

-Free tutoring available at the Academic Support Centers in the dorms from 7-11 Sunday-Thursday, starting August 26. https://academicsupport.indiana.edu/

-Also, for our section, the PASS (Peer Assisted Study Sessions) program offers small group study sessions led by an undergraduate student who has excelled in the course previously. There are two study sessions per week, they are free.  https://sac.indiana.edu/pass/

There are help videos located from the link at The Finite Show. There are practice exams available at M118 Practice Exams.

Grades: Your course grade will be computed using the following weights

 Exam 1  17%, Midterm  23%, Exam 3   18%, Final  27%, WeBWorK  15%.

Students disputing a grade must do so within a week of its being posted in the gradebook. There is NO extra credit available in this class.

Time expectations: Expect to spend at least 8 hours per week preparing for this class, though this might need to be increased significantly depending on things like your background, intensity of your study, etc.

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