Course Syllabus

Finite Mathematics, M118

Section: 10225
Class Day and Times: Tuesday, Thursday 2:30pm-3:45 pm
Class Location: Morrison Hall 007
Text: Finite Mathematics by Maki, Thompson, McKinley, 6th Edition
Instructor: Iulia Demeter , idemeter@indiana.edu
Office and Office Hours: RH258

Monday 2:00-3:30 pm (subject to change)

Tuesday 1:00pm-2:00 pm

Thursday 3:50-4:40 pm

IMPORTANT DATES: Last day for automatic withdrawals is Sunday, October 27th.

Exam 1: Thursday, September 19, from 2:30pm-3:45 pm in MO 007 (regular classroom)

Midterm exam (common): Saturday, October12, from 9-10:30 am, room TBA

Exam 3: Thursday, November 14, from 2:30pm-3:45 pm in MO 007 (regular classroom)

Final exam (common): Friday, December 20, 2019, 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. 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 you 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 2:15pm. 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.

The homework problems in this class can get pretty challenging. Probably the most important thing to do to ensure success on the homework is to start working on the assignments as soon as you possibly can, and don’t expect to get every single problem on the first try. Solving challenging math problems often takes time and lots of wrong ideas before you finally find the idea that works, and you often need a LOT of patience and persistence to succeed. Thus, if you start working on your homework the day before it is due, you run the risk of encountering problems that you simply cannot solve in such a short time.

 

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

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.

1) MY office hours (see top of the page)

2) Departmental Help Sessions: Monday through Thursday, 4:00-6:00 pm in Swain East 340 (Math Learning Center). Help Sessions will begin on Tuesday, September 3rd, the second week of classes. There will be notutoring during Finals Week.

3) Free tutoring available at the Academic Support Centers in the dorms (Teter, Briscoe, Forest) from 7-11pm Sunday through Thursday, starting September 3rd. https://academicsupport.indiana.edu/

4) PRIVATE TUTOR – The math department keeps its own list of math graduate students who tutor undergraduate math classes privately for money. This list can be accessed from a link on the math department webpage (http://www.math.indiana.edu). Please be warned, some of the private tutors out there charge a LOT of money these days for tutoring.

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

Exam1 = 17.5%, Midterm = 22%, Exam 3 =  17.5%, Final = 28%, 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

Academic Misconduct: The Department of Mathematics expects its students to comply fully with Indiana University policies on academic integrity. Exams are not collaborative. Keep your eyes on your own exam and protect your work from those sitting near you. Smart phones, smart watches, calculators, cameras, and such are not allowed and are to be removed from your desk before your instructor begins passing out the exam materials. Use of any such devices during an exam will be considered as academic dishonesty and will result in a grade of F for that exam. Do not share pencils, erasers, and such during exams. All exam materials that your instructor distributes must be returned to your instructor before you leave the room.

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.)

 

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

NOTE SELLING: Several commercial services have approached students regarding selling class notes/study guides to their classmates. Selling the instructor’s notes/study guides in this course is not permitted. Violations of this policy will be reported to the Dean of Students as academic misconduct (violation of course rules). Sanctions for academic misconduct may include a failing grade on the assignment for which the notes/study guides are being sold, a reduction in your final course grade, or a failing grade in the course, among other possibilities. Additionally, you should know that selling a faculty member’s notes/study guides individually or on behalf of one of these services using IU email, or via Canvas may also constitute a violation of IU information technology and IU intellectual property policies; additional consequences may result.