Course Syllabus

 

Finite Mathematics, M118

Section: 4317

Instructor: Iulia Demeter

Class Day and Times: Tuesday, Thursday  11:30-12:45, synchronously via zoom. 

Class Location: Zoom Meeting ID: 990 9481 3160
                                                 Password: 858794

Zoom works well in major web browsers, and apps are available for many smartphones and tablets. You need to be an IU Zoom user to be able to participate.

See this link for relevant installation information

Zoom Etiquette: 

• Keep your microphone muted
• Use chat to ask questions
• You don't need to keep your video on. If you do, make sure you have clothes ON. Be aware of your surroundings, we can see what in your background.

Text: Finite Mathematics by Maki, Thompson, McKinley. This text has been included as an eText in this course ( see  the left tab).

Office and Office Hours: via Zoom, using the same Meeting Room as the lecture (see above) .

                       Monday: 2:30pm-3:30pm

                       Wednesday: 6:00pm-7pm

                       Thursday: 4:00pm-5pm

The office hours times are tentative, I might need to change them at some point.

 

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. 

Important dates: Last day for automatic withdrawals is Sunday, October 25.

Exam 1: Thursday,  September 17,  given online, it will open at 11:30 AM EDT,  75 min long

Midterm exam (departmental): Saturday, October 10, given online, it will open at 8:00 AM EDT, 90 min long

Exam 3: Thursday, November 12, given online, it will open at 11:30 AM EST,  75 min long

Final exam (departmental): Wednesday, December 16, given online, it will open at 2:45 PM EST,  2 hours long. 

Enrolling in this class constitutes an agreement that you will be available to take these
exams at these times. More information regarding the exams will be provided closer to the exam dates.

There is NO make-up for the exams.

Calculators: A calculator may be used during exams. The value of a calculator on the exams will be minimal and so not much money should be spent in this regard. A simple  scientific calculator, with a price tag under $30, is more than adequate. Non-traditional calculators such as a smart phone or watch, your
computer, or such will not be allowed.

Homework: The graded homework in this course will be done through the online homework system WebWorK.  Most weeks, you will see 3 WebWorK assignments posted. Each assignment will remain open for about 2 days. WeBWorK should be checked daily to see if new assignments have been posted. Please, check the due dates of each assignment, as they may not show up on the calendar.

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. 

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.

• Free on-line Finite Math help is available through our Math Learning Center
  (MLC) each afternoon Monday thru Thursday from 4 – 7pm EDT beginning
  Monday August 31. All students enrolled in M118 are welcome. For more
  information, please visit https://iu.instructure.com/courses/1887800
• The Academic Support Centers (ASC) on campus also offer free math help. Visit
  the following for more information https://academicsupport.indiana.edu/
• PASS (Peer Assisted Study Sessions) 
• There are help videos that can be found in The Finite Show.  There are practice exams available at Practice Exams

Grades: 

Your course grade will be computed using the following weights

 Exam 1:  14%

 Midterm  24%

Exam 3   18%

Final  26%

WeBWorK  18%.

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.

Percentage grades will be rounded to whole numbers. Letter grades will be assigned as follows: 

97-100% -- A+

92-96% -- A

90-91% -- A-

87-89% -- B+

82-86% -- B

80-81% -- B-

77-79% -- C+

72-76% -- C

70-71% -- C-

67-69% -- D+

62-66% -- D

60-61% -- D-

0 - 59% -- F

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.

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. Please contact DSS office if you think you qualify https://studentaffairs.indiana.edu/student-support/disability-services/get-help/accommodations/index.html

Academic Dishonesty: Exams are not collaborative – do your own work and also refrain from helping others.
Exam content should be kept private until instructors have posted the exam results.
Instances of academic dishonesty on an exam will result in a grade of F for that exam and a
formal report of the incident will be made to the Office of Student Ethics. Please visit: http://studentcode.iu.edu/ (Links to an external site.)