Course Syllabus
MATH M118 – Finite Mathematics
Spring 2022
Instructor: Iulia Demeter
Email: idemeter@indiana.edu
Section: 2558, TR 11:30 am-12:45 pm, Rawles Hall 100
Office Hours: TR 1:00 -2:00 pm, F 10-11am online via Zoom
Meeting ID: 815 8698 6485 Password: 128769
Prerequisite:
Two years of high school algebra or a preparatory math course such as M014 or M018.
In addition, it is strongly advised that prospective M118 students satisfy one of the following conditions:
- A math placement test score of at least 8 AND a Math SAT of over 500;
- An ALEKS placement test score of at least 50 is recommended and at least 40 is required;
- Or successfully complete Math M014 or Math M018.
Course Description:
Sets, counting, basic probability, including random variables and expected values. Linear systems, matrices, linear programming, and applications. Credit is given only for one of M118, A118, V118, or the sequence D116-D117. Carries IUB GenEd Math Modeling credit, IUB GenEd Natural and Mathematical credit, and the College of Arts and Sciences Mathematics Fundamental Skills requirement credit.
Textbook:
Finite Mathematics, 6th edition by D. P. Maki and M. Thompson. The textbook is available through the IU and TIS bookstores. Some webwork problems refer to the 6th edition. If you use an older edition you will not have all the information you need for some of the homework problems.
Calculator Policy:
Calculators of any type are NOT permitted on exams or quizzes. As much as possible, you should strive to complete the homework without the assistance of a calculator.
Attendance Policy:
Most students find the material in M118 to be significantly more difficult than their high school math classes. Attending and participating in every class is crucial to success in this course. A student absent from class bears full responsibility for all material covered and announcements made in class. Missed homework assignments, regardless of the circumstances, will not be accepted late and cannot be made up. Only for extenuating circumstances with appropriate documentation, are students permitted to take exams at an alternate time. See the Homework and Exam sections below for more detail.
No Class:
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - Monday, January 17
Spring Break – Sunday, March 13 through Sunday, March 20
Withdraw Deadlines:
Withdraw with an automatic grade of W – Friday, April 29
Further information regarding schedule adjustment fees, refunds and deadlines can be found on the website of the Office of the Registrar: https://utilities.registrar.indiana.edu/calendars/official-calendar/index.shtml?term=4222&session=16w&event=0
Academic Integrity:
The IU Department of Mathematics takes academic integrity very seriously. As a student at IU, you are expected to adhere to the standards and policies detailed in the Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct (Code), concerning academic misconduct or personal misconduct. Procedures for imposing academic and disciplinary sanctions are outlined in the Code, which can be found at https://studentcode.iu.edu
When you submit an assignment or exam with your name on it, you are signifying that the work contained therein is yours, unless otherwise cited or referenced. Any ideas or materials taken from another source for either written or oral use must be fully acknowledged. All suspected violations of the Code will be reported to the Dean of Students and handled according to University policies. Sanctions for academic misconduct may include a failing grade on the assignment, reduction in your final course grade, and a failing grade in the course, among other possibilities. If you are unsure about the expectations for completing an assignment or taking an exam, be sure to seek clarification beforehand.
Covid Precautions:
Mask Policy -- To help protect yourself and others during the corona virus pandemic, per IU policy, everyone is required to wear a mask when entering the building, while they are in the classroom, and to continue wearing a mask until they leave Rawles Hall. The mask should cover and make a good seal around both the nose and mouth. You may BRIEFLY lower your mask to take a sip of water or bit of a snack. IMMEDIATELY after taking the sip or bite, the mask should be returned to it’s required position. Failure to comply with the Indiana University and Monroe County mask policy may result being asked to leave the building, a personal misconduct report being filed with the university, and, if necessary, being administratively dropped from the class.
Note Selling:
Several commercial services have approached students regarding selling class notes/study guides to their classmates. Selling the instructor’s notes/study guides or exams 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 or exams 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 and additional consequences may result.
Communication:
The best way to contact me is by email from your IU email account. To protect confidentiality, as a matter of policy, I ask students to use the IU email system rather than another email service. Students are expected to check email daily for class announcements. Canvas messaging is acceptable, but emailing directly from your IU email account is better.
Cell Phones & Pagers:
Please turn these off or set them on silent mode. The material is difficult enough without unnecessary interruptions.
Help Outsides of Class:
We will rarely be able to use class time for questions from the homework assignments, exams, etc. However, I will try to be there 5 minutes early to answer a few questions.
Options for help outside of class include:
- My office hours (you need to use your IU email to login to zoom)
- The Finite Show: See the Tools page of your M118 Oncourse page for this highly informative and entertaining resource.
- Math Learning Center. Beginning Tuesday, January 18, these will be held Monday through Friday at 12:00 noon - 6:00 pm in Swain East 340.
- Math help is available in the Academic Support Centers located in Briscoe, Teter, and Forrest dormitories. The ASC is open Sunday through Thursday 7-11 pm. For more information about the ASC please visit https://academicsupport.indiana.edu
Homework:
The graded homework in this course will be done through the online homework system WebWork that can be accessed from Canvas.
Usually, you will have 3 assignments each week due 3 times a week: on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 11:59pm. Sometimes, I might have to change the due dates, in which case I will post an announcement. If there is no announcement, you should assume that you have a WW assignment due according to the schedule above, so check the WW link.
For WeBWorK related questions please use the ”Email instructor” button attached to each problem. My assistants will check the email a few times a day and will answer your questions. I also strongly encourage you to make good use of the help resources.
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.
WeBWorK due dates will not be extended on a student-per-student basis.
In the last week of the semester I will post an optional review assignment containing at least 40 problems. These problems can be done to raise one’s Webworks average up to but not beyond 100%. I do this to provide people an opportunity to make up missed or incomplete assignments. Late homework will not be accepted for any reason. Any assignment not submitted by the deadline will receive a zero. It is your responsibility to find a computer that has the necessary software and a reliable way to access the WebWork System. Homework extensions will only be granted for technical difficulties where the problem is with WebWorks or the IU server. If you have any technical difficulties you should FIRST call UITS, 812.855.6789 for assistance. After calling UITS you should email me to explain the situation. If you need a computer, there are computers centers around campus, including the Wells Library and Lindley Hall, which are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Webworks, or homework, is worth 15% of the grade. This is almost as much as an exam. I expect everyone, regardless of the grade they hope to earn, to try to get 100% for their homework. Preparing for an exam requires a LOT more than doing the required homework. One should complete many problems from the textbook, redo problems from class, complete past exams, and more.
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 it is due, you run the risk of encountering problems that you simply cannot solve in such a short time
Exams:
Exam 1 Chapters 1 and 2 Tuesday, February 8, in class
Midterm Chapters 1, through 4 9:00-10:30 am, Saturday, March 5
Exam 3 Chapter 5, 6 and 8 Thursday, April 14, in class
Final Exam Chapters 1 through 8 3:00-5:00 pm, Wednesday, May 4
The Midterm and Final will be given outside of class at a location to be announced. The other two exams will be given during our class meeting time in our assigned room, Rawles Hall 100.
Make-up exams are given only in extenuating circumstances such as medical emergencies. If you have a schedule conflict, you must discuss it with your instructor 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.
Assessment:
Grades will be determined using the scores from the following assignments:
WebWork Assignments 15%
Exam 1 17%
Midterm 22%
Exam 3 18%
Final Exam 28%
100%
Do not rely on a curve to be used on the exams. Plan to do all assignments to the best of your ability. Grades for M118 are determined solely by performance on the assignments and exams, rather than apparent effort and situation.
Grade Scale:
Grades are computed using the standard scale:
97%, 93% and 90% for grades of A+, A and A-
87%, 83%, and 80% for grades of B+, B, and B-
77%, 73%, and 70% for grades of C+, C, and C-
67%, 63%, and 60% for grades of D+, D, and D-
Below 60% is an F
I will round up by 0.5% . So, for example, 92.5% gets an A but 92.4% stays as an A-.
Special Services:
Students needing special accommodations because of a disability must first register with Disability Services for Students and provide their instructors with the appropriate forms issued by DSS before accommodations may be given. Information regarding DSS can be found at http://studentaffairs.indiana.edu/disability-services-students/index.shtml
The assessment and registration process can be time-consuming, especially near midterms. If you believe you may qualify for accommodations, you should consult with DSS as soon as possible. Students are expected to provide their instructions with at least 1-2 weeks advance notice to arrange appropriate exam accommodations.
Religious Holiday Policy:
Students missing class for a religious observance can find the officially approved accommodation form by going to the Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs https://vpfaa.indiana.edu/faculty-resources/teaching-resources/religious-observances-information.html
The form must be submitted by the end of the 2nd week of classes.
Course Coordinator:
Questions and problems relating to this course should be first directed to me, Iulia Demeter, and then, if necessary, to the course coordinator, Andrew Dabrowski, by email to dabrowsa@indiana.edu
Math M118 Section 2558 Spring 2022 Class Schedule
Week 1 1/010-1/14 1.1, 1.2
Week 2 1/17-1/21 1.3, 1.4, 2.2
No class on Monday, January 17 to commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr Day.
Week 3 1/24-1/28 2.3, 2.1
Week 4 1/31-2/04 2.4, Review
Exam 1 (Chapters 1-2) is in class on Tuesday, February 8
Week 5 2/07-2/11 Exam 1, 3.1
Week 6 2/14-2/18 3.2, 3.3
Week 7 2/21-2/25 3.4, 4.1, 4.2/4.3
Week 8 2/28-3/04 4.2/4.3, Midterm Review
Midterm (Chapters 1-4) is at 9:00-10:30 am on Saturday, March 5
Week 9 3/07-3/11 5.1, 5.2
No class Sunday, March 13 through Sunday, March 20 for Spring Break
Week 10 3/21-3/25 5.3, 6.1
Week 11 3/28-4/01 6.2, 6.3
Week 12 4/04-4/08 8.1, 8.2, 8.3
Exam 3 (Chapters 5, 6, 8) is in class on Thursday, April 14
Week 13 4/11-4/15 Review, Exam 3
Week 14 4/18-4/22 7.1, 7.2, 7.3
Week 15 4/25-4/29 Final Exam Review
Final (Chapters 1-8) is on Wednesday, May 4 at 3:00-5:00 pm
Course Summary:
| Date | Details | Due |
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