Class Policies and Tidbits for MAC 2233

The procedures in the Basic Course Information Document and the procedures below have been established to ensure the optimal educational experience for all students. However, the procedures cannot be expected to anticipate all possible situations. Please consult the instructor if you have a special situation that makes compliance with the procedures difficult or impossible. All reasonable efforts will be made to accommodate special circumstances.

• For the course of the semester, please remain in the seat chosen on the first day.

• Students are not to bring children to class.

• No food or drink is allowed in the classroom.

• To avoid class disruption, all cellular phones, pagers, etc. should be turned off while you are in the classroom. Emergency services personnel (law enforcement, medical, fire, etc.) who are on call during the class time should make arrangements with the instructor concerning these devices.

• Students are expected to remain in the class until dismissed. Please do not leave the classroom while class is in session except for emergencies. A student who leaves during a test or quiz without permission should expect to receive a grade of zero (0) on the test or quiz.

• When you come into class, spend the first twenty minutes of the hour working with your group to finish up the previous class homework. Some problems will be collected and graded. You will be notified in advance as to which problems will be turned in and the due date. No late homework will be accepted. The homework grades will be part of the quiz/homework/daily average.

• Take-home quizzes will be assigned in class and given a due date upon assignment. No late quizzes will be accepted. The grade will be part of your quiz/homework/daily average.

• Problems may be assigned in class and collected. Missed class work cannot be made up and will result in a grade of a zero (0). The grades on those sets will be included in your quiz/homework/daily average.

• If you had difficulty with a section on a unit test, it is your responsibility to go back and learn that material. It will be on the final exam. Your text, the professor, and the TLCC are good resources in that learning process.

• Unit tests can only be made up if a valid excuse is presented with written documentation. Valid excuses include illness of self or family, death in family, or some other event that is obviously unforeseen and unpreventable. The missed unit test must be made up within a week of return. Also be sure to note the policy under ATTENDANCE on the Basic Course Information sheet.

• Tests that are corrected with ALL the incorrect problems copied and worked out completely and correctly on a separate sheet will be awarded with 10 bonus points. In order to receive the 10 points, all corrections must be made completely and correctly and submitted on time. Otherwise, no bonus points will be awarded. Those corrections will be due one week from the date that the test was returned. You may ask for help from the professor or the TLCC, but assistance will only be given on problems already attempted. Also, entire problems will not be worked for you; rather, assistance will be offered on similar problems or specific parts of problems.

• The MathLab software is a very good tool to use for practice. Extra homework problems have been posted on the site for your benefit. Your course title is MAC 2233 20042 and your CourseID is scofield04561.

GRADE COMPUTATION:

1. Add your quiz, homework, and class work grades together and divide by the number of assignments. This counts as a unit test grade.

2. Add your 7 unit test grades (including the quiz/daily/homework average) and your final exam grade times 2. You will have 9 grades added together.

3. Use the following chart of points to determine your letter grade (or figure how many more points you need):

810 - 900 A

720 - 809 B

630 – 719 C

540 – 629 D

< 540 F

Some College Success Tips

WELCOME!

I would like to take this opportunity to tell you how happy I am to have you in my class. We are about to embark on a journey that many find to be an uncomfortable experience. I am not going to sit here and make you feel good about math; rather, I will tell you that math courses require twice the work of your other courses, excluding natural sciences. You will experience frustration and maybe even anger, but I am here to help you through it. As long as you take responsibility for your learning, you will have many opportunities for success. With that in mind, I have provided a list of some tips for success in this and any other college math course.

For every hour spent in class, plan on spending two hours on studying and doing homework outside of class. Keep this in mind when trying to plan course schedules around work. A full-time job and a full-time course load cannot physically be done at 100%. One or both will suffer.

In college, the concepts will be explained in class; but it is the student’s responsibility to do ALL of the suggested homework problems outside of the class. This will enable the student to fully comprehend and remember the concepts and processes.

Read the lesson before coming to class. This way, you will have already seen the material and can listen more acutely.

If the homework seems overwhelming, do not try to do it all in one sitting. Set small goals to complete on different days at different times of the day.

Utilize the professor’s office hours and the TLCC. The professors and TLCC staff are being paid to help you. Come prepared with specific questions or problem areas.

Stay on schedule with your assignments. Math classes build upon concepts covered in previous classes. If you were absent or did not do what was necessary to “get it,” then you will be lost.

Work with your peers. Sometimes a person in the class who understands the material can explain it in a way that “clicks” better.

Write down everything stated and put on the board during class.

The more times you see, hear, and do things, the better they will sink in and stick around!

Remember: Math is not a spectator sport!