Assignment types, grades, goals & policies

I care about your success and have designed MAT 2240 to help you learn, incorporating feedback from prior students and principles from the literature like Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning by Peter Brown et al., which I highly recommend. The CBMS published a statement titled ``Active Learning in Post-Secondary Mathematics Education" about the importance of ``classroom practices that engage students in activities, such as reading, writing, discussion, or problem solving, that promote higher-order thinking" and our class is also modeled after that.

Effective ASULearn Engagement (35%)

Problem sets (30%)

In-Class Assessment (20%)

Final Project (10%)

Effective Class Engagement (5%)

Catalog description and learning outcomes

Academic Integrity, Essential Course Integrity, and Classroom Policies

Effective ASULearn Engagement (35%)

There is daily work each day at your own pace. Completion either occurs when you can manually mark an activity as done or is earned when you obtain a proficient grade by a deadline or access or submit an activity in the ASULearn assignments. Generally, the percentage of successfully completed activities determines the overall engagement grade. To accommodate for emergencies, the lowest 3 are dropped. In addition, evidence of deep and conscientious engagement in the activities is a part of the grade, which may be adjusted at the end of the semester to reflect it. ASULearn provides detailed reports.

book readings and reading guides. The first activity you’ll typically see for a topic is a book reading. Readings are meant to serve as an initial introduction to each topic. I ask that you engage with each one in a good faith effort: read it once thoughtfully, briefly reflecting on what makes sense to you and what still feels confusing. It’s completely expected that you’ll have questions at this stage. Don’t get stuck or spend hours here—videos, practice quizzes, handwrites, problem sets and re-engages are designed to help you deepen and solidify your understanding and comfort with the material. Because each topic connects to what comes next, it’s helpful to complete these by the listed due date—but they’ll stay open in case you need more time. To earn completion you will self-report completion on book readings from the reading guides. I recommend taking notes on concepts and examples, especially relating to what I've listed in the reading guides, which contain links to the glossaries.
interactive video activities. You'll watch the entire video and submit the correct answers for completion—you'll use the check feature on interactive questions in order to help you so you can redo the responses until you get them all correct. Try to complete videos by the listed due date although they can be completed until closer to the corresponding in-class assessment. The video activities are repeatable and you can slow down or speed up the videos and rewind them. I have video slides and more available from the “in-class items, video slides and more" page at the top of ASULearn. You can also watch these videos without the interactions from the YouTube link at the bottom right of the video as a review or introduction. I don't monetize these videos but YouTube may put commercials in anyways. You can change watch?v= in the address to embed/ to get rid of those as the embedded copy that goes in ASULearn is always commercial free.
practice quizzes. These provide instantaneous feedback from me using a check feature and are repeatable until the deadline to obtain completion. The point is to practice and examine the feedback to make sure you understand rather than obtain a perfect score. A good faith effort makes use of the instantaneous feedback I've programmed in while you are taking the quiz so that you can use them to correct your responses. I only use the completion checks I see on my end, not the specific passing score. If you weren't able to succeed then a second chance will open after the deadline, but completion is easier to obtain when it was originally due (70% instead of 90%). The second chance can be completed up until closer to the corresponding in-class assessment.
handwrites. You earn completion on handwritten responses (handwritten–not typed) to the questions in the handwrites through a Jedi or Jedi Master grade as you develop your understanding and familiarity with the material and demonstrate independence in critical thinking. In 2024, A.E. Flanigan, J. Wheeler, T. Colliot, J. Lu and K.A. Kierwra performed a meta-analysis of 24 separate studies across 21 articles and found that handwritten notes leads to higher achievement for college students than typed notes. We’ll employ Star Wars terminology as a metaphor—Padawans are training to one day become a Jedi. Jedi complete their training and pass the Jedi Trials to become full members. As a Jedi Master leader you have demonstrated exceptional achievement. A Padawan grade does not earn completion but you can work ahead and resubmit as needed before the strict deadline. You turn this in to the assignment before solutions open in the re-engage. Star Wars ™and © Lucasfilm Ltd., Twentieth Century Fox, Walt Disney and its companies. For educational use only.

re-engages and debriefs. Assignments where you compare with solutions and reflect earn their own completion credit. Even if you miss the original assignment, you should still complete the re-engage or debrief activity. Try to complete these by the listed due date although they can be completed until closer to the corresponding in-class assessment.
begins. You will read through a problem set or video project and send me any questions you have or give me a brief update if you don't have questions to earn completion. Begin these assignments early and continue working on them until their listed due date. The begins and the assignments both have strict deadlines.
webpages, PDF, files, glossaries, card sort assignment, surveys, or other course activities. You self-report completion in some activities and in others completion is earned when you access them or submit responses. Some may have specific cut-off deadlines and others can be completed up until closer to the corresponding in-class assessment.

Problem sets (30%)

There are problem sets over the semester where you will apply knowledge in novel settings and approach problems from numerous points of view to draw connections and think out of the box. In the problem set, your own annotations or explanations will demonstrate your understanding of your by-hand work and Maple engagement. You will earn a numerical grade based on the percentage of the problems you have thoroughly and correctly completed. You may work alone or with one partner and turn in one per group. I've purposely set groups to be limited to two people—if you choose to work in a group then you will collaborate as a duo on all the questions. Duos must check each other's responses and use terms like ``we'' rather than I. You must turn in your problem set to the assignment on or before the strict deadline as solutions will open in the re-engage activity. To accommodate issues that may arise, you can revise one problem set as you reflect on it to replace its grade—the optional assignment is at the end of the course. There are no late problems sets but there is flexibility in this manner.

In-Class Assessment (20%)

There are in-class assessments designed to help you solidify your knowledge. You will earn a numerical grade based on the percentage of the problems you have correctly completed. To encourage in-class assessments as a learning experience and accommodate for emergencies, you can revise one of them later as your reflect on it to replace its grade—the optional assignment is at the end of the course. There are no make-up assessments but there is flexibility in this manner.

Final Project (10%)

For the final project you will extend class content in some creative way by explaining new material, examining connections to your interests, describing historical connections, or other new connections. You earn a numerical grade based on a rubric that focuses on looking back at what you have done and making new connections, which allows you to solidify your knowledge and put your understanding in context. The final project is due by our assigned time at finals during which you will do peer-review and self-reflection. Your videos must be turned in to the ASULearn forum on or before the due date and time. After a bit of time, typically 15 minutes, your classmates' postings will open to you so that you can work on peer reviews and a self-reflection, which are turned in to a separate assignment. You may work alone or with a partner and turn in one video project per group but the peer reviews and self-reflection are completed individually regardless.

Effective Class Engagement (5%)

ASU designates that “Face-to face component is not a lecture but provides time for discussion, demonstrations, problem-solving, and higher-level thinking and collaborative activities. Class time is used to apply course content in ways that can only be accomplished when everyone is together in the same place.” https://cetlss.appstate.edu/teaching-learning/course-delivery-options. During class we will work on handwrite practices, additional think-share-pair-compare activities such as pollev.com questions, and fill-in guides. Discussing the material with others during class is part of your effective class engagement grade. Class is also used for in-class assessment and sharing the final project ideas. If you can't attend due to sickness or similar but can join online, ask a classmate to Zoom you in at your table so that you can participate in group work, and let me know you are there. You would set up a Zoom so that you can share that link with the person and I suggest you also share it with me in case the person you are going to Zoom in with is absent. Your Zoom pro account is at https://appstate.zoom.us/. Effective class engagement is essential to our course integrity and attendance is required at ALL such classes, with the exception of legitimate or excused-in-advance absences.

If you expect to miss more than 10% of classes due to university-sponsored activities or other reasons then I advise you to drop the course. If there is any reason you must miss a class, then keep me informed on the ASULearn private forum, obtain homework and class activities from the web pages to turn in early or on time, if possible, and provide any official documentation. Any student who wants to obtain an excused-in-advance absence for less than 10% of our classes must meet the aforementioned responsibilities, including making up the work in advance, including homework as well as responses to all in-class activities. To allow for emergencies, sickness or other absences where it is impossible to complete missed class work in advance, there will be no penalty for missing up to 3 classes. If the university cancels classes or changes them, continue progressing on the work due on ASULearn and check ASULearn for any updated info, which may include plans for the missed class such as Zoom meetings or individual activities.

It will be useful if you bring a computer, tablet, or phone to classes that can access webpages—if not, you can still participate in other ways.

ASU prepares students to employ various modes of communication that can help communities reach consensus or respectful disagreement: successful communicators interact effectively with people of both similar and different experiences and values and in this class you will practice oral and written communication during class by interacting with your peers and me. Regardless of gender, political party, race, religion, sexuality, or more this class is to be a welcoming environment, and so I want you to be sensitive and respectful to each other in upcoming discussions. Keep it a safe place to express meaningful ideas and opinions. We are all responsible for fostering a supportive and welcoming environment where everyone feels encouraged to participate and learn. Part of that is to keep an open mind as you engage in our class activities, actively listen to others and encourage everyone to participate, explore consensus and employ collective thinking across barriers. Maintain a professional tone, show respect and courtesy, and make your contributions matter. Disruptive behaviors or actions that detract from the classroom environment—such as arriving late, engaging in unrelated activities, or distracting the class, your neighbors or me—will negatively impact your grade. Students arriving late are to enter quietly and minimize disruption to the class in progress. Examples of effective class engagement include arriving early or on time and ready to work whenever possible, staying focused on course content and activities, asking or answering relevant and thought-provoking questions, coming up with creative ways of thinking about the material, and explaining the material to others. Together, let’s create a classroom culture of professionalism, curiosity, and mutual respect.

The grading scale is

A: 93 or above; A- less than 93 but greater than or equal to 90
B+ less than 90 but greater than or equal to 87; B less than 87 but greater than or equal to 83; B- less than 83 but greater than or equal to 80
C+ less than 80 but greater than or equal to 77; C less than 77 but greater than or equal to 73; C- less than 73 but greater than or equal to 70
D+ less than 70 but greater than or equal to 67; D less than 67 but greater than or equal to 60
F less than 60

There is no rounding when converting the numeric weighted average to a letter grade. Accommodations in the determination of your final grade might be made for extenuating circumstances that are officially documented to prevent you from completing work early/on time. However, if you expect to miss more than 10% of class activities then I advise you to drop the course. There is no late work or make-ups allowed for strict deadline items. The university says that faculty are to follow the policies as defined in their course syllabi. Your grade is based on what I was able to see by the same due date that everyone else had but I do have a mechanism for an emergency, technical issue or misunderstanding for a problem set or exam in the form of the optional revise and reflect assignment and 3 dropped completion items for a begin, handwrite or other completion items. If the university cancels classes or changes them, we may adapt the above.

Catalog description and learning outcomes

Catalog description: A study of vectors, matrices and linear transformations, principally in two and three dimensions, including treatments of systems of linear equations, determinants, and eigenvalues. Prerequisite: MAT 1110 with a minimum grade of C- or permission of the instructor.

Learning outcomes: Students will

link fundamental structures of linear algebra including systems of linear equations, vectors, matrices, spaces, and linear transformations
connect fundamental linear algebra concepts including determinants and eigenvalues to multiple structures listed above
implement algebraic skills relevant to linear algebra
demonstrate spatial visualization skills in two and three dimensions
employ appropriate software to solve linear algebra problems
investigate applications of linear algebra
communicate linear algebra in written and/or oral forms
interpret statements and identify examples to think critically and creatively about linear algebra

Academic Integrity, Essential Course Integrity, and Classroom Policies

You should explore the course material and write out your thinking in a way that can be shared with others. Academic integrity is a fundamental part of the course, which includes meeting deadlines, regular communication, and giving proper reference where it is due. These are essential to course integrity. Be sure to give acknowledgment where it is due. Submitting someone else's work as your own (PLAGIARISM) is a serious violation of the University's Academic Integrity Code. Violations include, but are not limited to, borrowing, downloading, cutting and pasting, and paraphrasing without acknowledgement, including from online sources, giving unauthorized assistance or allowing an individual’s academic work to be submitted as another’s work. All course materials and activities are for your personal use only. Do not share or upload this content to any course repository, whether commercial or free, or to any coursework help site. Doing so violates Appalachian State University's Academic Integrity Code.

Language of Our Course: You are to respond to handwrites and projects in your own words while specifically using the language of our course. By ``language,'' I mean the ideas, definitions, concepts, notation, formulas, approaches, explanations, reasoning, and justifications from our readings, course, and videos---limited to what we have covered so far. Engaging with course-specific language ensures effective and meaningful participation that strengthens collaboration in presentations and peer reviews. Additionally, our course material builds on itself, and we’ll continue using the same language in upcoming activities.

Using Additional Sources and AI Tools, and Citing Sources Properly: You are welcome to consult additional sources---including people, published materials, websites, or tools---but you must provide appropriate credit for any ideas, wording, images, or tools that influence your work. If you use AI or sources for anything beyond minor grammar or editing help, you must disclose this in your references and specify how it contributed to your work. This includes any use of artificial intelligence tools (such as large language models, chatbots, or generative AI systems). Be aware: as of this writing, generative AI systems often produce incorrect, overly general, misleading, or unfamiliar-to-our-course responses. You are responsible for the accuracy and relevance of your submissions, regardless of your sources. Regardless of any additional help, your project must be written and spoken in your own words and demonstrate your understanding by explicitly connecting your work to the language and content of our course.

AI Help–Appropriate Use for Academic Integrity* Use: input draft wording, explanations, computations or similar into AI, ask for help, and then revise and independently check the output so that it is in your own words and based on our course content and language–What to Avoid: use full sentences, paragraphs, computations or other items generated by AI without proper editing, quotation marks or citation.
Sources–Appropriate Use for Academic Integrity: use an AI-generated or Wikipedia source but verify it in MathSciNet, library resources or elsewhere–What to Avoid: unverified sources
Citations–Appropriate Use for Academic Integrity: provide the sources in a way that is professionally formatted (author, date, title, and publisher for all sources plus either publication and page numbers or full web address...) and that I can access–What to Avoid: incomplete or missing citation
Disclosures–Appropriate Use for Academic Integrity: give proper credit to anyone you talked to, other than me, tools you used, such as AI, and how you used them, specifying how they/it contributed to your work–What to Avoid: incomplete or missing disclosure

The purpose of engagement is to learn and practice computational strategies, concepts, and develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills. In this course, you will be challenged with problems that you have never seen before. I do not expect you to be able to solve all the issues immediately. Instead, I want to see what you can do on your own. Out in the real world, this is important, since no matter what job you have, you will be expected to seek out information and answers to new topics you have not seen before. Many concepts require the critical and creative analysis of a variety of interpretations in order to fully consider the implications.

I understand that this can feel frustrating and uncomfortable and I am here to help you through the process. It helps to remember that there are no mathematical dead-ends! Each time we get stuck, it teaches us something about the problem we are working on and leads us to a deeper understanding of the mathematics.

In the real world though, you are not expected to face your work alone. You will be allowed to talk to other people and you may even be expected to work with other people. In this class, you are also not expected to face your work alone. I am always eager to help you and will try to give you hints and direction to help you understand the material.

At times though, to encourage the exploration process, I may direct you to rethink a problem and to discuss it with me again after you have had time to explore new directions. You can take this time in our Zoom hours and consult with me after you re-think your approach or you can come back and re-connect. This occurs when I believe that the struggle to understand is imperative for your deep understanding of the material.

CBMS published a statement titled ``Active Learning in Post-Secondary Mathematics Education" about the importance of ``classroom practices that engage students in activities, such as reading, writing, discussion, or problem solving, that promote higher-order thinking."

Use of interactive technology is allowed only when it is related to our class. Otherwise put cell phones away or place them face down and set them to vibrate. Photos or video or audio recordings may not be taken in class without prior permission. Food, beverages, e-cigs, chewing tobacco/spit cups and other products are not allowed.

Sharing our course materials, ASULearn items, photos, video or audio recordings may not occur without prior permission.

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