Spring 2015 Math 30 online Syllabus

I DO NOT USE BLACKBOARD. Read all info below and follow directions.

Since this is an online class, you are required to READ everything I post in the syllabus, and in the online materials. If you have questions, ask me.

Click here to watch a short video about the class and how it works.

Students are responsible for reading and understanding all information in the syllabus, all announcements in the forums, and all info provided in MyOpenMath links. This syllabus is tentative and not official until the first day of class, 1/20/15.

Click Here for REQUIRED book/materials info.

This class is HYBRID, not completely online, as it requires you to take proctored tests in person. Appointments are required, and should be made a few weeks in advance of the date you wish to take a test. Students are also required to submit HW packets on campus.

ENROLLED STUDENTS ARE REQUIRED TO ENROLL IN MYOPENMATH.COM (FREE and we call it MOM for short) AND COMPLETE FIRST ASSIGNMENT BY THE FIRST DAY OF CLASS, OR MAY BE DROPPED. See directions below for how to enroll in MOM.

1. If you do not already have an account with MOM, go to www.myopenmath.com and create an account. For your last name, ENTER the SAME LAST NAME that is on SURF, or you'll be dropped from MOM. For your first name, feel free to enter the first name you prefer to be called.

2. Click Enroll in New Class and enter this course ID: 4599 No enrollment key. Leave blank.

3. Enter the class, and read the info. Click on Mod 1 and DO THE FIRST ASSIGNMENT (HW 100) BY END OF FIRST DAY OF CLASS. Start HW 101 by watching the videos and then completing that assignment by Wed.

4. Read this syllabus carefully and thoroughly. Bookmark this page and www.myopenmath.com

Spring 2015 Math 30 Elementary Algebra Syllabus--sections 3003 & 3004

Professor: Julie Harland; 760-757-2121 ext 6387; email: jharland@miracosta.edu

Tentative Office Hours: T/Th online 3:15-4:00 pm and Tuesday 12:45 pm - 1:15 pm in room SAN 304; and by appointment.

Each time you email or call, make sure to state your first and last name, which class you are in, and a phone number with times you may be reached.

I am committed to having regular contact with you via weekly emails and announcements, and I will be monitoring your attendance and progress submitting online assignments by the due dates. I encourage you to email or call me if you ever have any questions, or want to discuss something personal or related to math or about the class. IF YOU EMAIL or CALL ME asking questions, I WILL USUALLY GET BACK TO YOU WITHIN 24-48 HOURS DURING THE SCHOOL WEEK, and usually much quicker than that. If I don't get back to you within 48 hours M-F, I didn't get the email. In that case, call or email me again. If I contact you asking a question, please respond within 24-48 hours. CHECK YOUR EMAIL REGULARLY! Make sure you are receiving emails from me in your inbox, and that your email provider keeps my messages out of your spam folder! I also post most email announcements in MyOpenMath.

Course Description Elementary Algebra: Designed to prepare students for intermediate algebra, this course teaches simplifying algebraic expressions involving polynomials and rational terms; factoring; solving linear equations; solving quadratic and rational equations using factoring; analyzing graphs of linear equations; and solving applied problems.

Calculator: You will need a scientific calculator for this class. The calculator should have buttons for square roots, exponents, and parentheses. Calculators may be used on proctored tests, but most homework should be done without a calculator. Only use a calculator when necessary. I recommend TI-30-XS (for about $20) since it is what is used in the Math Learning Center (MLC) and the Academic Proctoring Center. On proctored tests, you may only use calculators provided in the APC. Use of cell phones as calculators will not be allowed.

Attendance: Attendance is required by logging in to the online materials (MOM) and submitting assigned work on or before the due dates. You especially need to log in and submit work in MOM the first day of class and throughout the first two weeks of class to remain in the class. You must take tests by the due date, or may be dropped. If you miss a test, email me immediately if you do not want to be dropped. If you are behind and are not logged in at least 4 hours a week online making progress on the online HW, you may be dropped. You should be logging in and submitting problems in the online HW at least a couple of times each week, unless you are ahead.

Due Dates: Due dates for any online HW that you must submit in MOM is listed in the online materials in the modules. Once a due date has passed, you can't earn credit on an assignment unless you redeem a late pass. Any problems done correctly after the due date earn half credit. Once the due date or late pass has expired, you can see the assignment in review mode, which means you can work the problems or work on similar problems but not earn credit. DO NOT OPEN THE ASSIGNMENT IN REVIEW MODE IF YOU WANT TO REDEEM A LATE PASS. See Late Pass Info below. Proctored tests are given in the Proctoring Center or at approved proctoring centers. Appointments are required, and should be made a few weeks before the deadline to take a test. See Proctoring Info.

Late Passes: You may redeem a late pass before or after if within one week of the due date to get a one week extension from the original due date. So if an assignment is due at 11:59 on 2/5/15, and you redeemed a late pass for that assignment, the late pass will expire at 11:59 pm on 2/12/15 at 11:59 pm. That means if you redeem a late pass on 2/12/15 at noon, it will still expire at 11:59 pm on that same day unless you use another late pass for that same assignment to extend it by another week to 2/19/15 at 11:59 pm. Make sure you understand you do not get a week extension from the time you clicked to redeem a pass, as that is NOT how it works. After the first two weeks, any problem done correctly after the original due date only earns half credit for that problem.

As soon as the due date for a HW has passed, it will show up as This assessment is in review mode - no scores will be saved. This notice is to alert you that it is past due. If you already finished it, no problem. You can always check your scores by looking in your gradebook. If you haven't finished it, you can use a late pass to earn half credit on problems not yet done, and you'll no longer see the review mode notice while using a late pass. Redeem a late pass right before or after it's due. You can't wait a week and then go back and do late HW. You can, however, keep redeeming more late passes for the same assignment each time a late pass is about to expire. All HW has this review mode note after the due date has passed unless you redeemed a late pass that hasn't expired. If you open the HW assignment while in review mode, you will not be able to use a late pass or work on any more problems for half credit. So do not open it in review mode unless you already finished it, and are happy with your score.

I issue plenty of late passes so you can use them on any online HW assignment in MOM as long as you redeem it before the late pass period expires. You will see a "Redeem LatePass" link next to any assignment if it's within that period. Each late pass is only good for that HW assignment. The last date you may do online HW for credit is on 5/14/15. Late passes will be removed at that time. If you redeemed a late pass for an assignment before the due date ended, then you will not be in review mode until the late pass expires.

Homework Packets and YourMathGal YouTube videos: See each module to see what is required work, the schedule, and what needs to be submitted. Some (e.g., Module 2) requires you purchase or print out a Homework Packets that aligns with videos I assign that you watch. The packet states which videos to watch before doing problems. All work is to be shown in the packet, and each packet is turned in to the MLC. More info is in the Module, including the timeline, etc.

For the online HW, open up the HW assignment. Click on a problem on the left. Work the problem on your own paper. Write the answer in the answer box (or use the yellow bar that opens up the Math Quill which makes it easy to enter math expressions). Preview your answer to make sure it looks the way you want it to look. Then press SUBMIT. If it's correct you get credit. If you answer a HW problem incorrectly, you can click on "Try another similar question" and try again until you get the problem correct. Give yourself enough time to complete HW before the due so you have enough time to answer most, if not all, of the questions correctly. Problems may not be done after the due dates listed unless you redeem a late pass. Due Dates for Homework are in MOM. You should be working on HW and submitting problems throughout the week. The dates are final due dates to receive credit unless you use a late pass, and problems done on late pass only earn half credit.

Video Notebooks: All students are required to watch and copy assigned YourMathGal YouTube videos. When you open an online HW assignment, you will see a note about the YourMathGal videos. BEFORE DOING EACH HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT, at the minimum, watch and copy the videos that have asterisks by them, which are the minimum required videos to include in your Video Notebook for that module. Watching and copying these videos is part of your attendance/participation grade in the class. Set aside at least 4 hours a week (in lieu of coming to class where I would be doing these examples in person) to watching and copying what are on the videos. Then try the problems again on your own. Most videos are about 10 minutes long and I will not assign more than 20 videos each week, which is less than 4 hours of watching. The videos by the author of the book that you see in some sections or when you open some HW problems are not required, do not have labels, and are not to be included in the Video Notebook. However, you may find them useful to watch.

TESTS: There are 3 paper/pencil proctored tests (all work must be shown on test) and a Final Exam that you must take in the Academic Proctoring Center (APC) on campus. The dates possible to take each test are stated in Test Info in MOM. Appointments (you should schedule each test 2-3 weeks in advance) are required. Make an appointment for the first test during the second week of class. The link to schedule an appointment is at http://miracosta.edu/studentservices/proctoringcenter/index.html. A scientific calculator provided by the proctoring center is allowed on all tests. You may not use your own calculator. Notes are not allowed. Tests may not be taken after the due date, even for emergency situations. There is no late pass for a test or final. If you miss a test or your percent score on the last test is higher than the lowest percent score you earn on a test, your final exam score will replace the lowest score from Tests 1-3. So if you miss one test for an emergency or any other reason, you earn a zero on it, but it will revert to the grade you earn on the final exam at the end of the semester. The final exam is mandatory and must be taken to earn credit in the class. If an emergency occurs when you are to take the final, contact me immediately. A test cannot replace the final exam. Click this link for more Academic Proctoring Center Info, which includes a link at top to reserve a date/time to take a test. After tests are graded and recorded, I bring them to the Math Learning Center where you can pick yours up if you present a valid ID. Make sure you pick up and review each graded test. If you find an error, you need to contact me within a week of my returning them to the MLC.

Studying: Completing your homework is not the same thing as studying. Most students need to review a concept or a procedure many times before it becomes familiar and sticks. Schedule at least 12 hours a week (2-3 hours a day) for working on this class. You may need more time. I encourage you to frequently go back and review older material to make sure you still remember the concepts and can work through the problems correctly.

Grading: A point earned in one category is not worth the same as a point earned in another category. 1600 points total. No extra credit.

Video Notebooks: 100 points (The points represent the overall percent earned on all Video Notebooks from the semester.)

Online HW & Graphing Packet HW: 200 points (The points represent 2 times the overall percent earned on all HW from the semester.)

Tests: 900 (There are 3 tests, each worth 300 points which is 3 times percent earned on each test.)

Final Exam: 400 (4 times percent earned on final exam)

Grades are calculated using the following scale. The minimum points you need to earn that grade is shown. You must do well on and tests (especially the final exam) to pass the class. HW helps a little, but your grade is based mainly on your ability to recall and be able to work problems correctly showing all steps and work in a testing environment.

A: 1440 B: 1280 C: 1120 D: 960

SOME OTHER RESOURCES

Aides and tutors in the MLC are available to answer HW questions that you may have. Find the locations and hours at the MLC webpage

at http://www.miracosta.edu/instruction/mathematics/mathlearningcenter.html

Free tutoring and other services are available on both campuses and online in the Tutoring Center. For hours and locations go to the Tutoring Center webpage at http://www.miracosta.edu/studentservices/tutoring/index.html

If you have a disability that may require accommodations in this online delivery format or require test accommodations, please notify me by email before the end of the second week of class. If you have a not already done so, please register with Disabled Students Programs & Services at 760-795-6658. Their office is located in Building 3000, adjacent to parking lot 3C. Go to http://www.miracosta.edu/studentservices/dsps/index.html for more information.

IMPORTANT DATES are at http://www.miracosta.edu/studentservices/admissions/importantdates.html

Below are the ones important for our class. Refer to official dates and sometimes there are changes and also there may be typos.

1/30: Last Date to drop class and receive a refund with no grade placed on permanent record

2/13-2/16: Campus Closed

2/20: Last day to petition for pass/no pass. You do not need my permission and I do not need to be notified. Go to the Admissions and Records office to fill out and turn in the required paperwork if you want this option.

3/16-3/21: Spring Break

4/23: Last Day to drop class with option of "W" grade

Student Learning Outcomes Math 30

• 1. Students will be able to make use of factoring techniques, solve quadratic equations by factoring, and make use of factoring to simplify rational expressions.

  2. Students will be able to translate English phrases into algebraic expressions and equations, and solve applied problems.

  3. Students will be able to perform operations related to linear equations in two variables, solve systems of linear equations, and solve applications which can be modeled using systems of linear equations.

Important Links

Important Dates: http://www.miracosta.edu/studentservices/admissions/importantdates.html

Math Learning Center: http://www.miracosta.edu/instruction/mathematics/mathlearningcenter.html

Academic Proctoring Center: http://www.miracosta.edu/studentservices/proctoringcenter/index.html

Student Help Desk: http://www.miracosta.edu/studentservices/studenthelp/default.html

Institutional Learning Outcomes: http://www.miracosta.edu/instruction/slo/iloutcomes.html

MiraCosta College Library: http://library.miracosta.edu/homepage

Student Services: http://www.miracosta.edu/studentservices/index.html

Disabled Students Services & Programs: http://www.miracosta.edu/studentservices/dsps/index.html

Tutoring & Academic Support Center: http://www.miracosta.edu/studentservices/tutoring/index.html

Writing Center: http://www.miracosta.edu/studentservices/writingcenter/index.html

Health Services: http://www.miracosta.edu/studentservices/healthservices/index.html

Academic Counseling: http://www.miracosta.edu/studentservices/counseling/index.html

Veterans Services: http://www.miracosta.edu/studentservices/veteransservices/index.html