Course:   Math for AAS with EMPACTS Project

 

CRN:   11001, 1:30 p.m. - 3:20 p.m., Tue-Thur,  room SC-343

 

Mathematics Department Chair:  Christina Smith

Office:  SC-350           Phone: 479-986-6900              Email:  csmith@nwacc.edu

Mathematics Department Secretary:  Jill Witt

          Office:  SC-351           Phone:  479-986-6900             Email:  jwitt@nwacc.edu  

Your Instructor:  Barbara Rademacher

Office:  SC-326           Phone:  479-986-6926             Email:  brademac@nwacc.edu

 

Important Dates:

August 24 - First Day of Classes.

August 31 - Last Day to Drop and Receive 100% Refund.

September 7 - Labor Day - College Offices Closed.

September 8 - Last Day to Drop and receive 80% Refund.

September 8 - Last Day to Drop and Not Receive "W" on Transcript.

November 6 - Last Day to Withdraw with "W" on Transcript with 0% Refund.

November 6 - Last Day to Change Schedule (Withdraw) on the Web with 0% Refund.

November 25 - Service offices close at 4:30pm.

November 25-28 - Thanksgiving Break Faculty & Students.

November 26-28 - Thanksgiving Break for All Staff - College Offices Closed.

December 9 - Last Day of Classes.

December 10-16 - Final Exams.

December 18 - Grades due to Registrar by 12:00 Noon.

December 22 - Grades available to students online.

 

Required Materials:

Textbook: Thinking Mathematically by Robert Blitzer, published by Prentice-Hall, 4 ed.

Other materials:  TI-83+ graphing calculator (a limited number of TI-82 graphing calculators are available for rental from the Math Department); colored pencils; regular pencils; erasers; notebook paper; graph paper. 

EMPACTS project materials will differ by project.

 

Grading:

 90% -100%=A, 80%-89% = B, 70%-79%=C, 60%-69%=D, <60%=F 

 

Three exams worth 100 points each.  If one of the midterm exams is missed, the percent grade on the Final Exam can substitute for the percent grade on the missed exam.

Required Final Exam worth 200 points. 

EMPACTS community service project worth 100 points. 

Total points for this class:  600. 

 

EMPACTS grade breakdown:

 

Initial Proposal:  30 pts. (After Initial Presentation, groups can "fire" non-oroductive members).

Final Presentation:  50 pts

How your team mates grade you:  Are you doing your share of the work, and are you attending meetings:  20 pts.

 

Where to find help:

Your textbook is accompanied by DVD's which can be checked out free-of-charge from the NWACC Library in Burns Hall.

You can find tutoring at the Learning Lab in Burns Hall.

The publisher of your textbook offers materials like a Student Solutions Manual which can be purchased at the NWACC Bookstore in the Student Center.

If you believe you might have a learning disability or handicap, you can contact the Disabilities Office:  (479) 619-2660

 

NWACC, Division and Department Information

 

Academic Dishonesty:  CAUTION:  Directly copying someone else’s work or allowing someone to copy yours will result in the loss of that score and will be dealt with according to the policy on Academic Dishonesty as outlined in the NWACC catalog.  DO NOT ask to copy and say NO if someone asks to copy from you.  Using unapproved technology or formula sheets including inappropriate calculators, calculator programs, or unapproved formulas stored in your calculator is cheating and will be dealt with accordingly.  The use or even presence of a cell phone, pda or non-authorized electronic device during an exam will be considered academic dishonesty; your exam will be taken, and you are liable to suspension or expulsion.

 

FERPA:  NWACC is committed to your right to privacy as outlined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.  This means that I can only communicate with you in person or on My NWACC Connection.

 

Catalog Description:

This course is designed to meet the needs for a college level mathematics course for AAS programs.  The course will include a review of basic arithmetic skills such as ratios, proportions, percents, and metric conversions focusing on applications of these topics.  The primary focus of the course will include a variety of skills from areas such as financial mathematics, estimation, regression analysis, statistics, math history, and math as art.  This is a very application oriented course and is designed to be flexible to accommodate the differing needs of people in various AAS programs.

 

Prerequisites: 

ACSK 0023, Beginning Algebra with a “C” or better, or 41 – 64 on the algebra portion of the COMPASS, or 43 – 55 on the Elementary Algebra portion of the ASSET, or 23 – 42 on the Intermediate Algebra portion of the ASSET, or 16 – 18 on the math section of the ACT.

 

Credit Hours: 

3 credit hours counting toward most AAS degrees

 

Target Audience and Transfer: 

This is a non-transfer course designed to give students in particular AAS programs the math skills they need for their careers, as well as give an overview of many everyday applications of mathematics.

 

Core Course Objectives: 

This course is designed to help students master the mathematics skills needed to excel in their various careers and to familiarize them with the usefulness of mathematics in everyday life.  Emphasis will be placed on students being able to analyze, set up, and solve problems.  Students will also be encouraged to thing about the reasonableness of their solutions.

A student who is successful in this course should be able to:

1)  Convert among fractions, decimals, and percents

2)  Set up and solve ratio and proportion problems

3)  Convert between English and metric systems

4)  Read and interpret statistical information from a variety of sources

5)  Gather data, form scatterplots, fit a regression curve and analyze results

6)  Use estimation to determine reasonableness of an answer

8)  Compute payments, present, and future values for loans, annuities, and sinking funds

9)  Calculate various measures of central tendency and dispersion

10)  Recognize and apply various geometric formulas

11)  Use the standard normal curve to analyze information

  

 

Required Instructional Activities: 

The content of the course should be taught with graphing calculator usage when appropriate.  However, no TI-89, TI-92, or comparable calculators are allowed.  There will also be a project component of the course.  While the online sections may do individual projects, the lecture sections will participate in the EAST (Environmental, and Spatial Technology) initiative.

 

Required Forms of Assessment:  Each instructor must include a set of 6 departmental final exam questions on his or her final exam. These questions will be in direct support of the specific objectives stated in the Core Course Objectives, will be based on material covered in the Required Text Coverage section. These questions will compose at least 10% of the students' overall grade in the course and will be graded according to a standard grading rubric. The results of these questions and overall student performance will be reported when final grades are turned in.   Please note that no resources other than a graphing calculator and instructor supplied formula sheet are allowed for use by students during the final exam (e.g., no formula sheets, no notes, no index cards, etc.)