St. Gregory's University – Syllabus
Math for Critical Thinking
Adult Continuing Education – A.C.E.
Math 1473

Instructor: Bob Yarbrough, MNS http://intranet.sgc.edu/people/faculty/bwyarbrough
Office: Admin 402B
405-878-5193 bwyarbrough@sgc.edu
Home: 405-275-3314 yarbi@cpn-net.com

Office Hours: Posted on my office door and on the schedule link on web page
Feel free to stop in anytime or to make an appointment.

I am also available via e-mail almost any day.

Text: The Nature of Mathematics, Eighth Edition by Karl J. Smith; Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole, 1998 ISBN: 0-534-34988-9

You are expected to read each section of the textbook before we cover that section in the class. You will find the course easier if you read sections before we discuss them in class because you will be able to ask questions in class about troublesome material.

Calculator: A calculator is required for class, homework and for examinations. This need not be an expensive graphing calculator, but they are certainly acceptable.

 

Mission Statement
The main goal of this course is to create a positive attitude toward mathematics. Mathematics is not an endless procession of dull manipulations, theorems, proofs, and irrelevant topics. The purpose of the course is not to present the technical details needed to proceed to the next course, but to give insight as to what mathematics is, what it attempts to accomplish, and how mathematicians think.

Expectations
Mathematics is considered a hard subject. However, if you have the prerequisites for this course I believe it is my job as instructor to make sure you understand the material and that you succeed in this course. If you do not succeed, or if you do not pass this course, I feel I must accept the responsibility for your failure. In order to accept this responsibility, however, I must have your assurance that you are willing to make a commitment to this course. There are two aspects to your commitment:

1. You must make a commitment to attend each class. Obviously, unforeseen circumstances can come up, but you must plan on being here for every class. There is no such thing as a class that is not important. If you cannot be in class, you must make up the material you missed before continuing with the class. Please check with the instructor by phone or e-mail for any additional information about the class that you missed.

2. Also you must make a commitment to daily work. It takes several hours each week. This works best if you set aside a fixed time for doing your math homework each day. If you do miss some assignment (for whatever reason) it should be made up as soon as possible.

If you are not willing or able to make this kind of commitment you should drop the course now. If you are willing to make this kind of commitment, I will work with you, provide tutoring or extra help, or do whatever we need to do whatever we need to do to make this course a success for you. However, it is your responsibility to let me know if you are having trouble.

Course Requirements

Attendance
Attendance is required. I take roll each day. If you are not there for any part of the class (beginning or end), an absence will be recorded. I make no value judgments as to the nature of the absence or the reason for nonattendance, but simply record that you were not present. If you must be absent, the following policy will be used. If you come into class after the class begins, you will have been marked absent. It is your responsibility to see that this absence erased. Please stop by my desk at the end of the hour and show me the assignment that was due that day. I will simple erase your recorded absence for that day. If you forget to inform me at the end of class that you were tardy (and not absent), it will become your responsibility to clear up the tardy in the same manner required for an absence.

1. Policy on turning homework when you must be absent.

a. Late papers receive half credit. Late papers are any papers turned in after the beginning of the class during which the paper is to be turned in.

b. If you are ill or cannot make it to class and wish to receive full credit for a paper that is to be turned in, you may send it with someone else or deliver it to my office before it is late. You may also e-mail it to me before the due date.

2. Policy on class work when you are absent.

You are responsible to keep track of what happened while you were gone. You can call me or one of your classmates, or e-mail me, but you must keep up with all assignments (or changes in assignments) during your absence.

3. Policy on excessive absences.

If you miss more than 3 times, it will not be possible for you to pass the course.

4. Policy on Grade Reduction due to absence and tardiness.

Because attendance is so critical in a class such as this, your final grade will be reduced by 10% for each absence. This reduction will be modified to 5% if and when all work for the missed session is turned in within one week of absence. Tardiness will result in a grade reduction of 5% for each tardy.

Homework
Homework is an important part of your learning process and therefore an important part of your grade. On some papers not all problems will be graded, but randomly selected representative problems will be checked. Those checked and correct will be marked with a check mark and those wrong will be marked with an x. Scores will be recorded in the form 8/10 which means that you received 8 points out of a possible of 10 on that assignment. Extra credit will be indicated by +2 EC which means that 2 extra credit points were recorded on your score.

1. Handing in homework
The day I make an assignment is called the ASSIGNMENT DAY. It is expected that you will have read the chapter and have most (certainly more than half) of the homework done by that date. The chapter will be discussed that night and answered. The assignment must be turned in by the following meeting. If it is not ready by that date, it will only receive half credit. When turning in your homework, be sure to include your name, section, and page number.

2. Extra Credit
I will frequently give extra credit challenges worth from 1 to 10 bonus points (usually).

3. Paper
I would prefer you use engineering paper. It is available at most bookstores and is called "engineer's pad." Use only the face side of the tablet (the side without the printed lines) and do not write anything on the back. There will be times when the backs will be handy.

4. Answers alone are not sufficient
Show all of your work. You may do steps in your head or on a calculator (in fact, I encourage you to do so), but you need to show the set up of the problem, and enough so that I can follow your reasoning through the problem. Do not use scrap paper!

5. Neatness
All written work must be neat and legible. The margins should be kept clear and all work should be clearly shown and labeled.

Grading
Homework 200 points
Quizzes 100 points
Final (Comprehensive) 200 points Must be taken to pass the course.

The Grading Scale which will be used is: A: 90%
B: 80%
C: 70%
D: 60%

Note: Academic dishonesty including plagiarism will result in a zero for that assignment and discipline as warranted in accordance with university guidelines. This applies to, but is not limited to, homework, projects, quizzes and tests.

Outline of Course:

Math for Critical Thinking

A.C.E.

Class

Mtg.

Date

will cover

Topic(s)

Homework Assigned

1

Chapter 1

Problem Solving

1.1: 2,3,7, 10,11,14-17,24,25,27 28

Sets

1.2: 2,4,5,6,8, 10-26(even),31-37(odd)

1.2: 41-43, 51-53

Exponents

1.3: 24,53,54

Scientific Notation

1.4: 2,3,6, 9-12,57-62

2

Chapter 10

Graphs

10.1: 4-7,15,16,36-39,56,58 66

Handout Sheets

Statistics

10.2: 1, 12-33(x3),38 42

3

Chapter 4

Natural Numbers -- N

4.1: 16-34(even),35,37-43,47-50

Primes

4.2: 1,3,8-14(x2),17,18,22-25,38-41,48

Z -- The Integers

4.3: 3,6, 9-48(x3)

Q -- The Rational Nos.

4.4: 3,4, 6-33(x3)

Pythagorean Theorem

4.5: 7,9-17(odd - a. only),38-46,57

Properties

4.6: 2,7,8,9a-29a(odd),31-40,53-61

Clock Arithmetic

4.7: 13-17,29-36(prime mods),38-40

4

Chapter 6

Interest

6.1: 5-20,31-39(odd),47-52

Installments

6.2: 6-9,36-41,57-59 Bonus: 74

Sequences

6.3: 3-20, 30, 50, 51

Series

6.4: 18,20,22,24,25,28,31,34,39,41-48

Loans

6.6: 42, 43, 46, 47, 50, 51

5

Chapter 7

Geometry

7.1: 1, 4, 6, 30-40

Angles

7.2: 27-43(odd),44-51

Triangles

7.3: 2-18(x2),26-33,38,39

Similar Triangles

7.4: 24-57(x3)

Golden Rectangle

7.5: 5-8,13-17

7 Bridges

7.6: 1-22,35-39

Review

548: 1-6

6

Chapter 8

Estimation & Meas.

8.1: 16-26,30-33,38,39-63(x3)

Area

8.2: 5-18,27-54(x3),64-72 Bonus: 75

Volume

8.3: 7-35(odd),43-53(odd);

Misc. Measurements

8.4: 6-48(x3)

7

Chapter 9

Probability

9.1: 2-33,38-46,61-66

Expectation

9.2: 6-17,21,22

Models

TBA

8

Final