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PREREQUISITE TEXT CALCULATOR

ATH 141
SECTION: 2914 INSTRUCTOR: MAIA LANGENBERG PHONE: (360) 5965471 OFFICE HOURS: 11:00 DAILY OR BY APPOINTMENT

FALL 2011
MEETS: 9:00 TO 9:50 DAILY E-MAIL: mlangenberg@spscc.ctc.edu OFFICE: BUILDING 35 ROOM 361

COURSE DESCRIPTION Elementary functions with an emphasis on polynomial functions, rational functions, exponential functions and logarithmic functions. This course was formerly known as MATH 121.

Completion of Math 99 with grade of C or better or appropriate placement test score required. B- or better in Math 99 is strongly recommended.

Sixth Edition College Algebra and Trigonometry; Levitan, Kolman, Shapiro You are expected to read appropriate sections of the textbook before they are lectured on for comprehension. It gives a detailed account of the material of the course. It also contains many examples of problems worked out, and these should be used to supplement those you see in the lecture. Use pencil and paper to work through all examples and to fill in omitted steps.

A graphing calculator is required. A TI-83 or 84 graphing calculator is recommended and will sometimes be used in class. You must bring your own calculator to exams and will not be permitted to use cell phones or other electronic devices. Calculators will not be provided and sharing calculators is not permitted. WAMAP REGISTRATION As part of this class you will be required to sign up for a free account at www.wamap.org Once you have created your account click [enroll in a new class] and use course ID 3422 and enrollment key 141. I will be using WAMAP to store and share grade information, and as a tool for communicating with, and providing materials to the class as a whole. In case of school closures I will continue to conduct the course using WAMAP so be sure to check your e-mail. Points will be assigned for participating in the homework discussion forum. I will assign one point per productive post (question or answer) about a problem up to a maximum of 15 points. Questions must be fully typed out and specific. At the end of the quarter these points will be included with your homework and participation grade. ATTENDANCE Daily attendance is expected. If you miss class you are responsible for understanding the material discussed, and for any announcements made concerning the course. You should check wamap for announcements, but not all in class announcements will be posted. Also be sure you have contact information for at least one other person in class so you are able to find out about any announcements. When you return to class you should ask a classmate for a copy of the lecture notes and work through any missed assignments. I will not provide copies of my lecture notes. Points may occasionally be assigned for attendance or in class participation. At the end of the quarter, these points will be included with your homework and participation grade.

HOMEWORK AND PARTICIPATION Homework will be assigned and collected regularly. Each assignment will be worth 1 point. Points will be awarded for completeness and neatness. Late homework will not be accepted. Your homework points will be combined with points earned by participating on the forums and in class. To accommodate for missed assignments or participation points, 5 points will be dropped. Your homework and participation score may be used to replace one exam at the end of the quarter. Homework assignments are your chance to gauge your understanding of the topics we are covering. While there is help available, it will be your responsibility to recognize topics that you do not fully understand. If you come across a topic that you need help with be sure to visit the Math Center or my office hours. I am expecting you to have fully mastered the homework before each exam, so be sure you are working problems as discussed in class and checking all answers. Homework questions will be answered each day at the beginning of class on the material assigned on the previous day. I encourage you to work together or with a tutor, however, you should make sure that you are able to solve all problems independently before test time. EXAMS There will be five exams, each will be worth 15% of your total grade. Exams must be taken during their scheduled time. To allow for one missed exam, your lowest exam score can be replaced by your homework and participation grade at the end of the quarter. Exams will consist largely of fresh problems that fall within the material that is being tested. You should not expect exam problems to be exactly like homework problems. We will be learning specific approaches to problems, and I will be testing you on how well you apply these methods. On exams, clear and correct work as discussed in class will be expected for each problem unless otherwise stated. If you have an issue with the grading of your exam you must discuss it with me in my office within one week of the exam being returned. After this time your score will not be changed. I am happy to answer questions unrelated to your score at any time. FINAL EXAM The final exam will be cumulative and will be worth 25% of your grade. Your score on the final cannot be dropped. The final exam has been scheduled by the college for Wednesday, December 7th between 9:00 and 11:00. You must take the final at this time, so make travel plans accordingly. To allow you to work more slowly and carefully I will stay an additional hour as long as people are still making progress. ACADEMIC DISHONESTY Students at South Puget Sound Community College are expected to be honest and forthright in their academic endeavors because academic dishonesty disrupts the learning process and threatens the educational environment for all students. Academic dishonesty includes cheating, plagiarism, fabrication, grade tampering, and facilitating academic dishonesty. Strong evidence of academic dishonesty will result in a failing grade in the course and will be reported to the Vice President for Student Services. For more information on Academic Dishonesty see Code of Student Rights & Responsibilities on the college website. GRADING Your overall grade will be calculated with each exam and/or homework being worth 15% and your final being worth 25%. Grades will be assigned as follows: A: 93 to 100% A-: 90 to 93% B+: 87 to 90% B: 83 to 87% B-: 80 to 83% C+: 77 to 80% C: 73 to 77% C-: 70 to 73% D+: 67 to 70% D: 63 to 67% D-: 60 to 63% F: 0 to 60% Students taking the course under S/U grading will receive an S if they earn at least 73% in the class.

COURSE EXPECTATIONS AND SOURCES OF HELP Lecture time is at a premium, so it must be used efficiently. You cannot be taught everything in the classroom. It is your responsibility to make sure you learn the material. A portion of this learning must take place outside the classroom. You should be willing to put in an average of two hours outside the classroom for each hour of class. Our goal during lecture is primarily to provide a framework, with some of the particulars, to guide you in doing your learning of the concepts and methods that comprise the material of the course. To succeed in this class you should read each section before it is covered; attend class regularly; do all assigned homework and check all answers; and study any mistakes you made on old homework, quizzes, and exams. If you find that you need additional help here are some resources to keep in mind: You: Work hard and make sure you are taking the time to really think about the topics we are working on. Your goal is to understand each step in a problem and why that was the right step. Always try to find different approaches to a problem. Other Students: I highly recommend finding other students to work with. Find someone in our class, or even in a different section of Math 141 to study with. The Math Center: The Math Center is located in Building 32 Room 103. You can use the Math Center to work on your homework with tutors nearby to answer questions. Me: I am happy to answer any of your questions during class or during my office hours. It is important for you to come to me with specific questions or topics that are concerning you. If you are stuck on a problem and would like help you should have spent a minimum of five minutes working on it before you bring it to me. Be prepared to show me your work. STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES Upon completion of the course, the student will be able to: Understand and use functions, function notation and inverse functions. Understand and use polynomial and rational functions. Graph functions. Problem solving using graphs Understand and use loagarithmic and exponential functions COLLEGE WIDE ABILITIES Evaluate and process quantitative and symbolic data.

COURSE CONTENT Functions and graphing: Definition of a function Graphs of functions Linear and Quadratic functions Inverse functions Algebra of functions Polynomail and Rational Functions Graphs of polynomial functions Properties of Polynomial Division The zeros of a polynomial Rational Functions Exponential and Logarithmic Functions Exponential Functions and their graphs. Properties of Logarithms Logarithmic functions and their graphs Logarithmic and exponential equations Applications