Math 120R

Precalculus

Lab Policy

· The labs will take place on Thursday. You are expected to be in class. If you miss a lab then you will receive a 0 for that lab report. If you must miss a lab for a verifiable excuse, then you can do that week’s lab by yourself. Your lab reports will be due the following Thursday.

· All lab reports must be word processed and all graphs must be done in Excel.

· Bring to lab the answers to any pre-lab problems that were assigned. If you fail to do this you are letting down your fellow team members. If you do not have the pre-lab problems done at the beginning of the labs, 25% will be deducted from your grade on that particular lab. No exceptions.

· Bring a graphing calculator and the textbook to lab.

· Each lab report should be written so that anyone familiar with precalculus could pick it up and understand the topic of the week’s lab. The lab report is not a list of answers. It should be written in complete sentences and the ideas of the report should flow. Be sure to include an introduction for the reader. The introduction should include an explanation of what the lab is about and the mathematical concepts involved. Length is not important but you must convince me that you and your group understand the concepts.

· Each lab report will represent the joint work of a group of 3-4 people. For each lab, one person (called the lead author) will be in charge of writing up the groups’ results. Each member of the group is responsible for the results but it is the lead author’s responsibility to present the final draft in written form. Each member of the group must be lead author at least once.

· The lead author should write up a rough draft and make enough copies for the co-authors. He/she should present these copies to the group the Monday following the lab. Each of the co-authors should read the lab report and make the necessary corrections or comments and return it to the lead author by the following Wednesday. The lead author should then make the necessary changes and turn it in at the beginning of class on Thursday. This is a very important part of the process. If the lab is poorly written and/or incomplete, everyone in the group will receive a low grade.

· Please be sure to state clearly the lead author’s name and the co-authors names on the final version. If a group member did not attend that week’s lab, their name should not appear on the lab. If you include the name of an individual that did not attend the lab this is considered to be a violation of the code of academic integrity and will be dealt with accordingly.

· One grade will be assigned to all members of the group.

· Once the lead author has received the corrected lab report back, he/she should make copies for his/her co-authors. The collection of lab reports will form an important collection of notes that one should study in preparing for exams. There will be questions on exams that specifically pertain to the labs so each member of the group is responsible for the material covered in the lab even if they are not the lead author.

· Throughout the semester you may be asked to present your groups’ work to the class. No two groups’ lab reports will be the same so by presenting your findings the remainder of the class will be able to gain from viewing a different approach.