Math 115a, Section 5:
Instructor:
Tom Kennedy (Professor, Mathematics)
email: tgk@math.arizona.edu
(Please include 115 in the subject line)
Phone: 621-6696
Office: Math 607
Office hours will be announced in class and
posted on the web.
Home pages:
The home page for our section is
http://www.math.arizona.edu/~tgk/115a/
The home page for all of Business Mathematics is
http://www.math.arizona.edu/busmath/
Kick-Off:The Eller College of Business and Public Administration will have a Kick-Off for the course Tuesday, Sept 2 at 5:00 p.m. in ILC 130, with a make-up session on Saturday, Sept 6 at 8:00 a.m. in ILC 119. The grade for Homework I is based on participation in this event.
Prerequisites:Successful completion of Introduction to Computing (MIS 111), and either successful completion of Collegiate Algebra (Math 110), or Collegiate Algebra Accelerated (Math 112), or an acceptable score on the Mathematics Readiness Test.
Textbook : The textbook is on a CD, Mathematics for Business Decisions Part I, release 1.0, Thompson and Lamoureux, Mathematical Association of America. It is available at the U of A bookstore.
Textbook registration card: The card in the front of your e-text CD case requests that you fill in the information and present the card to your instructor. These cards will not be collected at the University of Arizona. If you wish to register your copy of the e-text, fill out the card and mail it to the Mathematical Association of America at the address given on the card. Information that you submit to the Association will not be communicated to anyone at the University of Arizona or to any person outside the publication department of the Association.
Course Materials Needed:(i) The textbook (ii) Math 115a course files (iii) Blank CD's or zip disks for your presentations.
Computer files: There are three groups of files for this course. (i) The files in the textbook - these make up the bulk of the files. These files are the same at all universities using this text. (ii) 115a Course files - these are files are are specific to the U of A. They contain things like a day by day syllabus, sample exams, study guides. (iii) Section files - these are files that depend on the section of 115a. They will be available on our section homepage and include things like homework assignments.
Downloading the 115a Course Files: These may be downloaded from the home page for Business Mathematics. They may also be downloaded in the Information Commons in the ILC. They are a total of about 10 Megs, so you probably won't want to download them through a phone line.
Syllabus: In the 115a course files there is a power point file called UA Bus Math I. It contains a syllabus that gives test dates as well as a day by day description of the material covered.
Examinations:Two midterm examinations will be given in our classroom on the dates shown in the syllabus. A common final examination will be given in 115a Tuesday, December 16, 5:00-7:00 p.m. .
Missed Examinations:If a student misses one midterm test, he or she will receive a replacement score based upon the corresponding part of the final examination. A second missed test, or a missed final examination, will result in a score of zero for that work.
Projects: There are two major projects in the course. They will be done in teams of four students. The teams will be chosen randomly. Each project is worth a total of 150 points. Your team will give a preliminary oral report (10 points), a final oral report (60 points), a written report (60 points), and there will a short quiz on the projects (20 points). The order in which teams give their reports for the first project will be determined by chance. I expect to form new teams for the second project.
Homework:Homework assigments will be posted on our section's homepage. They must be done with your project team. The team will turn in one assigment and get a common grade. The names of all individuals who are submitting the assignment must appear on the homework. Anyone whose name is listed on the assignment must have participated fully in the solution of the exercises and in their preparation for submission.
Homework and illness: If one team member cannot participate in a particular assignment for a legitimate reason (e.g., illness), then you should tell me as soon as possible. That particular homework will not be used in computing the student's average. If a student does not participate in a particular team assignment without a legitimate excuse, then the student will get a 0 for that homework and that score will be used in computing his or her homework average.
Course Grades:Each midterm test will be worth 100 points, the homework will be worth 100 points, the two team projects will be worth 150 points each, and the final examination will be worth 200 points. Your course grade will be based upon the fraction of the total possible points that you earn. The following grading scale will be used.
Dropping The Course: September 19 is the last day to drop without a grade. From then until October 17 you can withdraw with a grade of W if you are passing. (60% on all the work due by the date of your withdrawal). You will need to get my signature to do this.
Incomplete Grades: The University General Catalog says that incompletes may be awarded only at the end of the semester, when all but a minor portion of the course work has been satisfactorily completed. It should not be awarded if the student must repeat the course. In this course, the only scenario I can envision that would lead to a grade of incomplete is that you cannot take the final exam due to illness.
Class Attendance: Attendance at all class meetings is expected and is, obviously, in a student's best interest. You are responsible for all announcements made in class and all material covered in class.
Computer problems are your responsibility: Here are two examples of what this means. (i) You have just finished a homework set and are about to print it when your hard drive fails and wipes out the file. You ask for an extension. You won't get it. You should backup everything you do on a regular basis and know where to find another computer you can use if yours dies. (ii) Your Power Point presentation shows up as gibberish when your team makes its presentation because you used fonts which are not installed on the classroom computer. Your team will lose points on its presentation for this. You should try out your Power Point on the classroom computer before you make your presentation.
Academic Integrity : Students are expected to abide by all University of Arizona policies and procedures, in particular the Code of Academic Integrity Student Code of Conduct Code.
Business Mathematics Homepage.
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