College Algebra

Overview When you take on-line course you will be learning the same course material as students taking courses by traditional methods and you receive the same college credits for the course. Primarily, you will be able to learn at a pace controlled by both you and your instructor. That is, you will need to comply with your instructor's guidelines and schedules, but you don’t have to attend class sessions at the college and can study the material and work on the assignments at home. However, you are not completely on your own in studying. You will have detailed guidelines and references for the course, and will communicate with your instructor by e-mail. You can also receive help in-person if you come to meet with your instructor during the office hours or schedule an appointment at the learning lab in the main campus.

Course description: Cartesian coordinates, linear equations in two variables, graphing lines, systems of linear equations and inequalities, Gauss-Jordan elimination, matrices, matrix addition and multiplication, matrix inversion, geometric solution of linear programming problems, the Simplex method, duality.

Prerequisites : MATH 118 with a grade of C or better or MATH 161 or higher placement.

1. Webstudy: a course management system that contains all information about the course including detailed weekly timeline, dates, and description of assignments, reading assignments, and links to some supplementary material. Your communication with the instructor by e-mail is through Web Study.
Enrolling in Web Study is the first step for taking this class. You will find instructions on how to register in Web Study when you click on link on the left.

The coordinator of Student Support, Distance Education. is Ms. Vaishali Sharma

Please note: After you registered for the on-line course you will be able to login to your course in WebStudy only on the first day of classes.

2. Ilrn: iLrn (Cengage Now) is a website where you will find your weekly assignments and tests. Your work will be done and submitted to the instructor in iLrn (Cengage Now). This site also provides an interactive tutorial. To create an account in iLrn you will need the course key. Please see Sign in iLrn file for the course key and instructions for creating your account in iLrn,
Students are strongly recommended to create an account in iLrn before the semester starts.

Attention: there are more than one electronic systems supporting Tan 8^th edition book. We will work in iLrn, version 15.5

3.Text:

Required: 1) Customized package: Linear Mathematics for Math 151, Cengage. This textbook book is a customized version of Tan, Finite Mathematics, 8^th edition.
The package will be available only at the Community College Bookstore in the Distance Education section.

OR

2) As an alternative, you can buy the original book
Tan Finite Mathematics,8^th edition, Thomson, Brooks/Cole. The price could be higher than for the customized version, but it might make sense if you are going to take both Math 151 and Math 152 Distance Education courses this semester.

4. Computer system requierements . You will receive and submit your weekly assignments on-line in iLrn. In order to work efficiently, your computer system should meet certain requirements. This will be your responsibility to use a computer with an appropriate system. You can prepare your computer in advance, before the semester starts. Use the following link: iLrn or go directly to the Website www.ilrn.com . You will get to the page named “ Cengage Now”. In the User’s resources menu choose Students, Browser Setup Help, and System Requirements. Make sure that your computer system meets the requirements before the semester begins. Assignments will not be accepted via e-mail.

Weekly work You need to follow the course outline. You will have weekly reading assignments and will need to read the textbook on the regular basis, and do self-check exercises. You can find supplementary material such as Power Point Files in Timeline in WebStudy.

Assignments: You will have graded homework assignments every week. For your convenience, you can print your homework from iLrn (CengageNow) before taking it. You may spend as much time as you need on the homework, using the on line help and hints. You need not complete homework in one take, but you have to submit it through iLrn (CengageNow) before the deadline.

Every week, except week 1, there is a graded quiz or a test. Quizzes are 90 minutes they should be completed in one take, and may not be taken more than once. You will also have five two hours tests approximately once in three weeks. In addition , you will have the practice final exam, and the comprehensive final exam. You will find detailed schedule and description of your assignments at the Timeline in WebStudy. Expect to spend 10 – 15 hours a week working on the course material and assignments. It is better to study two hours every day than try to do everything in the last minute. Quizzes and tests cannot be printed in advance; you will need to work on them from your screen. After the due date you can print your quiz / test with correct answers. Quizzes and tests are generated electronically for each student. It means all students will have similar problems but the numbers/ parameters in problems will vary.

This course is NOT self-paced. It is flexibly paced. You are free to complete and submit any assignment and exam at any time before the due date and time. You must complete exams and quizzes before the deadline or they expire and you get a zero .

Please note: An assignment becomes unavailable after the due date/time. Assignments cannot be reset for individuals immediately after the due date. There will be two “make up” periods during the semester for students who have an excusable reason for missing an assignment. The exact dates for possible make-ups will be given at the Timeline in WebStudy. You will need to have a good reason for missing an assignment and inform me in advance, prior the assignment deadline. No more than two assignments for a student could be reset during “the make up period”.

Extra help is available at the Learning Lab on the main campus, B2-36; Please call in advance to schedule an appointment. You can also meet with me in my office at the main campus during my regular office hours or send me an e-mail through the WebStudy after the semester starts.

Participation: College Policy states that if you miss two weeks of class, you may be dropped from the course for lack of attendance. All students are expected to visit the Timeline in WebStudy and submit assignments in iLrn (CengageNow) every week. This is an equivalent of attendance for on-line courses. If you are having any problems, send me an email through WebStudy. I will check my e-mails in WebStudy daily Monday – Friday. E-mails received after 4:00 pm will be answered on the next weekday. If you have technical problems, contact technical support in iLrn immediately.

Technology : The material of the course includes graphical methods of solving systems of linear equations. It also contains methods based on operations with matrices. You may use a graphing calculator, a computer algebra system such as Maple, or any other technology that can help you with graphing and with calculations: The textbook has brief “using technology” instructions and examples at the end of each section that include calculator functions and command for TI-83, TI-86 graphing calculators.

Grading: You will have a graded weekly homework, seven quizzes, five tests, practice final, and a comprehensive final exam. All assignments are graded electronically, and revised by the instructor. Students are expected to take tests as scheduled. The assignment becomes unavailable after due date. You have to contact me before the due date if you cannot submit an assignment on time for some excusable reasons.

Grade: Final grade will be based on the weighted average of seven quizzes, five tests, final exam, and weekly home assignments. The assignments account as follows for your final grade:

The final grade in the course is assigned as follows:

A: 90% - 100%
B: 80% - 89%
C: 70% - 79%
D: 60% - 69%
F: less than 60%

Academic integrity: Students are expected to uphold the highest standards of academic integrity. You must work alone on your tests and final exam.