SPEA Math Camp

Course Description Fall 2009

Welcome to math camp ! Math camp is an intensive review of some basic concepts of algebra and
geometry and a tiny bit of calculus. The purpose of this short and intensive course is to prepare you for
SPEA masters classes that require some basic background in mathematics. These courses include
economics, statistics, cost/benefit analysis, and others. Mastering some basic mathematical concepts will
help you to perform successfully in these classes. Math camp is specially designed for those students
who have not taken a math class in a very long time and need a refresher course or who feel that they
might need extra help mastering some basic mathematical concepts.

The good news about this class is that it is ungraded—so you don’t have to worry about studying for tests
or agonizing over making sure that you get your A. Hopefully this will allow you to be relaxed and to focus
on putting these concepts into your long- term memories rather than your short-term memories. This
doesn’t mean, however, that you will not have homework. Every day you will have some homework
exercises to work that we will evaluate the next day.

We will meet every day for a week—Monday through Friday. We will meet from approximately 9:00 a.m.
to 1:00 p.m. In class, we will have lectures and in-class exercises. We will also have guest appearances
from faculty members who will tell us how the mathematical concepts we have been discussing will be
helpful in your future classes and in public affairs and environmental science in general. After class, you
are encouraged to stick around SPEA to work on your homework. You can work in the Atrium or in the
Business/SPEA library. Every evening after class, the TAs will be available for a couple hours in order to
answer any questions you might have. Feel free to drop by during this time.

Basic Class Schedule—All sessions 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. are MANDATORY

Monday
8:00-9:00 a.m.	Registration/Welcome breakfast
9:00-10:30 a.m.	Introduction of new material
10:30-11:00 a.m.	Faculty guest speaker
11:00-11:15 a.m.	Break
11:15 a.m.-12:45 p.m.	Lecture and in-class exercises

4:00-6:00 p.m.	TA Office hours and homework help

Tuesday-Thursday
9:00-10:30 a.m.	Introduction of new material
10:30-11:00 a.m.	Faculty guest speaker
11:00-11:15 a.m.	Break
11:15 a.m.-12:45 p.m.	Lecture and in-class exercises

4:00-6:00 p.m.	TA Office hours and homework help

Friday
9:00-10:30 a.m.	Introduction of new material
10:30-11:00 a.m.	Faculty guest speaker
11:00-11:15 a.m.	Break
11:15 a.m.-12:45 p.m.	Lecture and in-class exercises
12:45-2:00 p.m.	Luncheon provided by MPA/MSES Program Office

4:00-6:00 p.m.	TA Office hours and homework help

Topics Covered

Monday
Roots and exponents
Fractions
Polynomials (adding, subtracting , multiplying, and dividing)
Percent change
Summation

Tuesday
Solving quadratic equations
Solving systems of equations

Wednesday
Functions and Graphing
Logarithmic and exponential functions

Thursday
Derivatives
Integration

Friday
Word Problems
Applications problems

Textbook

There is no required textbook for this class. We will be providing you with a course packet that includes
class notes and exercises. These notes will be the foundations for the daily lectures.

If you want to do further reading on the subject, these are some basic textbooks that might be helpful. A
few suggestions are below. Or you can just check out a book from the library.

Sullivan, Michael. College Algebra (7th edition). Prentice Hall .

Lial, Margaret L, John Hornsby, and David Schneider. College Algebra (9th edition). Addison Wesley .
Waner & Costenoble. Finite Mathematics (2nd edition). Brooks & Cole.

Barnett, Raymond A., Michael R. Ziegler and Karl E. Byleen (2004) Finite Mathematics for Business,
Economics, Life Sciences and Social Sciences (10th edition), Prentice Hall .

Gaur, Ajai S., Sanjaya S. Gaur.Statistical Methods for Practice And Research: A Guide to Data Analysis
Using Spss, Sage Publications.