GROUND RULES for MA 15300 Fall 2010 • CLASS PERIOD Students are expected to attend every class meeting and to read the appropriate sections of the text before coming to class. Instructors may not have time to cover every topic in class. There are supplemental videos and PowerPoint presentations provided on the MA 15300 webpage: www.math.purdue.edu/MA15300 • HOMEWORK /QUIZZES A daily score will be given for almost every class, starting with the third one (Friday, 08/27/10). The daily score will typically be a short, 2-3 question quiz covering the assignment due that day. Paper and pencil homework will only be collected occasionally, as most of it is done online. Completing each homework assignment (online or by hand) is certainly your best way to be prepared for quizzes and exams. No make-ups will be allowed for the daily scores or online homework, for any reason. The four lowest scores for each will not be counted. To have a fifth score (or more) not counted at the end of the semester will require acceptable written justification. • EXAMS There are three multiple-choice, machine-graded evening exams scheduled for your class this semester. The dates are as follows. (Mark them on your calendar.) EXAM 1: Wednesday, September 15, 2010, 8:00-9:00 PM, Hall of Music EXAM 2: Thursday, October 14, 2010, 6:30-7:30 PM, Hall of Music EXAM 3: Wednesday, November 17, 2010, 8:00-9:00 PM, Hall of Music Missing an Exam: If you miss an exam for any reason, contact the course coordinator immediately and inform your instructor. Make-up exams can only be approved in writing by the course coordinator, Joe Chen (MATH 810, 494-7920, [email protected]). Make-up exams will be allowed for valid reasons. You must have documentation for missing an exam (you must have a doctor note for illness, for example). For non-valid reasons, a make-up may be allowed with a grade penalty being deducted from the student’s earned score. Not knowing the right date, time or location of an exam is NOT a valid reason for missing it and will thus be imposed by a grade penalty. 20-Minute Rule: No-one will be allowed to leave the exam site for the first 20 minutes of the exam. After that time, no-one will be allowed to enter the exam site and take the exam. Students arriving after 20 minutes will be allowed to take the make-up exam. If they arrived late for a non-valid reason, a grade penalty will be deducted from the make-up exam score. Make-ups will be given only once for each midterm exam, on the following dates and times: MAKE-UP EXAM 1: Friday, September 24, 2010, 6:00-7:00 PM, Location TBA MAKE-UP EXAM 2: Friday, October 22, 2010, 6:00-7:00 PM, Location TBA MAKE-UP EXAM 3: Friday, November 19, 2010, 6:00-7:00 PM, Location TBA If you miss an exam and the alternate you will have a score of 0 (zero) recorded for that exam. For each of these evening exams there will be one class period for which attendance is not required; however, it will not be cancelled: it will be a no-attendance-required help session for the exam. To prepare for the midterm exams, students should review all of the material covered by their homework assignments, quizzes and the announced review problems. Past exams (available online) are a source of additional review problems and can also give students a rough idea of the length and difficulty level of their own exams. However, many students have the mistaken impression that just by reviewing some past exams they will have seen all that is expected of them for their own exams. Past exams should absolutely not be used as a guide to the exact content and wording of the exams. The final exam is a 30-question, multiple-choice, machine-graded exam that is given during the sixteenth week of the semester. Students may get a copy of practice questions for the final online. THE DATE AND TIME OF YOUR MATH FINAL WILL BE ANNOUNCED LATER THIS SEMESTER. NO ALTERNATE WILL BE ALLOWED IF YOU PLAN TO LEAVE EARLY. PLAN TO BE ON CAMPUS TO TAKE YOUR FINAL EXAM. • CALCULATORS A scientific calculator is required for this course. You may only use a one or two line scientific calculator on quizzes and exams. No substitutes, such as a graphing calculator, a cell phone, or PDA may be used during quizzes or exams. WE WILL NOT ALLOW THE SHARING OF CALCULATORS AMONG STUDENTS. (OVER)• OFFICE HOURS Most instructors hold common office hours in MATH 205. After the first week of classes, the office hour schedule will be posted on each instructor’s door and students may get a copy online. You are strongly urged to go to someone’s office hours if you have questions. It is the best way to get individual help. • ACADEMIC ADJUSTMENTS Students who have been certified by the Office of the Dean of Students-Disability Resource Center as eligible for academic adjustments should go to MATH 242 with a copy of their certification letter and request an Information Sheet for this semester that explains how to proceed this semester to get these adjustments made in Mathematics courses. It is not the same as last semester. This should be done during the first week of classes or as soon as the student receives their letter. Only students who have been certified by the ODOS-DRC and who have requested DRC to send their certification letter to their instructor are eligible for academic adjustments. Students who are currently undergoing an evaluation process to determine whether they are eligible for academic adjustments, are encouraged to find out now what procedures they will have to follow when they are certified, by requesting the above mentioned Information Sheet from MATH 242. Large print copies of the Information Sheet are available from MATH 242 upon request. • GRADES In class work is worth 100 points, online homework is worth 50 points, each evening exam is worth 100 points, and the final is worth 200 points. At the end of the semester, each student’s final grade is calculated using his/her total points (650 total points are available). The final grades are calculated as follows: Course wide letter grade cut-offs are determined for the four common exams combined (500 possible points). Then, your instructor determines the number of each letter grade his students as a group earned, based on the individual totals of the four exam scores. Next, he/she lists all of his students’ total points (out of the 650 total points available), in numerical order, highest first. If ten of his students receive an A