If you have more than five unexcused absences you will be given an F in this class. To be counted present you must be here when the class starts and stay until the class is dismissed. If I am late to class, you must remain until I arrive. If you leave before I arrive, regardless of how late I am, you will be counted absent. If you must leave class early, you must get this approved by me at least one day in advance to be counted one-half present. If you know in advance that you are going to miss class, you must fill out an absence form and give it to me in advance, and I will let you know if it will be excused. You must fill out a form for each absence period. If you miss class for reasons not known in advance such as sudden illness, you must fill out a form and give it to me within one week of coming back to class, and I will let you know if the absence is excused.
There will be two or possibly three hour tests. There will be a comprehensive final exam. There will be an in class score which will count 5% of your final grade. The hour tests will count 55% of your final grade and the final exam will count 40% of your final grade. Your final grade will be computed as follows: A 90-100; B 80-89.99; C 70-79.99; D 60-69.99; and F 0-59.99.
It is the students responsibility during tests,
to make sure they have brought all necessary items to the test. Students must
bring paper and pencils, and may be required to bring other items such as
calculators. Students who fail to bring the proper
items, are still required to take the tests. However, failure to bring required
items may mean the student will not be able to work certain problems on the
test. As many classrooms have cramped seating arrangements, students are
expected to do their best to keep their papers from being easily seen by
others. This means covering their paper whenever possible. Talking to other
students during tests is considered a form of cheating and disciplinary action
may be taken. Students who leave the room during
tests, without getting prior permission, may not be permitted to continue with
their tests.
During tests only the test (calculators and/or scratch paper if allowed)
will be permitted on the desk. Failure to do so could result in a grade of zero
being assigned. This means, in particular, that no books and no cell phones are
ever allowed on the desk during tests.
Students taking this course must have the necessary prerequisites in
mathematics in order to be successful in this course. Of course even the proper
prerequisites are no guarantee of success unless the student does all of the
assignments on a regular basis, getting help when needed. It is imperative that
you keep up with all the homework assignments in this course. It is not
possible to study only immediately before the test and do well. You are
expected to learn all the material well which includes
actually understanding the various procedures and ideas required to work the
problems. Many believe that they can memorize how to work the problems without
a complete understanding of the process involved in working the problems. While
this might work if only a few types of problems had to be learned it will not
work in this course as many types of problems have to be worked. It is
impossible by merely memorizing certain problems to keep straight all the
various problems one will encounter in this course. It is far easier in the
long run to learn the reasons behind the steps involved in the solution of the
problem. Learning the reasons allows one to work a variety of problems without
having to memorize so much. Thus merely trying to memorize how to work the
problems will not result in success in this course.
When first encountering unfamiliar material and problems: First, learn to
work the problem, if necessary, by memorizing the procedure and formulas
required to work the problem. Second, try to
understand why the procedure works. It is also necessary to work the problems
more than once, especially if the problem was missed on the first attempt. A
few days after an assignment, pick a few of the problems and rework them. If
the problems are still not completely understood, repeat this procedure until
they are fully understood.
Learning mathematics is an up and down process. When you try to learn new
material, at first it just might not make sense. You may have to look at
example problems and try to work the new problems in a similar way. Even after
you can work some or most of the problems the material may still seem somewhat
confusing to you. It may (and probably will) happen that more new material will
be assigned before you feel comfortable with the old material. You must try to
work the new material even if some aspects of the previous work is unclear. Occasionally you must go back and rework some of
the problems that were confusing to you. It should happen that as new material
is attempted, some of the previous material that was confusing becomes clearer
to you. It can and usually does happen that material
that you thought you understood very well, may become somewhat confusing to you
as new material is learned. This happens to everyone at some time or another.
New material may seem to contradict things you thought you already knew well.
Do not panic. Go back to the older material, and rework a few problems. Examine
how the new material relates to the older material. Once you see how the new
material and the older material are related, your understanding of the older
material will be even greater than before. So what you thought you knew (up),
may become confusing (down), but eventually becomes clearer (up). This is the
up and down process in learning mathematics of which I was speaking. Remember
this is not high school, you cannot be taught everything you need to know in
the classroom. It is your responsibility to take the initiative to learn the
material. Most of the material will have to be learned by you outside of the
classroom, as classroom time is by necessity limited.
Do not hesitate to ask questions in class, for this is
how you can make the ideas and procedures make sense to you. In this way you
can actually understand the material, and perform satisfactorily on tests.
For each hour in class it will take most students with the proper
background about two hours to do the homework. So it will take someone with a
weak background even longer for each assignment.
First make sure you understand the theorem you are trying to learn to
prove. Make sure you understand all the definitions involved in the proof and
the theorem. Do not simply memorize the proof as this will not result in
success. When you merely memorize proofs, it is often the case that you will
get the proofs of two of more theorems mixed together, and your proofs will not
make sense. Instead, first try to
understand the main ideas in the proofs. Especially at first, you may have to
memorize the main steps in the proof. Even mathematicians will memorize the
main idea or ideas in some proofs. Once you have broken the proof down into
main steps, go about trying to understand the logic in each main step. You must
be able to work out the details of each main step on your own. You do not
understand the proof unless you are able to sketch out the proof within a few
minutes.
When some students try to learn proofs, they simply practice writing out
complete proofs of the theorem. Now every time the student wants to practice
the proof, they must write out a complete proof which takes time. If the
student had to study for twenty proofs it would take many hours to go over all
the proofs. By being able to sketch out the proof, the student can see if they
know the proof in minutes. Then a student can go over all the proofs in a few
hours. Of course this means that the student has to be able to fill in the
details of the proof from the sketch of the proof they have outlined.
Remember proofs are graded on correct grammar, correct mathematical
notation, correct logic, and organization of the proof. In English sentences
always start with words. While mathematical notation can and often must be used
in proofs, we do not use mathematical symbols for such that, therefore, etc.
First and foremost the proof must make sense to you. If the proof
doesn’t make sense to you, then you obviously do not understand the
proof. Secondly, the proof must make sense to the reader.
It is entirely the students responsibility to
keep up with all assignments. Being absent is no excuse for not turning in
assignments, not being prepared for tests, etc.
An assignment sheet giving the homework in advance for each day of the
semester will not be given, as it can be very difficult to follow any such
prearranged plan since every class is different. On some sections or chapters,
I may do part of the material, and then later come back and do the remaining
material. This allows the student to master the first part of the material, so
that the remainder of the material will be more understandable. It is a known
fact that it takes time for new or difficult material to be assimilated.
Homework assignments are given daily in each class, so it is each students responsibility to keep up with the assignments. By
having a somewhat flexible schedule, the opportunity is there to spend more
time on assignments that are particularly difficult for the class.
If you know in advance that you are going to miss class, check with me
for the assignments.
Students often ask why do homework when the
homework is not turned in to the instructor. The reasons are quite simple. One
works problems to learn the material. One learns the material to pass the
tests. One passes the tests to pass the course. One passes the courses to
graduate from college. One graduates from college to improve their career
possibilities.
The grade for all work missed for non-approved reasons will be a zero.
Approved reasons such as school sponsored events must be approved in advance.
Simply giving me your athletic schedule is not sufficient. If you must miss a
test because of reasons known to you in advance you must fill out the Request
for Missed Test Form and give it to me in advance. If you miss a test due to
reasons not known in advance such as sudden illness you must fill out the
Request for Missed Test Form and return it to me no later than one week after
returning to class. After I receive your request for a missed test I will
notify you as to my decision whether your reason is accepted. No more than one
missed hour test will be allowed. Failure to return the Request for Missed Test
Form to me on time will at the very least result in a lowering of your grade on
that test. If the request for a missed test is approved, the final exam grade
will be substituted for the test. Note that daily grades cannot be made up.
If you do not do as well as you wished on a test you are urged to see me
as soon as possible. Any student receiving a failing grade on any assignment or
exam is strongly urged to discuss this matter with me as soon as possible.
All academic dishonesty is expressly prohibited. The penalty for engaging
in academic dishonesty will be a failing grade for the course, or lesser
penalties as the instructor deems appropriate. Violations include BUT ARE NOT
LIMITED TO, the following actions: A. The use of unauthorized materials or the
receipt of unauthorized assistance during an examination or in the completion
of any other assignment, exercise, experiment or project for academic credit.
Unauthorized materials may include, but are not limited to, notes, textbooks,
previous examinations, exhibits, experiments, papers or other supplementary
items. B. Copying or utilizing information from a paper of another student
during an examination. C. Rendering unauthorized assistance to another student
by knowingly permitting him or her to copy an examination, project, paper,
assignment, exhibit, exercise, or other material to be submitted for academic
credit. D. Illegally obtaining or attempting to obtain unauthorized prior
knowledge of an examination or test materials. E. Selling or giving to another
student unauthorized copies of tests or examinations or research assignments.
F. The use of a commercially prepared term paper or research project or the
submission of a paper, project, or experiment completed by someone other than
the student submitting any of the above for academic credit. G. Falsifying
class attendance. H. Falsifying reasons why a student did not attend a required
class or take a scheduled examination. I. Taking an examination in the place of
another student. J. Making unauthorized change in any reported grade or on an
official academic report form. K. Unauthorized collaboration between two
students on an examination, paper, or project. L. Plagiarism -- the deliberate
act of copying, writing, or presenting as one's own the information, ideas, or
phrasing of another person without proper acknowledgment of their true source.
M. Making use of computing facilities in an academically dishonest manner.
All students will comply with the code of conduct and compliance with
official requests as outlined in the Jacksonville State University Student
Handbook. Disruptive behavior to the class or the instructor will not be
tolerated under any circumstances, and can result in severe academic and
criminal penalties. All cell phones must be turned off. If you must come into
late class or leave class early you must do this as quietly as possible, or
course coming late or leaving early may cause you to be counted absent.
Any individual who qualifies as determined by Disability Support Services
(DSS) at JSU for reasonable accommodations under The Americans With Disabilities Act or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation
Act of 1973 should contact me immediately. However it is entirely your
responsibility that you arrange for such approved accommodations before each
and every test. Failure to do so will not be considered a valid excuse to take
a makeup test.
Remember
you are expected to be in class. Lectures (even part of a lecture) cannot be
repeated. If you have specific questions about problems, I will be glad to
help. It is always best to make an appointment to see me as I am often busy.
Office
hours are by appointment, but I will usually be in class or in my office on
Monday and Wednesday and part of Friday. Check my door for precise office
hours..
You can get to my website by going directly to:
or you can go to JSU's
website and go through the following links:
Departments
Mathematical
Computing and Information Sciences
People
Dr. White