MAT 108
MATH FOR THE NATURAL SCIENCES
FALL, 2007
Times: MAT 108-04: TR 9:35 – 10:50 EN B303; MAT 108-05: MW 4:45 - 6:00 EN D125
Instructor: John Scheuermann
Office: EN D138
Office Phone: 392-5580 (You may leave voice-mail messages, but email preferred.)
E-mail address: scheuermanj1@southernct.edu
Website: http://home.southernct.edu/~scheuermanj1 All of the quizzes and tests from the previous times I
taught this course are here. I will email you a link to the site and a copy of the syllabus and the course goals.
Office Hours: MW 3:20 – 4:35; TR 11:00 – 12:15
Also by appointment or chance. You are always welcome to stop by and see if I am in.
Course Prerequisites: Passing grade in MAT 100 or MAT 102, or a satisfactory score on the Placement
Exam.
Text: Explorations in College Algebra, 3rd Edition, Linda Almgren Kime and Judith Clark, John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. We will cover Chapters 1, 2, and 4-7.
Equipment: Students must have a calculator that can do exponentials and logarithms. A graphing
calculator is recommended.
General:
You are responsible for any material covered in lecture, the text, and the assigned homework
problems. Please bring your textbook and calculator with you to each class.
According to University Policy, an average student should expect to work on course material at least
two to three hours outside of class for each hour spent in class.
Students are encouraged to seek help when needed from the instructor. Office hours have been
established for that purpose. You do not need an appointment to see me during office hours. Don’t wait till
the day before a test or the week before the final to get help! If you are not satisfied with how well you are
doing in the class, come and talk to me. If you get D’s and F’s on your tests and don’t come and talk to me,
I will assume you are satisfied with getting D’s and F’s.
The University also offers a free tutoring service that many students have found useful. I will let you
know the schedule for this course when it becomes available.
Make sure you have someone in the class you can get notes and assignments from if you miss a class.
Do not call or email me to ask what was covered or assigned.
If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, if you have emergency
medical information to share with me, or if you need special arrangements in case the building must be
evacuated, please see me as soon as possible.
Grading:
Your grade will be determined as follows (no extra credit work will be given):
Quizzes
16%
3 One-hour exams
17% each
Cumulative Final Exam
33%
A-(90-92.9), A(93-96.9), A+(97-100)
C(70-76.9), C+(77-79.9)
F
Below 60
B-(80-82.9), B(83-86.9), B+(87-89.9)
D-(60-62.9), D(63-66.9), D+(67-69.9)
You will be graded on more than just your answers. Problems must be solved in a neat, clear, and
mathematically correct manner using correct notation. You must be able to clearly communicate your
results with others. If I cannot read it or understand it, it is wrong. Any answers that are given without
sufficient supporting work or explanation will be given zero credit. All scratch paper used must be turned in
with your work. If you lose any points because of the presentation of the answers on quizzes, you will be
able to get the points back if you rewrite and resubmit the problems in an acceptable format. Note that this
opportunity will not be given for tests or for answers without supporting work.
I take off extra points for wrong answers that should have been easy to check (such as equations of
lines) or for answers that you should have known were obviously wrong. If you know your answer is wrong
but aren’t sure how to fix it, make sure to state that on the test.
WARNING: This class starts off easy, but then gets harder. If you get below a “B” on the first test,
there is a good chance you will end up with a “D” or “F”!
Honesty:
Cheating is anything the instructor decides is cheating. If there is any chance that what you want to
do will be considered cheating, ask first! Cheating on any test (or quiz) will result in a grade of 0 (and will
not be dropped) for that work. You will also be reported to the dean. If you are caught cheating on a quiz or
test that I let you take outside the scheduled time, you will automatically fail the course!
Homework:
Homework will be assigned daily, but will not be collected or graded. You should do as many of the
assigned problems as you need to do in order to convince yourself that you could do all of those assigned.
We will spend time at the beginning of each class going over any of the homework any student had trouble
with. Students are encouraged to discuss the problems or work together with their classmates. Answers to
the odd-numbered exercises are in the back of the book. You should also do the Algebra Aerobics problems
in each section. Even though homework does not count directly toward your grade, the amount of
homework you do will have a huge impact on how well you do in the course! Try not to fall behind – it
is difficult to catch up in a math class.
In every class I have taught so far, test results and quiz results are almost always very similar. Thus,
bad quiz scores (less than 20 out of 25) should be taken as a warning! Don’t just write down the corrections
for a wrong quiz problem and then think you can do it. Instead, go to my old tests or the book to find similar
problems and make sure you can get the correct answers.
Keep all homework problems that you do together in a separate folder or place in a notebook. I may
ask to see it if you are having trouble in class.
Attendance Policy:
Students are strongly urged to attend every class. Although attendance will not count directly
toward your grade, regular attendance will also have a huge impact on how you do on the tests! I do not take
attendance, but I do notice who does and doesn’t attend class. If you miss a class, get the notes from a
friend, read the book, try the homework, and then come see me if you still need help. Do not call or email
me requesting missed assignments or sections covered.
Make-up Policy:
In general, make-up exams will not be given. If you miss a quiz, you may take it at the beginning of
the next class (subject to the cheating rule mentioned above!). However, you may only take 2 late quizzes
during the semester. If you miss an exam due to an emergency or other extenuating circumstances, you must
contact me as soon as possible. Do not wait until the next class. You can always call me and leave a voicemail message or send me an e-mail. If you miss an exam for any reason I don’t consider legitimate, you
will get a zero on that exam. An excused absence on an exam will result in the other exams (21% each)
and the final (42%) counting more towards your final grade.
Late Withdrawals: I do not give late withdrawals unless there are extenuating circumstances. Doing
poorly is not an extenuating circumstance.
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Missed Classes: If we miss a class for any reason, whatever was scheduled for the missed class will be
done the first day back. Call 392-SNOW to find out about snow delays and cancellations.
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