10:30 – 11:40, Ivers 218
Concordia College, Spring 2012
Dr. Anders Hendrickson ahendric@cord.edu
http://www.cord.edu/faculty/ahendric/
Ivers 234G
299-4742
Textbook: Finite Mathematics & Its Applications , by Goldstein, Schneider, and Siegel, supplemented with handouts
Course Website: http://www.cord.edu/faculty/ahendric/203/
Bookmark this page! Your homework assignments will be posted here, along with copies of all handouts and computer slideshows.
Office Hours:
My official office hours are Tuesday 1:00–2:00, Wednesday 3:00–4:00, Thursday 8:15–
9:15, and Friday 2:00–3:00. These are of course a minimum , not a maximum: you can also often catch me in my office at other times. If you want to be sure to find me, just email me or catch me after class, and we’ll set up an appointment.
Catalog Description and Prerequisite:
The course examines combinatorics, probability, statistics, matrices, systems of linear equations, linear inequalities and mathematics of finance.
Prerequisite: High school higher algebra.
Curriculum Goals:
Success in this course will help you “responsibly engage the world” because
• You will better understand mathematics, a language used (and sometimes abused) in psychology, sociology, politics, economics, business, natural science, and elsewhere.
• You will learn not only to think rigorously and thoroughly, but also to communicate your thoughts clearly and precisely.
Attendance:
You are expected to attend all classes. Material will be covered in class that is not covered in the book! Absences due to emergencies, illness, or college activities are excused, but please let me know in advance so we can arrange makeup work. Absence on the date of an exam, without prior arrangements, results in a zero score.

Finite Math Syllabus - Spring 2012 10:30 – 11:40 Page 2 of 4
Etiquette:
You are expected to treat me and your fellow students with respect. In particular,
• Silence your cell phone ringers and remove your headphones before class starts.
• Do not read newspapers or other extraneous material in class.
• Do not send or receive text messages while in class.
Every time I see you violating these rules, I will immediately dock 5 points from your final course grade.
Academic Integrity (Cheating is Pathetic):
All exams, quizzes, and homework assignments are subject to Concordia’s policy on academic integrity ( http://www.cord.edu/academic/catalog/integrity.html
). In particular, quizzes and exams are to be completed without any assistance from others.
This should not need saying, but cheating will not be tolerated. It is an offense against
God, against me, and against your classmates who work honestly. If I find evidence of cheating on a test or homework assignment, you will receive zero points on that assignment.
Calculators:
A calculator is required for this course; I recommend a scientific calculator like the
TI-30 or TI-83 that has parenthesis buttons ( and ) . A graphing calculator, while expensive, is by far the easiest to use. Cell phones may not be used as calculators on exams. Do note that on many problems you must give an exact answer, not just a decimal approximation, and I reserve the right to make some problems, assignments, or exams calculator-free. Most importantly, don’t make the calculator your main tool —it cannot take the place of careful thought.
Homework: (Read this!!)
Homework will be assigned and corrected almost every class period. The homework assignments will be announced in class and posted on the course website.
If you happen to miss class, you are responsible for looking up the homework on the website.
Homework assignments are due at the beginning of the next class period. ( After it is collected, I may answer a few questions about the problems, so make notes on a separate sheet of paper about what puzzled you most!)
You may—indeed, you are encouraged to—cooperate with classmates to complete the homework, but you must write up your own solutions to hand in.
Homework exercises are to be written neatly, and multiple pages must be stapled together before you come to class. Do not use paper from a spiral notebook unless you tear off the ragged edge cleanly. Put your name on the paper.
Messy, unstapled, or ragged homework will lose points; nameless homework receives no points.
Late homework will not be accepted, excepted when necessitated by lengthy
Concordia-sponsored events such as tours. To accommodate illnesses, family emergencies, etc., your three lowest homework grades will be dropped at the end of the semester. The remaining total homework grade will be scaled to 100 points.

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Applied Projects:
During the course of the semester there will be three group projects, which will be completed in pairs outside of class time. You will have at least three weeks to complete each project.
Quizzes and Exams:
Quizzes may be given throughout the semester, at my discretion. There will be four in-class exams, currently scheduled for Wednesday, February 2; Friday, February 17;
Friday, March 16; and Monday, April 2. Absence on the day of an exam results in a zero score, unless you have made prior arrangements with me as soon as you know of the conflict and I agree that the conflict is worthy of a make-up exam. (For example, family vacations, Caribbean cruises, and hockey tickets are not valid conflicts.) The final exam will be held on Friday, May 4 from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Following college policy, there will be no alternate times provided to take the final exam. Do not make any travel arrangements to leave campus, whether for breaks or at the end of the semester, that endanger your ability to take the exams. “My parents bought the ticket” is not a valid excuse.
Extra Credit:
I offer three principal sources of extra credit in this course.
• First, on some of the homework assignments I will designate one or more problems as extra credit (“XC”) problems.
• Second, the department offers a colloquium series some Tuesdays at 2:45 p.m.; you can earn up to 10 extra credit points by attending one of the colloquium talks and turning in a two-page written report about the colloquium. (If you have another class at 2:40 on Tuesday, you may watch the colloquium on video instead; look for the link on the course website.) Your report should have two sections: in the first, you should summarize the material presented; in the second, you should give some of your own reactions to the material. The report is due in class the Monday following the colloquium. You may earn a limit of 20 extra credit points this way.
• Third, throughout your textbook you will find “Chapter Projects” (see the table of contents). You may earn extra credit by completing those projects in written form; the amount of extra credit awarded will depend both on the difficulty of the project and on how well you complete it. You may earn up to 30 extra credit points this way. All projects must be turned in to me by April 23.
Additional resources:
If you would like some extra help in this class, you have a couple of options. First, there will be a tutor for Finite Math available every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday in Ivers
218 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Second, the Academic Enhancement and Writing Center
(AEWC) offers free math tutoring Sunday through Thursday of every week from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. in Fjelstad B06. The AEWC has even more tutoring options available if you’re willing to commit to meeting with a tutor two hours per week; contact them at
299-4551. Finally, call or email me, or stop by my office! I want you to succeed in this class.

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Mae Anderson Alumni Lectures:
In honor of the centennial of Concordia’s Mathematics Department, and in memory of
Mae Anderson, one of the early chairs of the department, several math and computer science alumni will be returning to campus on January 20 to talk about their work!
The talks will be held in Ivers all day long on January 20, and you are encouraged to come to some of them to learn how mathematics is used in the worlds of business, science, and academics. In particular, I am canceling class that day so that you can go to the 10:30 talk by Grant Weller.
Schedule:
Class meets every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10:30 to 11:40 in Ivers 218, with just a few exceptions. Please make note of the following special dates:
Wednesday, January 11 First day of class
Friday, January 20 No class – Mae Anderson alumni lectures
Wednesday, February 2 Exam 1
Friday, February 17 Exam 2
Monday, February 27 No class – Spring break
Wednesday, February 29 No class – Spring break
Friday, March 2
No class
– Spring break
Friday, March 16 Exam 3
Monday, April 2
Friday, April 6
Monday, April 9
Monday, April 30
Friday, May 4
Exam 4
No class
– Good Friday
No class – Easter Monday, and my birthday
Last day of class
Final exam, 8:30 to 10:30 a.m.
Grading Scale:
Grades will be computed according to the scale below. If at any point during the semester you wish to know your current grade, please come to my office.
Quizzes & Homework 100 points
Group Projects
Exam 1
Exam 2
Exam 3
Exam 4
Final Exam
Total
100 points
100 points
100 points
100 points
100 points
100 points
700 points
651–700 (93-100%) A
630–650 (90-92%) A −
609–629 (87-89%) B+
581–608 (83-86%) B
560–580 (80-82%) B −
539–559 (77-79%) C+
511–538 (73-76%) C
490–510 (70-72%) C −
469–489 (67-69%) D+
441–468 (63-66%) D
420–440 (60-62%) D −
0–419 (0-59%) F