MATH 115 Section E1
Fall 2014
Instructor: Sarah Yeakel, 169 Altgeld, email: yeakel2@illinois.edu
Office Hours: M 3-4 and T 10-11 or by appointment.
Meeting Times: MWF 1:00 - 2:50 PM in 447 Altgeld
Website: http://www.math.illinois.edu/∼yeakel2/math115f14.html
Textbook: Your lecture notes should be sufficient for this course and may be considered the
required text. I will be following parts of the Precalculus book (2nd Edition) by John Coburn. This
book will be on reserve in the Mathematics Library. You are not required to purchase this book
and assigned exercises from the book will always be provided for you. A recommended book for
this course is Stewart’s Calculus: Early Transcendentals, 7th edition, required by UIUC for Math
220, 221, 231, and 241, the calculus sequence.
Prerequisites: A minimum score of 50% on a U of I ALEKS placement test taken between April
15, 2014 and August 29, 2014 or you will be automatically dropped from the course. For further
information about ALEKS, see www.math.illinois.edu/ALEKS/ .
Code of Conduct: To facilitate an appropriate learning environment, it is essential that all
distractions be kept to a minimum. Students should arrive on time and ready to learn. All cell
phones should be silenced and music players put away at the beginning of class. Students who
carry on conversations, text message, use laptops, or eat noisily during class will be asked to do so
outside of the classroom.
Homework and Classwork: Practice is the key to understanding many mathematical concepts,
so completing homework problems is crucial. Homework will be assigned on the class website and
due at least once weekly. These will be collected at the start of lecture and no late work will
be accepted. It is your responsibility to visit the website periodically to make sure you’re aware
of any new homework assignments. A selection of problems from each written homework will be
graded, and you will receive a score based on correctness of the selected problems and completeness
and neatness of the assignment. You must provide justification for your answers or you will receive
no partial credit.
We will have in-class groupwork at least twice every week. You are expected to be present and
active during this time in order to receive credit. One (randomly chosen) hand-in per group will
be graded, and that grade will be assigned to all members of the group. Late work will not be
accepted. At the end of the semester the two lowest classwork grades and the two lowest homework
scores will be dropped when calculating your course grade.
Tests and Quizzes: There will be three exams and ten to twelve weekly 20 minute quizzes on
Fridays. There will be NO make-up exams or quizzes. An absence on a quiz day will result in a
0 on that quiz, and the lowest two quiz grades will be dropped. If you must miss an exam due to
illness or other emergency, then within one week of the exam date you must contact the Emergency
Dean (300 Turner Student Services Building, 610 East John St., 333-0050) and ask them for a
letter excusing your absence. In this case, the grade on the corresponding part of the final exam
will replace the zero for the missed exam. This replacement policy may be used for only one missed
exam.
Final Exam: The final exam for this course will be cumulative and will be administered Thursday,
December 18th, 7:00pm-10:00pm. The room of the final will be announced later in the course.
Failure to take the final exam will result in a failing grade for the semester, regardless of current
standing in the class.
Calculator Policy: Calculators may NOT be used on quizzes, exams, or the final, unless specified
by the instructor before the exam. This includes all technology with calculator capabilities.
Grade Weighting:
15% Homework
10% Classwork
15% Quizzes
30% 3 exams (10% each)
30% Final exam
Grading Scale: The grading scale will be no worse
[98, 100]
A+
[83, 87)
B
[70,73)
[93, 98)
A
[80,83)
B[67,70)
[90, 93)
A[77,80)
C+
[63,67)
[87, 90)
B+
[73,77)
C
[60,63)
than
CD+
D
D-
Below 60
F
Attendance Policy: It is your responsibility to come to class. If you miss all or part of a class,
you should contact someone else in the class to get the lecture notes and announcements. There
will be a lot of in-class collaboration, and it isn’t fair to others in the class if you let yourself fall
behind on the material.
Extra Help: Do not hesitate to come to my office during office hours or by appointment to discuss a homework problem or any aspect of the course. Information about free or private tutoring
can be found at http://www.math.illinois.edu/UndergraduateProgram/tutoring.html. Additional
resources are your classmates who are all working on the same material, so you are encouraged to
work together on the homework. The AAP program has free online tutoring through SmartThinking, and OMSA (Office of Minority Students) offers free tutoring on campus. More information is
available on the class website.
Academic Honesty: Students must avoid both the fact and the appearance of academic dishonesty. Cheating on quizzes, tests, or the final exam is strictly prohibited and will result in serious
consequences. In particular, cheating may result in an “F” for the course and be reported to both
the student’s college and the Senate Committee on Student Discipline.
Important Dates: (The in-class exam dates are subject to change. You will be given at least a
week’s notice of any changes.)
Drop (without a W) Deadline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . October 17
Exam 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Friday, September 19
Exam 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Friday, October 17
Exam 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Friday, November 21
Thanksgiving Break . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . November 28-30
Reading Day (no classes) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . December 11
Course Final . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thursday, December 18
Accommodation: Students with disabilities who require reasonable accommodations to participate in this class should see me and contact DRES (www.disability.uiuc.edu) as soon as possible.
I need to be notified with official documentation no later than one week into the course. Any
accommodation on tests must be made at least one week in advance and will require a letter from
DRES.