Syllabus

This web page is http://www.bernstein-plus-sons.com/.dowling/MTH1014S13/MTH1014_Syllabus.html
Copyright © 2003, 2013 Herbert J. Bernstein and other parties. All rights reserved.

This is the syllabus for an online section of MTH 1014A for Spring 2013. As the course moves forward, students should return to this page frequently for updated material. This syllabus is based in part on course materials by Prof. R. Grinnell, whose assistance is gratefully acknowledged. This syllabus applies only to the specified section. Students taking other sections should consult the course materials for those sections.

Catalog description:

The Spring 2013 section is:

Pre-Calculus - 20436 - MTH 1014A - 0

Associated Term: Winter/Spring 2013 Registration Dates: Nov 08, 2013 to May 13, 2013 Levels: Undergraduate Attributes: Liberal Arts Instructors: Herbert J. Bernstein (P) Dowling On Line Campus Lecture Schedule Type On Line Instructional Method 3.000 Credits View Catalog Entry Scheduled Meeting Times Type Time Days Where Date Range Schedule Type Instructors On line TBA   Internet teaching on line LINE Jan 28, 2013 - May 13, 2013 Lecture Herbert J. Bernstein (P)

This Section

This is an online section of MTH 1014. All activities for this course are handled via the internet and students do not need to be physically present at Dowling College to take this course. Students do need a computer with access to the internet with a web browser and with the program Skype. Skype is used for meetings with the instructor and for the final exam. Students are welcome to meet with the instructor face-to-face and will have the option of taking the final on-site at Dowling College instead of via Skype, if they wish.

Instructor:

• Name: Prof. Herbert J. Bernstein
• Office: Brookhaven Campus A210, Lab: Brookhaven Campus B205
• Phone: +1-631-244-1935
• Email:

Office Hours:

• by appointment:
• Tuesday 1:30 pm -- 3:00 pm in B205 at the Brookhaven campus
• Wednesday 1:00 pm -- 2:00 pm in KSC 103 on the Oakdale Campus
• Thursday 1:30 pm -- 3:00 pm in B205 at the Brookhaven campus

Students have the option of meeting with the instructor either on-site or via Skype. In order to avoid conflicts with other students and other obligations of the instructor, if possible please make an appointment via email.

Note that, in general, Dr. Bernstein will be at the Brookhaven campus on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday afternoons and on the Oakdale campus on Wednesday afternoons. Meetings on the Oakdale campus will be in KSC 103.

For more information see http://www.bernstein-plus-sons.com/.dowling/HJB_Contact_Info.html.

Please note that excellent tutors are available at the Academic Service Center (ASC) at the Racanelli Center, +1-631-244-3141. Students are encouraged to make use of the ASC. Tutoring, drill and working in study groups are very helpful in mastering mathematics.

Text and required materials:

• Michael Sullivan, "Algebra and Trigonometry", 8th ed., -- 2008, ISBN: 9780132329033. Feel free to order used copies online, to share texts with other students, or take other steps to save money, but you really need access to this text. The Sullivan text specified is not the same as the one being used by the other sections. This is the out-of-print 8th edition that is available both new and used online much more inexpensively than even the used paperback versions of later editions. Be sure to get the 8th edition.
• Fred Safier, "Schaum's Outline of Precalculus", 3rd ed. -- 2013, ISBN: 9780071795593. You will find this text a very helpful source of essential points to remember and of practice problems. Once again, feel free to order used copies online, to share texts with other students, or take other steps to save money, but you really need access to this text.
• Computer with webcam. This is an online course. You must have a computer with internet access and a webcam. On that computer you will need to have a good web browser and a recent version of Skype. You need a computer with a webcam to be able to participate in Skype sessions. You will also need it to take quizzes and exams, as a way to get to online drills and videos and as a possible alternative to a calculator. Each student should have access to a computer or to a calculator to do exercises for this class. The computer should have a modern spreadsheet program. The calculator should be a "scientific calculator" or a "graphing calculator".

Attendance:

This is an online class, with no on-site meetings. The major risk in taking an on line course is in failing to make steady progress through the semester. Therefore, all students are required both to demonstrate their progress with on-line quizzes and assignments and to attend at least one online meeting every 2 weeks with the instructor to discuss the work they are doing for this class. Students are encouraged to schedule these online meetings in groups via Skype, but they may meet the requirement with individual Skype meetings or by on-site meetings during office hours.

Students who fail to maintain regular contact with the instructor prior to the midterm will get a midterm warning and be advised to withdraw from the course.

Regular Progress in the Course:

In order to make regular progress in this course, student must view the video lectures, read the text, do the assignments, and, most importantly, take the quizzes on the assignments page. Those quizzes will be submitted electronically to the instuctor.

Grading Policy:

• Weekly quizzes: 40%
• Midterm Exam: 20%
• Comprehensive Final: 40%

Course Objectives

• To develop the skills necessary to the study of Calculus;
• To develop the skills necessary to the study of Discrete Math;
• To re-enforce the student's understanding of basic algebra and geometry;
• To explore the concept of a function; and
• To understand polynomial, exponential, logarithmic and trigonometric functions.

Course Topics

Unlike the typical in-class section of Pre-Calculus, we will try not to skip any topics. You are to different extents responsible for every Chapter in Sullivan. Chapters R through 2 are materials you should already have learned, and some of you will be able to work through them quickly. Chapters 3 through 8 are the essential core of the course. The remaining chapters are useful supplemental material. If you are serious about a future in math and work steadily, at the rate of one chapter per calendar week, you should just manage to finish by the end of the semester. If you don't have the interest or don't have the time right now, your essential goal is to make it to the end of Chapter 8 by the end of the semester, and you may just view the later chapters as a place to go for extra credit material if you need it. To have a decent chance of getting through Chapter 8 by the end of the semester, please, be sure to get into Chapter 3 by week 4.

• Review (Sullivan Chapter R)
• Equations and Inequalities (Sullivan Chapter 1)
• Graphs (Sullivan Chapter 2)
• Functions and Their Graphs (Sullivan Chapter 3)
• Linear and Quadratic Functions (Sullivan Chapter 4)
• Polynomial and Rational Functions (Sullivan Chapter 5)
• Exponential and Logarithmic functions (Sullivan Chapter 6)
• Trigonometric Functions (Sullivan Chapter 7)
• Analytic Trigonometry (Sullivan Chapter 8)
• Applications of Trigonometric Functions (Sullivan Chapter 9)
• Polar Coordinates; Vectors (Sullivan Chapter 10)
• Analytic Geometry (Sullivan Chapter 11)
• Systems of Equations and Inequalities (Sullivan Chapter 12)
• Sequences; Induction, the Binomial Theorem (Sullivan Chapter 13)
• Counting and Probability (Sullivan Chapter 14)

Assignments