Math 120 -Fall 2003
Mary Robinson-Instructor
Office: Academic Office; Phone: 925-8622
email: maryrobn@unm.edu
PHInteractive Math Address: http://www.phinteractivemath2.com
Office Hours By Appointment

COURSE DESCRIPTION AND STRUCTURE:  Math 120, Intermediate Algebra, is for students who are not prepared to begin Math 121. The course covers   linear graphing, polynomials, factoring, linear, rational and radical equations, and includes a brief introduction to logarithms.. Prerequisites:  Placement from testing or ACT scores, or a C or better in Math 100. Not open to students with credit for mathematics courses numbered 121 or above.

FORMAT: This course will be conducted over the Internet through Prentice Hall Interactive Math.  Students will be expected to read and study the textbook to understand and become proficient with the material.  The instructor will communicate with students via email both to the class as a whole and to individual students.  Students may also contact the instructor either in person or by telephone for assistance with course materials.

TEXTBOOK:  Beginning and Intermediate Algebra, Second Edition; K. Elayn Martin-Gay.  Students will need to pick up a Student Access Code CD from the Academic Office.  Lecture videos for the textbook will be provided to students on this CD.  More complete lecture lecture videos are accessible through The Learning Center and the Valencia Campus Library at no charge.  Software which was written for this textbook is also available for extra tutorial practice in The Learning Center Developmental Studies Computer Lab.

SUPPORT SERVICES: The Valencia Campus Library provides a quiet atmosphere for study and is an excellent resource for supplementary materials. The Learning Center offers tutorial and individualized instruction as well as open computer labs. In addition to these services, the Computer Labs in V123 and V124 provide access to email and World Wide Web, as well as word processing, mathematics, and other useful software packages, including Math Pro IV, which is intended for use with our textbook. Both the Learning Center and the UNM VC Library have video CD's of lectures from your textbook.    All of these services are offered at no extra cost to students.

ATTENDANCE POLICY: Due to the nature of the Internet Course, no in-class attendance will be required (see requirements for Mid-Term and Final Exams listed below). Students are expected to stay on schedule and complete assignments on time, in addition to obtaining necessary help from the instructor or tutors. However, due to a new policy at Valencia Campus spurred by financial aid and other administrative requirements, attendance records will need to be kept for all courses including this one.  The attendance I report for you will be determined by whether you have made progress in the course during each week.  If even some progress in the course is made each week, you will be marked as having attended class during that week.  If no progress is made in the course during any week, you will be marked as absent for that week.

GRADES: Grades will be available on a constant basis on Prentice Hall Interactive Math and WebCT. To access your grades for any individual assignment, click on the View Gradebook tab at the top of your homepage in PhInteractive Math. To access your individual assignment grades AND your overall course grade, you must access the UNM WebCT site at http://webct.unm.edu.  In order to access this site you must have a UNM email address which serves as your login name for WebCT.  The cumulative grade which shows on PhInteractive Math is NOT your overall course grade.  Please be aware that your overall course grade can be accessed ONLY through WebCT.

HOMEWORK AND SECTION POST-TESTS: Exercises for each section of text are available in the textbook and in the PHInteractive Math online course.  At the beginning of each section, PHim2 offers an Introduction, Step by Step Explanations, Tutorial Videos, Practice and Assessment.  Although the practice and assessment exercises will not count toward the course grade, students should work through each section in the online course and read, review and practice until they are confident that they both understand and are able to successfully complete everything in the section.  Students should also make use of the exercise sets in the textbook for additional practice.  "Help" icons are located at the bottom of the screen in the practice exercises and can be used to explain troublesome ideas.  Be sure to follow all instructions given in the exercise as the computer will count an answer as wrong if instructions are not followed. To the right of the answer box there is a green icon which, when clicked, provides a symbol manipulator to insert mathematical symbols into the answer box.  This may be used whenever a student finds a need to use a mathematical symbol in an answer. Section Post Tests will represent a homework grade and will count as 10% of your grade.  No Section Post Test should be taken until its related section has been completed.  You may do as many practice and assessment sets as necessary in each section, however only one try will be given on the Section Post-Tests.  No "helps" will be available on the Section Post Tests and you are strongly urged not to use text or notes to complete the Section Post Tests.   No graphing calculators, text or notes will be allowed on the Mid-Term or Final Exams and you need to practice on the Section Post-Tests to get ready for the Mid-Term and Final Exams.

CHAPTER POST-TESTS:  Chapter Post-Tests will represent what you have learned in each chapter of the course.  You should not take a Chapter Post Test until you have completed all the sections and all the Section Post Tests.  You will have only one attempt at the Chapter Post-Tests.  Chapter Post Tests will represent tests for each individual chapter and will count for 10% of your grade. You are strongly urged not to use text or notes to complete the Chapter Post Tests.  No graphing calculators, text or notes will be allowed on the Mid-Term or Final Exams and you need to practice on the Section Post-Tests to get ready for the Mid-Term and Final Exams.

MID-TERM AND FINAL EXAMS:  The Mid-Term and Final Exams will be proctored and must be taken in the Learning Center on Valencia Campus, or another approved (by the instructor) proctored site.  Off-site proctored exams will be permitted only for students living out of the Albuquerque/Los Lunas area. No graphing calculators, texts or notes will be allowed on the Final Exam.   No new material will be assigned after Week 16, and you will have until Wed., Dec. 17 at 7:30 PM to complete your Final Exam.  You will need to notify the Learning Center personnel to let them know when you will be coming in to take the Final Exam.   The Learning Center closes at 8:30 PM each evening of the Fall 2003 Semester except during Final Exams week when it will close at 7:30 PM.   If you are not able to get to the Learning Center to complete your Final Exam during the their operating hours, please contact me and special arrangements will be made for you to come in to take the Mid-Term and/or Final Exam.

TIMELINE:

The timeline for this course can be found in the online Syllabus in PhInteractive Math Course. Assignments are posted as to what should be completed weekly.   Sixteen (16) weeks are listed with assignments designated to be completed during each week. You should stay on track and make sure you complete the work that is assigned for each week.  Math 120 contains much new material and getting behind will make it extremely difficult for you to complete the course in the allotted 16 week time period.

You may contact me in several ways.  My office phone (also listed above) is 925-8622.  My home phone is 866-0451.  My email is maryrobn@unm.edu .  My cell phone is 249-9590.   You can also send email through PhInteractive Math.  If you want to contact the whole class, you can do it through PhInteractive Math or through the class listserv Math120-L@maillist.unm.edu.

If you have any additional questions, please contact me immediately.