This document lists general policies that relate to grading and requirements for this course. Specific information, such as the title of the textbook, schedule of exams, etc., will be listed on the course Syllabus handout.
Textbook and Required Materials
The textbook required for this course will be listed on the course Syllabus handout. The student must purchase this textbook -- it will be available at the University Bookstore, and possibly at other locations as well. Other materials, such as a calculator, may also be required for the course. Again, the student must purchase such materials. If any such materials are required, they will be listed on the course Syllabus handout.
Prerequisites
Math courses are often planned as part of a sequence of courses. For this or other reasons, the courses will have other courses or material as prerequisite requirements for entry into the course. The prerequisites for a course are listed in the Course Catalogue, and will also be listed on the course Syllabus handout. Such courses and material are the responsibility of the student -- there will generally not be enough time in a course to review the prerequisite material.
Exams
There will be three in-class exams during the semester. These exams will be timed, 60-minute exams. The final exam will also be timed, 2 hours, as scheduled during Examination Week at the end of the semester. See the course Syllabus handout for the specific exam schedule for this course. The in-class exams will be graded on a 50-point scale, and the final exam on a 100-point scale.
Homework
The course will include homework assignments given frequently (sometimes as often as daily) throughout the course. Grades will be assigned to each such assignment separately. For example, daily assignments may be graded on a 0-5 scale. For the purpose of figuring such assignments into the final course grade, all such homework grades will be added together, divided by the total number of points available, then weighted according to the Course Grade formula below. Each student should turn in his/her own paper, signed and dated. For regular homework assignments, handwritten papers are acceptable, provided they are neat and legible. Daily homework assignments might not be collected daily -- instead, you may be asked to keep daily assignments in a homework notebook, with the notebook collected every week or two.
Online Homework
Depending on availability of appropriate online resources, some courses may have some or all homework assignments made online. If the online resources support it, such homeworks will be graded online, and grades made available immediately after the time the assignment is due. Grades for online homeworks will be computed using the same scale as other similar kinds of homework (e.g. on 0-5 scale for daily online homeworks, as above). See the Course Syllabus handout for details about online homework (if available) in your course.
Other Assignments
Other assignments may also be given during the semester. Such assignments may range from in-class pop quizes to group assignments or projects outside of class. These assignments are not extra credit assignments. The grades for such assignments will be based on the scale used for regular homework assignments. For example, a group assignment may be equivalent to three homework assignments, and would be graded on a 0-15 scale; a pop quiz, on the other hand, would be graded on a 0-2 scale. If an assignment is to be completed as a group, the group should submit a single paper, and all members of the group will get the same grade. All such grades will be added together will the homework grades and figured into the Course Grade formula below in the Homework category.
Extra Credit
Individual extra credit assignments are not available in this course. If you are having difficulty in the course, seek help -- come see me during my office hours, or use one of the other resources listed in the Getting Help section below.
Late Assignments
In classes with daily and/or online homework assignments, late homework assignments will not be accepted. If you know you are going to miss class, have a friend either bring your assignment to class or drop it in my mailbox in the Math Department office in Ayers Hall, room 104. Telling me in advance that you will be missing class is not a sufficient excuse for turning your homework in late.
Make-Up Exams
If you tell me at least one day in advance that you must miss an exam, I will schedule a make-up exam for another time. If you do not tell me in advance, but miss the exam, your grade on that exam will be a zero. If you come to me the morning before the exam and ask to reschedule, the answer will be ``No.'' The only exception to this policy is in the case of a medical illness or similar situation, but this must be documented.
Course Grade
The cummulative course grade will be computed using the following formula of weights for grades given during the semester:
| 3 in-class exams: | 17% each |
| Final exams: | 34% |
| Homework: | 15% |
Grade Curving
The grade you receive on an exam will be the numerical grade (on a 50-point scale for the in-class exams, on a 100-point scale for the final exam). Grade curves are applied as a process of translating numerical grades into letter grades -- since letter grades are not assigned for the exams, no curve will be applied at that time. If a grade curve is to be applied in this course (and I strongly prefer not to apply a curve, if possible), the decision to do so will be made only after all exams and homeworks have been graded and compiled into a course cummulative numerical grade (calculated on a 100-point scale). A grade curve, if there is to be one, will be applied only in translating this course cummulative numerical grade into a letter grade. With no curve applied, the letter grade scale will be a standard 10-point scale: 90-100 is an A, 80-90 is a B, etc. If a grade curve is applied, it would have the effect of stretching this scale to an 11-point scale (89-100 is an A, 78-89 is a B, etc.) or a 12-point scale (88-100 is an A, 76-88 is a B, etc.). Since a 12-point scale would allow a 52 to be a passing grade, I would not stretch the scale any further than that.
To determine your standing in the course on a letter-grade basis using your exam grades up to that time, first average your exam grades so far, then apply the 10-point grade scale (since in-class exams are on a 50-point scale, this would actually be a 5-point scale: 45-50 is an A, 40-45 is a B, etc.). This is the approach I will use to compute a grade at the time that midterm grade reports are due, typically after the second exam. If your grade computed this way at midterm is near the border between two letter grades, I will look at your homework grades more closely to determine if the higher letter grade is warranted. Keep in mind, though, that only midterm grades of D and F are reported.
Attendance
The department policy on attendance is that if you don't attend at least 80% of the class meetings for a course, you can fail the course. So as a matter of general principle, you should attend every class. Attendance has a direct impact on your course grade in several ways: if you miss a class, you are responsible for the material covered in that class, as well as for homework assignments collected during that class or pertaining to material covered during that class; also, if you miss a pop quiz or other in-class assignment without telling me in advance that you will be absent, your grade on that quiz is a zero.
Preparing for Class
Before coming to class, you should:
Working in Groups
You are encouraged to work together on regular homework assignments. However, each student should turn in his/her own paper -- keep in mind also that copying is a violation of the University's academic standards. Some additional assignments may be given as group assignments -- in such a case, you are expected to work together, and your group should submit only one paper, signed by all members. Some in-class activities may also involve group work. Working together on an exam or quiz is, of course, forbidden.
Cheating
Cheating in any form is not tolerated. Any student who is caught cheating may receive an automatic grade of ``F'' for the course and may be subject to further disciplinary action under university guidelines. See the Student Handbook (``Academic Honesty'' -- p. 17) for actions considered cheating. The handbook is available online at http://www.jsu.edu/depart/handbook.
Accomodations
Any student who qualifies for reasonable accommodations (under The Americans with Disabilities Act or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973) should contact me (the Instructor) immediately.
Civility
All students are expected to attend class fully prepared with appropriate materials and all devices which make noise turned to the off position (e.g., cellular phones, pagers, personal stereos, etc.). Any student behavior deemed disruptive by the Instructor will result in expulsion of the student from the classroom, with an absence for the day and possible disciplinary action.
Getting Help
If you need help with homework or class work outside of class, you should first contact me during my office hours (see below for schedule). There are also several other services on campus which provide tutoring and other assistance. The Academic Center for Excellence (ACE), located in the Theron Montgomery Building, and ACE Learning Services (LS), located in the Houston Cole Library building, provide several assistance programs. Other student service offices, such as the Office of Minority Affairs (MA) and Disability Support Services (DSS), may have services which suit your needs. These offices are listed in your Student Handbook.
Withdrawing
There is a deadline roughly midway through the term before which you can withdraw from any course without academic penalty. After that time, as a matter of University policy, you can only withdraw from a course if you are passing the course (there is a later deadline after which you can't even do that). If you want to withdraw from the course after the first deadline, I will determine whether you are passing based primarily on your exam grades up to that point.
Office Hours
I generally have office hours scheduled throughout the week. The schedule for my office hours will be listed in the course Syllabus handout, and will also be posted on my office door. If these regular times confict with your schedule, I can set up another time to see you outside of my regular office hours -- see me after class, send me an e-mail note, or call me in my office to set up another time. My office location, office phone number, and e-mail address will be listed on the course Syllabus handout.
Other Information
Many of the handouts, assignments, and other information for this course will be available online. See the course Syllabus handout for details of where to find this information. Material related to exams, including review sheets and solutions guides, will not be available online.