CLASS MEETINGS

Mondays and Wednesdays from 2:00–4:50pm, Sylvania Campus, TCB 218

OFFICE HOURS / EXTRA HELP

I’m available for both remote (online) and in-person (on-campus) Office Hours.

In-person Office Hours at Sylvania:

I'll host in-person office hours in my office at Sylvania in SS 201 at the times are listed below (if these times don't work in your schedule, we can try to find another time to meet: send me an email and we'll schedule a meeting):

Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 12:45pm–1:50pm

COURSE DESCRIPTION/PREREQUISITES/CCOG FOR MTH 112

"Provides preparation for calculus and related disciplines. Explores trigonometric functions and their applications as well as the language and measurement of angles, triangles, circles, and vectors. Explores topics symbolically, numerically, and graphically in real-life applications and interprets them in context. Emphasizes skill building, problem solving, modeling, reasoning, communication, connections with other disciplines, and the appropriate use of present-day technology. Introduces the polar coordinate system."

The prerequisites for MTH 112 are MTH 111 and WR/RD 115 (or IRW 115). (CCOG for MTH 112)

TEXTBOOK AND SUPPLEMENTAL PACKET

Instead of an expensive publisher resource, we'll use an Open Educational Resource (OER) that's free: OpenStax Algebra and Trigonometry, 2nd ed.. (It's possible to obtain this resource in bound printed format but I don't think it's worth the expense.) From the Calendar, there are links to relevant sections from this free online resource. I consider it a "secondary resource" for our class, with our primary resources being my Class Notes Videos and my Online Lecture Notes: see below for more info about these resources.

The Supplemental Packet for MTH 112 includes a few sections with explanations and practice problems for some important topics. When relevant, this packet is linked from the Calendar. As you'll see, the packet is available in three formats: HTML (ideal for viewing on the internet), PDF (ideal for printing), and EPUB (ideal for downloading and reading on a tablet).

CALENDAR

The course calendar is available in the Calendar link in the navigation bar. You can access most of our course via links from the Calendar.

Our course is organized on a weekly basis. Each week starts on Sunday and ends the following Saturday. For each week, there are links to (a) a few chapters of online lecture notes, (b) a few class notes videos, (c) a few sections in our online textbook, and (d) a Practice Worksheet covering the topics for the week.

Each week you'll be expected to submit your completed Class Notes document, your completed Practice Worksheet, and your completed Graded Worksheet. In addition to the weekly assignments, there will also be one Midterm Exam (during Week 5) and one Final Exam (during Finals Week).

See below for more info about each of these tools/activities.

FREE PRINTING

As suggested above in Calendar and explained below in a few sections, you'll need to access/use some documents in this class. All of these documents accessible for free as PDFs so, if you have access to a tablet and are comfortable "writing electronically" with a stylus, then you shouldn't need to print anything on paper. But if you don't have a tablet, it will be best if you have access to printed versions of the PDFs. You can print everything yourself if you have a printer but (a) you may not have a printer and (b) even if you have a printer, it costs money/puts wear-and-tear on your printer to print everything for a class like this. Amazingly, the Multnomah County Libraries offer free printing: you can print 200 pages (double-sided on 100 sheets of paper) every day for free at any Multnomah County Library. It's amazing! Get started here: https://multcolib.org/printing.

If you're able to take advantage of this service, here's a link to a 147 page packet that includes the Class Notes documents and the Practice Worksheet organized by weeks (Week 1 and part of Week 2 aren't included). You can print this entire packet for free in a few minutes at any Multnomah County Library. (In the sections below focused on the "Class Notes" and the "Practice Worksheets" there are links to smaller packets that include subsets of this packet.)

COURSE ORGANIZATION PART 1: LAB

MTH 112 is a 4 credit course: 3 of the credits are traditional "lecture credits” and 1 of the credits is a “laboratory credit.”

To understand what it means for this class to have this combination of "lecture" and "lab" credit, first we need to recognize that "1 college credit" is defined to be "at least 30 hours of engagement with course-material." In the quarter system (which is the system used by the Oregon Public Colleges/Universities), each quarter is (about) 10 weeks so 30 total hours translates into "3 hours/week of engagement with course material for 10 weeks." There are different ways that these 3 hours can be distributed, and the distribution of three hours is what distinguishes "lecture" and "lab" credit:

For 1 "laboratory credit," all 3 hours of required weekly engagement occur in-class. Usually, lab credit is used by the sciences (like "chemistry lab") where experiments or other hands-on activities are completed. We're using 1 lab credit in math class so that we can spend ample time in-class each week getting hands-on practice of the math that we'll be studying. See Class Meetings/Lab Participation below.

For 1 "lecture credit," 1 of the 3 hours of required weekly engagement occurs in-class (traditionally, the activity would be a "lecture") and students are expected to spend the other 2 hours studying the info from the lecture outside of class. In the traditional format, since MTH 112 includes 3 lecture credits, we'd spend 3 hours of class-time each week on "lecture" and then students would be expected to spend 2*3=6 hours studying outside of class. For our class, we're going to "flip" some of the expected in-class/outside-class activities so you'll accomplish some "lecture" outside of class via videos. See Course Organization Part 2 and Class Prep/Class Notes below.

COURSE ORGANIZATION PART 2: FLIPPED CLASS

Compared to a "traditional" math course, the organization of our course is "flipped":

Traditionally, math students attend class to watch their teacher give a lecture about math; then, outside of class, they do practice problems on their own in order to learn the math. In this scenario, if a student misses a class or day-dreams for a minute and loses track of the discussion, there's no way to recover what was missed since it only happens live in real-time in the class-room. Also, students are left to do practice problems on their own as homework so, if they get stuck, they may not be able to make progress. (Even when lectures seem to make sense, we usually don't know if we actually understand the math until we attempt some practice problems.)

In our course we will "flip" the traditional organization: you'll accomplish the "lecture" component on your own, outside of class, by watching recordings of "class-notes videos" and studying "online lecture notes"; then, during our class meetings, you'll work with classmates on practice problems. This way, you'll be able to pause and rewind and re-watch the "class notes videos" and read the "online lecture notes" on your own time, at your own pace; and you'll have the support of classmates and your instructor while you work on practice problems so, if you get stuck or feel confused, you can get the nudge you need to get started in the right direction, or get an additional explanation or clarification so that you aren't confused and can continue making progress.

Each week you'll be expected to watch the relevant Class Notes Videos prior to our class meetings; see Class Prep/Class Notes below.

Each week you'll be expected to attend our class meetings in order to work on the Practice Worksheets; see Practice Worksheets below.

(Also, each week you'll be expected submit a Graded Worksheet; see Graded Worksheets below. And we'll have two exams during the term: the Midterm Exam during Week 5 and the Final Exam during Finals Week; see Exams below.

CLASS PREP/CLASS NOTES/ONLINE LECTURE NOTES

For each topic in the Calendar, there are links to Class Notes Videos. To create these videos I first composed "template" Class Note documents and then recorded myself filling-in/completing these documents. The "template" Class Notes documents are included in the printable packet linked above, and linked in the Calendar underneath the links to each video.

For "homework" (or "class prep"), you'll be expected to watch the videos and fill in your own copy of the “template” class notes documents so that, when the video is finished, you’ll have a complete set of class notes to help guide you while you study the math. This will get you prepared to work on the Practice Worksheets during class.

In order to motivate & reward you for watching the Class Notes Videos, you'll earn 4 points towards your final grade completing each week's Class Prep/Class Notes "assignment." I'll walk around the classroom at the start of class to check that you've completed your Class Notes documents so, if you attend class meetings, you don't need to submit your completed Class Notes. If you haven't earned all of the available points after our class meetings for the week, you can earn the remaining points by submitting your completed Class Notes document(s) in D2L; see the next paragraph.

If you don't get credit for your Class Prep/Class Notes during class, you can earn the points by submitting a scan of your completed Class Notes document(s) in the Assignments tool in D2L. This webpage gives some options for creating PDFs. You REALLY should watch the videos BEFORE class meetings but you'll have until Saturday night at 11:59pm to submit your Class Notes for the week.

If you need a time extension for a Class Notes Video, send me an email explaining the circumstances. It's important that you watch the videos before class meetings, but we can discuss the possiblitiy of a late submissiion for a video.

In addition to the videos, you also have access my "Online Lecture Notes for MTH 112." For each topic in the Calendar, there are links to "chapters" of these "online lecture notes" that are essentially my version of a textbook for this class. The Online Lecture Notes typicality include more examples than the class notes videos, and they include thorough, typed-up explanations of the math we're studying: you should consult them when you're looking for more coverage of the topics than you got from the videos. I recommend reading these Online Lecture Notes online instead of printing them -- there are occational links to videos that aren't accessible from a printed version.

PRACTICE WORKSHEETS

As mentioned in Course Organization above, we'll use our class meetings to get hands-on practice of the math we're studying. To accomplish this, we'll organize ourselves into small groups and work together on the weekly Practice Worksheets. The Practice Worksheets are available in the packet linked above. (You'll also find links to the Practice Worksheets in the Calendar.)

In order to motivate & reward you for attending our class meetings & for completing the Practice Worksheets, you'll earn 4 points towards your final grade for completing each week's Practice Worksheet. I will record these points near the end of our class meetings when you show me that you've made appropriate progress on the Practice Worksheet, so you don't need to submit your Practice Worksheets if you attend class meetings. When there are two class meetings during a week (as there usually are), I'll award 2 points for your work during each class meeting; if you haven't earned all 4 points after our class meetings for the week, you can earn the remaining points by submitting your completed Practice Worksheet in D2L; see the next paragraph.

If you don't attend class meetings, you can earn the points by completing the Practice Worksheet on your own and submitting a scan of your completed Practice Worksheet in the Assignments tool in D2L. This webpage gives some options for creating PDFs. The Practice Worksheets will usually be due on Saturday nights at 11:59pm.

If you need a time extension for a Graded Worksheet, send me an email explaining the circumstances. I don't want to make it a regular practice but I'm open to giving you an extension once or twice during the term.

Your Practice Worksheets will be graded on "completion" rather than on "correctness." Essentially, this means that I won't be "grading" your Practice Worksheets but just confirming that you've made an honest effort to complete all the problems.

GRADED WORKSHEETS

There will be eight short Graded Worksheets during the quarter. I'll hand-out printed copies of the Graded Worksheets during class, usually near the end of our Wednesday meetings; they will also be made available electronically in the Assignments tool in D2L. The Graded Worksheets will usually be due on Saturday nights at 11:59pm. You will need to submit your Graded Worksheets electronically as a PDF scan of your neatly hand-written work; see the “TECHNOLOGY" below.

Each Graded Worksheet is worth 15 points toward your final grade. These worksheets will consist of "free-response" problems and you'll be expected to communicate your answers using meaningful mathematics and proper notation. You will need to submit your Graded Worksheets electronically as a PDF scan of your neatly hand-written work. This webpage gives some options for creating PDFs.

An important purpose of these assignments is to make sure that you are communicating mathematics correctly so it is crucial that you use proper mathematical notation while completing them. A good guide for proper mathematical notation is the online lecture notes and the class notes videos: mimic the organization of the provided examples and you should do well!

If you need a time extension for a Graded Worksheet, send me an email explaining the circumstances. I don't want to make it a regular practice but I'm open to giving you an extension once or twice during the term.

EXAMS

There will be one two-hour Midterm Exam and one two-hour cumulative Final Exam. These are proctored paper-and-pencil exams. See the Calendar for the scheduled exam dates. If you cannot make these scheduled testing times, you can make alternative arrangements to take the exam at a college testing center (either at PCC or any other college) within a few days of the scheduled exam dates. You must have alternative testing times approved a few days before the scheduled exam date. Your study of the Class Notes Videos, the online lecture note, the Practice Worksheets, and the Graded Worksheets will best prepare you for the exams. (The Practice Worksheets for Week 5 and Week 11 are problem sets intended to help you prepare for the exams.)

POINTS