3c Fall 2020

Syllabus

Course: Math 3c (Course Catalog)

Title: Precalculus

Credit Hours: 4

Catalog Description: Functions and their graphs. Linear and polynomial functions, zeroes, inverse functions, exponential and logarithmic, trigonometric functions and their inverses. Emphasis on understanding algebraic, numerical and graphical approaches making use of graphing calculators.

Prerequisite: Math Placement Exam qualifying score.

Textbook: The textbook for the course is Precalculus by Jay Abramson, et al. The book is freely available online from OpenStax. A list of the topics scheduled to be covered can be found on the Course Calendar.

Course Readings: Reading the sections in the textbook that correspond to what we are discussing in class is a very important part of learning the subject. Lecture time is very limited and not every subject can be fully covered in the time allotted for lecture. Consequently, it is in your own interests to read the related chapters in the textbook. You should at least skim through the section of the book prior to the lecture in which that section is discussed. (You can read through it more carefully after.) The basic idea is that if you skim through the section first, you will have some idea of where we are going and can formulate questions and make connections.

Homework: Homework is a very important part of the course and in order to fully master the topics it is essential that you work carefully on every assignment and try your best to complete every problem. Read the course Homework page for more information on the homework assignments, including the assigned textbook questions.

Textbook homework will not be collected or graded. Instead, there will be weekly homework quizzes. (See below.)

Homework Quizzes: Each week (starting with Week 2), you will be asked to complete several exercises based on the topics of that week's homework. These exercises are to be completed by yourself, and the solutions are to be written by hand, and turned in using Gradescope.

Due dates and late policies for Homework Quizzes: Homework Quizzes will be made available on Wednesday at 8:00 AM Pacific Time and they are due that same day at 11:00 PM. Homework Quizzes are untimed and may be submitted to Gradescope at any time during the submission window. In order to accommodate the possibility of technological failure or other issues that might interfere with submission to Gradescope on time, Homework Quizzes may be submitted up to 24 hours late with no penalty. Please be aware that the due date is Wednesday at 11:00 PM and quizzes submitted after that time will be marked as "LATE"; however, there will be no penalty for quizzes submitted up to 24 hours late (Thursday at 11 PM Pacific Time).

Canvas Quizzes: Each week (starting with Week 2), you will be asked to complete a quiz in Canvas using the Canvas Quizzes feature. Canvas quiz questions can be multiple choice, multiple answer, matching, or fill-in-the-blank style. Canvas quizzes are timed and the questions involve some amount of randomness, so not every student will get the same questions. The Canvas quizzes are cummulative, and may include questions from current topics as well as previous topics.

Due dates and late policies for Canvas Quizzes: Canvas quizzes will be made available on Friday at 8:00 AM Pacific Time and they are due that same day at 11:00 PM. Canvas quizzes are timed. You may access them at any point within the allowed time frame, but they must be completed within the allotted time and before the due date. In order to accommodate the possibility of technological failure or other issues that might interfere with completion of the quiz, Canvas Quizzes may be submitted up to 24 hours late with no penalty. Please be aware that the due date is Friday at 11:00 PM and quizzes submitted after that time will be marked as "LATE"; however, there will be no penalty for quizzes submitted up to 24 hours late (Saturday at 11 PM Pacific Time).

Drop Policy: We will drop the lowest Gradescope Quiz score and the lowest Canvas Quiz score. The purpose for this drop policy is that we are aware that sometimes circumstances beyond the control of a student will prevent them from completing the work within the allowed time. The constraints on time, availability of graders, and technology (for example, Canvas does not allow for due dates to be extended for individual students) — as well as the need to be fair to your fellow students — mean that we cannot provide accommodation to those who cannot take the quizzes on time. For this reason, we will drop the lowest Homework Quiz score and the lowest Canvas Quiz score. (It may be possible to provide some form of accommodation in extreme cases, such as hospitalization; however, accommodation cannot be provided in less extreme cases.)

Syllabus Quiz: There will be a quiz about the content of the syllabus (and related policies). This quiz will be a Canvas Quiz and you will have 60 minutes to take the quiz. The Syllabus Quiz will be available starting on Monday of Week 1 and will not be due until the Friday of Week 2. The quiz is "open syllabus", which means that you are allowed to consult the syllabus while you are doing the Syllabus Quiz. However, due to time constraints, you are encourage to familiarize yourself with the Syllabus before you attempt the syllabus quiz.

Exams: There will not be any midterm exams. However, there wll be one final exam. Check the Course Calendar or the Schedule of Classes for the dates of the exam. You will access the final exam through Canvas Quizzes. The final exam will be timed and you will have only one attempt. The final exam is a cummulative exam that is based on all of the topics learned throughout the course. You may access the Final Exam at any point during Final Exam week between Monday, Dec 14 at 11:00 AM and Friday, Dec 18 at 11:00 AM. (That is AM, as in "in the morning".) You must submit your exam before Friday, Dec 18 at 11:00 AM.

It is your responsibility to ensure that you do not have a schedule conflict involving the final examination. Please be aware that we will not offer make-up exams for the final exam, nor will we offer the exam at a time outside of the stated time. You should not enroll in this class if you cannot sit for the final examination at its scheduled time.

Final Project: Towards the end of the quarter, you will be required to complete a project based on the topics learned throughout the term. More information on the project will be made available later in the quarter.

Supplemental Instruction (SI): Attending SI sessions is a requirement of the course. Credit will be given for attending the SI Sessions and SI tutoring.

Electronic Computing Devices: A graphing calculator is allowed, but not required, for this course. Graphing calculators and computer programs (or online computing websites such as Wolfram|Alpha) can be very helpful when working through your homework. However, a calculator/computer should be used as an aid in the learning concepts, not just as a means of computation. You can use these devices when working on math problems, but always keep in mind that any answers you give must be accompanied by accurate justification.

Grading: Your course grade will be calculated according to the following table:

Component	Percentage
Homework Quizzes	20%
Canvas Quizzes	45%
Supplemental Instruction	10%
Final Project	5%
Final Exam	20%

Once your weighted average has been computed using the above table, a linear curve will be applied which turns the maximum score to 100% and the median score to 80%. The curved grade will be your course score.

Letter Grades: Letter grades will be assigned according to the following grading scale, which is the standard scale for UC San Diego:

A+	A	A-	B+	B	B-	C+	C	C-	D	F
[97,100]	[93,97)	[90,93)	[87,90)	[83,87)	[80,83)	[77,80)	[73,77)	[70,73)	[60,70)	[0,60)

The letter grades are assigned by Canvas automatically based on the numerical score. Letter grades are not negotiable.

Please notice that outside factors, including the need for a certain grade for admission/retention in any academic program, scholarship or transfer credit, graduation requirements or personal desire for a specific grade DO NOT appear in the above calculations, and thus are not considered in any way in the determination of your course grade. Effort, improvement, class attendance and participation will all dramatically improve your grade in the course in that they will allow you to do well on quizzes, exams, and the final exam. They will NOT, however, actively participate in the calculation of your course grade.

No extra credit will be given in this class.

Gradescope: Homework quizzes will be submitted using an online tool called Gradescope (https://gradescope.com/). You will submit your work to Gradescope yourself. Gradescope has provided a helpful guide to scanning and submitting your assignment as a PDF. For more information on using Gradescope, see the course Homework page.

Regrades: Regrade requests will be made using the built-in regrade request feature in Gradescope. There will be a limited window of time after your graded work is made available during which the regrade request feature will be active. This time window will be announced when the scores are released to the students. Please be advised that the regrade request window is usually brief, and if you want to request a regrade, it is your responsibility to make the request during the allowed time.

Piazza: Piazza is an online discussion forum that we will use this term. Only comments/questions pertaining to the mathematical content/logistics of the course are allowed. Any postings that do not meet this criteria will be deleted and Piazza privileges may be removed. As a diverse community of learners, students must strive to work together in a setting of civility, tolerance, and respect for each other and for the instructor! Conflicting opinions among members of a class are to be respected and responded to in a professional manner.

Academic Dishonesty: Academic dishonesty is considered a serious offense at UCSD. Students caught cheating will face an administrative sanction which may include suspension or expulsion from the university. It is in your best interest to maintain your academic integrity. (Click here for more information.)

Filing for a Incomplete: Sometimes it is not possible to complete all of the work in the course due to circumstances beyond your control. (Being unable to take the final exam because of accident or sickness, for example.) In such a case, it may be possible to file for an Incomplete grade. If an Incomplete is granted, you will be given the opportunity to complete the work during the next quarter. (All work must be completed before the end of Week 10 the following academic quarter.) In order to be eligible for an Incomplete, you must meet the following criteria:

Your incomplete work must be due to circumstances beyond your control. (Sickness, accident, etc.)
You must be able to verify the circumstances with official documentation.
Your course work must be of "non-failing quality" (from the Academic Senate Regulations). This means that you must be currently passing the course according to the method for computing grades listed above.

Follow this link to find more information about filing for an Incomplete on TritonLink. To apply for an Incomplete, you must fill out and submit the official form.

Study Suggestions: Below are some suggestions that I hope will help you to succeed in this course:

Spend sufficient time on the course. According to the policy of UCSD's Academic Senate, "The value of a course in units ... shall be reckoned at the rate of one unit for three hours' work per week per quarter on the part of the student." During a ten-week quarter, for a 4 credit course, you should be willing to spend about 12 hours per week on the course.
Get started on the homework assignments early. And "early" means "right after the lecture in which it is discussed". This will reinforce the topics we discuss in the lecture, help you keep up with the class schedule, and allow you to make the most of your discussion section time by coming prepared with specific questions. And if you don't put the homework off until the last day, you won't have to worry about something coming up and preventing you from doing it! (Seriously, don't put the homework off until the last day.)
Read the section of the book we are covering before the lecture. Or, if not the whole section, try skimming through it. Read the section titles, the definitions, the theorems, and anything else that the book emphasizes. Skimming the section before we talk about it in class will give you some added context, and will help you make connections between the topics we discuss.
Take notes by hand (whenever possible). Studies have found that students retain information better if they take notes by hand.
Always try to work out a problem before reading a solution. Coming up with a solution yourself is a very different cognitive process than understanding a solution someone else provided. Whether it is a homework problem or an example from the textbook or one given by WebAssign, you should try to solve the problem first. Work on the problem for at least five minutes. Set a timer.
Don't worry if you make mistakes sometimes! We all make mistakes. Mistakes are great, because they show us where we might need some extra work. Mistakes on exams are a little more costly than mistakes on homework. That's why you should treat all homework exercises as if they were exam or quiz questions. Get all of the mistakes out of the way on homework, and then you won't have to worry about them showing up on exams!
Read the book. And get a physical copy of the book, if you can. It helps more than you might expect. If you want to look up a topic, try looking in the book instead of online. Check out the index in the back of the book.
The best way to learn something is to teach it, so try teaching the topics to your classmates, or a family member, a friend, a pet, a stuffed animal, or even an empty chair. Try to anticipate what questions someone will ask you. It is a great way to assess your own understanding, and it helps to find gaps in your own knowledge of the subject.

Name and Gender Pronouns: UC San Diego is committed to supporting its students' name and gender preferences. Class rosters provided to your instructor and TAs have students' legal names, but we will strive to honor your request to be addressed using a preferred name or gender pronoun. Please let your instructor and TA know your preferences so that we can make changes to our records. (Certain university records may be beyond our ability to change, however.)

Equity, Inclusion, and Respect: We are committed to the UC San Diego Principles of Community. "To foster the best possible working and learning environment, UC San Diego strives to maintain a climate of fairness, cooperation, and professionalism. These principles of community are vital to the success of the University and the well being of its constituents." The principles of community include (but are not limited to):

"We affirm each individual's right to dignity and strive to maintain a climate of justice marked by mutual respect for each other."
"We reject acts of discrimination based on race, ethnicity, sex, gender identity, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion, and political beliefs, and, we will confront and appropriately respond to such acts."
"We promote open expression of our individuality and our diversity within the bounds of courtesy, sensitivity, confidentiality, and respect."
"We are committed to promoting and supporting a community where all people can work and learn together in an atmosphere free of abusive or demeaning treatment."

Visit the Office for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion for more information.