Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

First and foremost:

I'm so glad you're considering taking this MTH 95 remote class!

As a math teacher, I'm confident that everyone can learn to understand math.  You're here as part of your academic journey and I hope that we can work together to deepen and expand your mathematical understanding this term.

Contrary to popular belief, no person is bad at math. I do know that plenty of people have had bad experiences with math. The good news is that everyone can have new and better experiences learning math. I'll do the best I can to help you do so, and I expect you to spend as much time and effort as needed for you to have a good learning experience this quarter.

Please know that I am here to support you and I appreciate you reaching out anytime you have any questions, be it a question related to our class, to you being a student at PCC, or anything else I can help and support you with.

This is a REMOTE class, what that means...

• You are required to attend ALL class meetings in Zoom, every Tuesday & Thursday from 8:30am - 10:50am, which can be accessed through Zoom from the course navbar

Textbook(s)

• ORCCA 2nd Edition Part 3 is an online text authored by faculty at PCC. You can access it at ORCCA. Each week I will have links to the sections being covered. You can find the links in the Course Schedule in the Content section of D2L Brightspace.
  A hardcopy isn't required. If you would like a paper copy, it can be purchased from the PCC bookstore.
• MTH 95 class notes are required.  You may purchase these class notes as a packet from the Sylvania bookstore (recommended). Or, you may print them from our D2L course shell.  We will go over these class notes during our weekly Zoom class meeting. Please have the notes available to you as we will be using them throughout our class time. 
• Graph paper and colored pencils may be helpful.

Required First Week Activities

During the first week of the term, instructors must identify students who are enrolled but not engaged in a class. These are referred to as "No Show" students and will be dropped from the class as per PCC's G302 Grading Guidelines policy.

• In order to avoid being dropped as a "No Show" student, you must complete the following activities by their deadlines: 
  • Attend our first class on Tuesday, April 2 at 8:30am from the "Zoom" course navbar.
  • Go through the "Course Information" module under D2L Content and read the Syllabus and Course Schedule.
  • Students must post Week 1 Discussion Introduction in D2L under Discussions by Thursday, April 4 at 11:59pm.
  • Read the Student Guide to Virtually Proctored Exams in Zoom. 
  • Students must complete Course Information Check located in Quizzes in D2L by Thursday, April 4 at 11:59pm.
  • Complete Proctored Exam Communication Plan by Thursday April 4 at 11:59pm. (Link located in D2L Homepage.)

Exams

Proctored Exams: Proctored exams are one of the many assessment tools used in MTH/STAT courses to assess student learning. For in-person sections, exams are proctored in-person on campus during class time. For remote sections, exams are primarily proctored virtually by the instructor in Zoom during remote class time. For online sections, exams are primarily proctored virtually by the instructor in Zoom on dates/times scheduled by the instructor. 

The exams for this class will be proctored virtually by me (your instructor) on the following dates and times; please make every concerted effort to attend my virtually proctored exams listed below. 

• Midterm Exam 1 on Thursday, May 2 from 8:30am - 10:50am on Zoom
• Midterm Exam 2 TBA  from 8:30am - 10:50am on Zoom
• Final exam on Thursday, June 13  from 8am - 10:20am on Zoom

To have your exam proctored virtually, you must fully read and understand the Student Guide to Virtually Proctored Exams in Zoom and meet the technology/environment requirements; technology support will not be provided on exam day. 

If you do not meet the requirements for virtually proctored exams, prefer to take your exams in-person, and/or have an unavoidable scheduling conflict, please contact me as soon as possible. Alternative testing arrangements can be made for virtual or in-person proctoring at a testing center given adequate notice and depending on testing center capacity and availability. Scheduling appointments with a testing center and communicating with the instructor is the responsibility of the student, as well as paying any associated fees with using a non-PCC testing center. 

If you have accommodations through Accessible Ed & Disability Resources at PCC, please contact me so we can discuss your specific accommodations and how I can best support you. 

If you have any questions or concerns about virtually proctored exams, please feel free to contact me.

Software/ Hardware / Equipment / Technical skill expectations

• Access your class in D2L Brightspace.
• Using Zoom for required weekly class meetings (accessed from D2L course navbar.)
• Microsoft Office 365 (free license from PCC) or equivalent (Google Docs, iWork, etc.) You must be able to save files as doc, docx, rtf, or pdf format.
• WeBWorK: All homework is completed in WeBWorK. WeBWorK is a free online homework system that you can access from the D2L course navbar. Each week's modules will also have a link to take you to WeBWorK. Your username for WeBWorK is your MyPCC username and your password is your G number.
• Firefox, Chrome, or Safari browser.
• Ability to download and print documents.
• Ability to save documents into pdf format and upload them to D2L Brightspace. Options to create pdf documents: scanner, phone apps that save as pdf (suggestions will be given). Directions to use Google Drive in Brightspace.
• The technical requirements for most online classes include access to a computer with a modern operating system and a supported web browser.