Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

I believe that everyone can learn math. I want you to succeed in your studies, but I cannot do it for you. We will work together for you to master the necessary concepts. Your classmates will also be a resource. We will be doing quite a bit of group work in this class. In-class group work will be a combination of reviewing problems covered by the textbook sections and videos, along with activities designed to deepen your understanding and problem solving skills by applying the material in context.

In-class group work participation is mandatory. I want to work with you to make you comfortable in this kind of classroom environment. If you are willing and able to regularly attend class in person for the entire assigned time, work in groups of 3-4 students as you assist each other with tasks, and  ask questions of me in class during presentations, this is the right class for you.

There are videos available that are pre-recorded by a senior PCC math instructor that are available for every section of the text we cover. If you need to miss class occasionally due to illness or outside commitments, you can take notes on these videos instead of in class. You will be expected to complete the written in-class Lab Probjects and WeBWorK after covering the material on your own outside of class time.

In person attendance is required. Your grade will be based on the following weights:

• Midterm Exam = 27.5% of the grade
• Cumulative Final Exam = 32.5% of the grade
• WeBWorK Review Problems = 20% of the grade.
• In-class Lab Projects = 20%

You will need a digital or physical notebook where you can neatly organize your work on problems in the course, as well as your course notes. 

Make-up policy:

Students will be allowed 3 "remote" submissions for in-class projects without penalty if submitted in a timely manner (details will be available on the syllabus). 

WeBWorK is meant to be done each week as we cover the material. There will be built in flexibility with deadlines so you may submit assignments up to a week after the posted due date for full credit. The exception to this is that all WeBWorK for sections covered on the midterm must be submitted before you take the exam, and all WeBWorK must be submitted before you take the final.

Make ups for missed exams are only considered under exceptional circumstances. If you know that you will be missing an exam, you may schedule to take it the same week it is administered to class (in case of availability restrictions I may approve you to take it as early as reasonably possible the week after). In the case of unforeseeable emergencies, I will require some form of documentation to allow you to take the exam at the earliest opportunity. Unless there is a documented and unforeseeable reason you needed to miss the exam, I can not allow exams to be made up if I am not notified after the class has taken it. I pledge to work with you to navigate difficult situations you may encounter this term, but there may be situations for which there is no satisfactory solution. I reserve the right to refuse any request by any student to make up a missed exam for any reason I deem fit.

In case of extended absences due to unforeseeable circumstances such as extended illness I may allow further remote submissions, extended WeBWorK deadlines, and/or allow students to take exams late. I will only be consider this after an in-person meeting where you and I create an agreed upon schedule for you to submit the work before the end of the term.

Why You Will Succeed

This is an in person class and you will succeed because you are willing and able to participate in class sessions. The course is designed for students who can attend 90% of all class sessions and can schedule their obligations to keep up with the work on a weekly basis. If you cannot guarantee regular attendance, or fall two or more full weeks behind on the coursework for any reason, foreseeable or not, you remain enrolled in the class at your own risk.

You will pass a math class is because you have STRONG PREREQUISITE SKILLS and you have a Growth Mindset. If it’s been more than one term since you have taken the previous math course or its equivalent in High School or you got a C in the prerequisite course you may need refresh your prerequisite skills. The best way to do this is to take an ALC/ALM.

You will also find it easier to succeed if you find a study buddy or two to work with outside of class or to attend my office hours or the Tutoring Center. PCC's own national award winning math instructor, Jessica Bernard, and colleague, Wendy Fresh, have created a series of ten great videos about college math study skills specifically related to math called Any One Can Be a Math Person.

Time commitment:

You should expect to spend between 10-12 hours a week on our course. This means you will need to spend anywhere from 4-6 hours outside of class on the material. This is best done spread throughout the week in 45 - 60 minute sessions. So, plan to study for our class at least 4 times a week in addition to class time. 

You need to have access to a computer and internet at least several times per week. You will need to make sure to have the following (further details/instructions are given during the first week):

• be open to or familiar with file management, email, and uploading documents,
• scan written documents to PDF format using a scanner or scanner phone app such as Adobe Scan (free), or Google Drive (free with your PCC account), or be able and willing to learn to use D2L's text editor to enter mathematical notation
• a way to print PDF files for your written assignments or to print lecture note outlines (if you want hard copies)

• If needed I will work with students to get them access to alternative format documents (HTML, XML, etc.) for their own use or for the DRC to modify for accessibility needs

We will be using a free online practice software called WeBWork that you will be able to access through D2L.

A graphing calculator is not required for the course. Instead, we will use one of two free apps called Desmos (most likely) or GeoGebra for graphing when a graphing utility is appropriate.

The syllabus, schedule, and grades will be on D2L Brightspace.

Online video lectures made by a colleague are available to supplement my lectures or to use if you miss class.