DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS
Student Syllabus Fall 2009
MGF1106 Mathematics For Liberal Arts
Section 26; MTRF 8:00 - 8:50 a.m., 213 HCB; W 8:00 - 8:50 a.m., 107 MCH

WELCOME to Mathematics For Liberal Arts. This is a special section of MGF1106 which meets five days each week. This time-frame gives you the opportunity to see the course material at a slower pace and allows for more time for your questions.
This course is especially intended for students who will major in areas which do not require further mathematics. We hope that your interest in mathematics will be stimulated in new ways at the same time you are perfecting basic logical and mathematical skills. All of the topics covered by this course will be of help on the CLAST.
ELIGIBILITY The suggested prerequisite is two years of high school algebra. Business, science, mathematics and computer science majors should not take this course because it does not serve as a prerequisite for the required courses in those areas. You MAY take MGF1106 after MAC1105.
CREDIT You may not receive credit for MGF1106 if you have already earned a C- or better in this course.
INSTRUCTOR Ms. Liz Dameron
Office: TBA
E-mail: dameron@math.fsu.edu
Phone: 201-8098
FAX: 850 644-4053
Office Hours:MTRF 8:55-9:30 a.m.; W 7:30-8:00 a.m. in 107MCH
TEXT
Hacking Mathematics, your free, web-based text for Liberal Arts Mathematics, available at http://www.math.fsu.edu/~wooland/hm2ed/hm2ed.html
You may also purchase the printed version at Target Copy on Tennessee St.
TESTS There will be three 50-minute tests. There is no final exam. There will be a comprehensive homework project due during finals week.
TEST CONTENT
Test I: Hacking Mathematics Part 1 Modules 1 through 6
Test II: Hacking Mathematics Part 2 Modules 1 through 5
Test III: Hacking Mathematics Part 3 Modules 1 through 9

TEST DATES
Test I: Wednesday, Sept. 30 in LAB.
Test II: Wednesday, Oct. 28 in LAB.
Test III: Wednesday, Dec. 2 in LAB.
TEST I and TEST II, Second Offering
A second offering for Test I will be given in lab on Wednesday, October 7.
A second attempt for Test II will be given in lab on Wednesday, November 4.
There is no second offering for Test III.

These second attempts are especially intended to benefit students who miss Test I or Test II, respectively, due to illness or some other excusable personal misfortune. However, they are open to all students who wish to try to improve upon a low score on the respective tests. Special permission is not needed to take a second attempt. If you take both a test and its second attempt, the higher score counts.

NOTE: You are NOT GUARANTEED two attempts at a test. It is essential that you make every possible effort to take each test on its regularly scheduled day, and to try your best to earn a high score. Do not skip an test or take it casually: if some misfortune prevents you from being able to take the second offering you will not be given another make-up opportunity. There is no "make-up test for the make-up test." If you miss both an test and its associated second offering, your score will be zero, unless you have a justifiable, documented excuse for both absences; those situations, as well as excused absences from Test III, will be handled on a case-by -case basis. Unexcused absence from a unit test will, at the least, lower your grade in the course by a full letter. See "QUIZZES" for more information about excused absences. All lab assignments (Tests I, II, III and quizzes) must be taken with the lab class in which you are officially enrolled. You cannot take any test or quiz in a different section.

QUIZZES Quizzes are one component of your grade (see GRADING, below). Expect to be given a quiz each Wednesday in your lab meeting (except on days when you will take an test instead). Your lab class will not meet on Wednesday, August 26, or on Wednesday, November 25 (the day before Thanksgiving). You must take quizzes in the lab class in which you are officially enrolled. Quizzes will usually involve problems of the type assigned for homework. These quiz scores will be averaged together in grading. There are no make-ups for missed quizzes. You will probably have a total of seven quizzes, and you are expected to take every quiz. If you miss a quiz due to a documented, unavoidable reason, such as hospitalization, mandatory attendance at a university sponsored event, or attending the funeral of a member of your immediate family, the missed quiz will not count in your quiz average. Documentation must be provided. Medical excuses must state specifically that you were not permitted to attend school; merely visiting a health professional does not constitute a valid excuse. Documentation must be provided within one week of your return to school. Late documentation will not be accepted. Generally, transportation problems, attendance at family events, visiting sick friends or relatives, or "my family needed me at home" do not constitute valid excuses. Foul weather is not an acceptable excuse, unless the University cancels classes. If your class is unable to take a quiz due to technical problems, class cancellation, or any other reason, the missed quiz will be treated in the same way as an excused absence.
INTERNET HOMEWORK Each week you should expect a homework assignment to be completed by logging in to the eGrade Internet software. You will be able to try each assignment three times; the higher of the three scores will be retained. You will have several days to work on each homework assignment. Do not wait until the last minute. If you procrastinate, and then find that you are unable to complete the assignment because of computer problems or other misfortune, your score will be zero.

INTERNET TESTING and HOMEWORK All of your quizzes and homework assignments, as well as Tests I - III, will be taken over the Internet, either from a computer in your lab room or from some other site (in the case of Internet homework).
Grade concerns related to the eGrade testing software will be referred to and resolved by appropriate authorities within the Department of Mathematics.
CALCULATORS The student must have a scientific calculator or graphing calculator for quizzes, homework and tests. During quizzes and tests calculators must be out of cases. Students MAY NOT share calculators during quizzes and tests. Students MAY NOT use cell phone calculators or other wireless devices. I reserve the right to check your graphing calculator for class notes, extra formulas, etc. before a quiz and a test.
HELP CENTER Free tutoring is available at The Math Help Center, located in MCH110.
ATTENDANCE AND DAILY WORK Please turn off all pagers and cellular phones during class. A student absent from class bears the full responsibility for all subject matter and procedural information discussed in class. Whether or not the instructor checks roll, the student's responsibility is not diminished. Although there is no penalty for absence from lecture class, you must arrive on time and stay for the entire class. Late arrival or early departure may result in negative class participation points. Students who habitually arrive late, leave early, or participate in other discourteous activity during class should expect to have their letter grade reduced by at least a "+/-" factor. Expect each class to meet as scheduled unless notified otherwise by a Mathematics instructor in person at the beginning of the class period. Students with excessive absences, or failing students, cannot receive an incomplete grade.
GRADING Your total score for the course will be determined by the following formula: .07H + .13Q + .8T, where H is your homework average, Q is your quiz average, and T is the average of your scores on Tests I, II and III.
Grades will be assigned on this scale (bearing in mind the content of the "Attendance..." paragraph above):

A- = above 91.49* B+ = 89.50 - 91.49* B = 87.50 - 89.49* B- = 81.50 - 87.49*
C+ = 79.50 - 81.49* C = 76.50 - 79.49* C- = 69.50 - 76.49* D = 65.50 - 69.49*
D- = 59.50 - 65.49* F = below 59.50

* Upon passing (70 or better) at least two of the three parts of the Finals Week Homework Project, this grade will be increased to the next higher grade (a C+ will increase to B-, A- will increase to A, and so on; there is no D+).
ACADEMIC DISHONESTY Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, the giving or receiving of unauthorized assistance or collaboration within or outside the classroom, the possession or use of restricted test materials, plagiarism, or attempts at any of the above. During quizzes or tests, students may not possess or refer to written information (unless specifically authorized by the instructor) or receive oral information. If such information is available to a student during a quiz or test, a grade of 0 (which cannot be removed) will be assigned for the work in question. Academic dishonesty also includes stealing, buying, selling, or referring to a copy of a Departmental test before or after it has been administered. By completing a quiz or test, the student in effect pledges that unauthorized assistance has been neither given nor received. All violations of these policies will be reported to the University Judicial Officer and other appropriate University officials.
A student found in possession of more than one PRS clicker during class should expect to forfeit all his/her PRS points for the semester.
WORLD WIDE WEB The website for MGF1106 is http://www.math.fsu.edu/~wooland
AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT (ADA) Students with disabilities needing academic accommodations should: 1) register with and provide documentation to the Student Disability Resource Center (SDRC); 2) bring a letter to the instructor from SDRC indicating you need academic accommodations. This should be done within the first week of class. This and other class materials are available in alternative format upon request.
IMPORTANT NOTE The information on this syllabus is specific to MGF1106 Section 26;
if you transfer to another section, you must obtain the syllabus for your new section.