Instructor: Dr. Sharad Keny.

Office Number and Phone: Sc 108C, 562 - 907 - 4200 ext 4454.

Email: skeny@whittier.edu

Web address: http://web.whittier.edu/skeny/index.html

Office Hours : (tentative) Monday, Wednesday 3:30 - 4:30 p.m.

Course Number and Title: Math 79, Quantitative Reasoning

Time and Day of Meeting : Monday, Wednesday, Friday 10:00 - 10:50 am in Sc 102

Book : Mathematics, Its Power and Utility by Karl J. Smith, 9th Edition, published by Thomson, Brooks/Cole

Course Goals: This course is designed with three specific goals:

• To prepare you for the mathematics you will encounter in other college courses like the Lab Science, Math and

Science In Context, Statistics, etc.

• To develop your ability to reason with quantitative information,which will be helpful to you to achieve success in

your career.

• To provide you with the critical thinking and quantitative reasoning skills needed in making decisions about important

issues in life.

The course content described below will give you the tools you need to understand most of the quantitative arguments you find in the popular press. It will also provide you with the basic quantitative skills you need to make informed decisions in your personal life as well as those dealing with major societal issues. The capabilities you gain in this course should enhance the opportunities available to you here at Whittier and later throughout your lives.

Course Content: I hope to cover chapters 1,2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, and possibly 5 and 11 if time permits during the semester. We will make use of spread sheets wherever possible to work with large data sets.

Lectures: Every class will begin with a discussion of questions you might have about any of the topics previously covered in class or about any reading or homework assignments you were expected to cover outside the class. You will also be involved in working in-groups during class. You are expected to complete the assigned reading before coming to the class. Please feel free to ask questions about this class during or outside the class. I will be around almost every day till about 4 p.m. and even later if needed.

Grading: The grades in this class will be based on your performance in a two hour final, three one hour tests, projectsand homework. These will be weighted as follows towards your final grade in the class:

Final ----- 25% Tests ----- 40% Class Assignments and Projects ----- 20% Homework ----- 15%

You have the option of either a letter grade (A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D, and F) or the Credit/No Credit option for this class. However, it is the student's responsibility to keep track of the deadline by which time to make the decision and inform the instructor.

By college policy, incomplete grades can be given only for reasons of health or serious personal problems, provided the student has satisfactorily met all course requirements except for certain assigned work or final examination. Academic overload, outside employment or improper management of time is not sufficient reasons for receiving an incomplete grade. (see page 42 of the college catalog)

Final : The final exam is cumulative and will be based on all the material covered during the semester. It is compulsory. If you do not take the final your course grade will be an ‘F’. It will be administered on Thursday, Dec. 17 from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. which is the officially scheduled time for this course as published in the schedule of classes. By college final examination policy (see page 38 of the college catalog) the final exam must be taken only at this time. Your grade in the final will count towards 25% of your semester grade.

Tests: The three tests are cumulative and together they will count towards 40% of your semester grade. The tentative dates of the three tests are

First Test ----- Friday, Oct. 2. Second Test ----- Wednesday, Oct. 28 Third Test ----- Friday, Nov. 20

No make up tests are given unless there is a valid reason, the nature of valid being determined by the instructor. Remember the make up tests will usually be harder than the scheduled tests in fairness to the students who take the tests on time. Arrangements for the make up tests must be made before the scheduled test is administered. Positively no make up tests will be given later than one week after the scheduled tests.

Class Assignements and Projects: Most of the class time will be devoted to your learning by solving problems. Class assignments and projects will be handed out during the class for you to work on. Your solutions to these problems will be collected either at the end of the class or during the next class You can work in groups on these assignments. However, you will have to turn in your individual solutions to get credit for them These solutions will be collected, graded and returned to you probably during the next class meeting. The grades in these projects will count towards 20% of your semester grade The solutions to these projects are to be turned in at the scheduled time. No late assignments will be accepted. Occasionally you will use the spreadsheet Excel to understand mathematical concepts and to solve more realistic problems.

Homework: This is a college level Mathematics course and accordingly I expect your homework assignment to include correct mathematical solution and clear explanation of your solutions using correct English language.

Homework problems will be assigned during every lecture. Your solutions to these problems will be collected every Monday. Some of these problems will be graded and the assignment will be returned on the following Monday. However, I expect you to start working on the problems soon after they are assigned. Your questions about these homework problems will be answered at the beginning of each lecture.

I expect to collect 12 assignments. 2 lowest assignment grades will be ignored and the rest will be counted towards 15% of your semester grade. Positively no late homework will be accepted. It has to be turned in during the class on every Monday. Remember these 15% points must be easy for everybody. All you have to do is work regularly. I expect all of you to get all 15% of the homework grade.

Attendance and participation: Attendance and participation are extremely crucial in this class. Every student will be expected to be prepared with the assigned reading and problems so that he/she can actively participate in the class. If you miss a class, you will miss much more than just the 50 minutes of class time.

If you have a specific disability that qualifies you for academic accommodations, please contact Disability Services for letter of accommodation.

Special Reminder:

Academic honesty is expected at all times and in all the work you do in class or outside the classroom. Cheating or willful plagiarism in any work turned in for a grade will result in your getting grade zero in that work. Repeated plagiarism could result in your failing the course.

Students desiring accommodations on the basis of physical, learning, or psychological disability for this class are to contact Disability Services.  Disability Services is located on the ground floor of the Library, room G003, and can be reached by calling extension 4825.