ANY VERSION IS ACCEPTABLE
| Course Syllabus College of Natural Sciences MTH/220 Version 3 College Algebra |
Copyright © 2012, 2011, 2009 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved.
Course Description
This course presents traditional concepts in college algebra. Topics include linear, polynomial, rational, radical, exponential and logarithmic functions, systems of equations, sequences, series, and probability.
Policies
Faculty and students will be held responsible for understanding and adhering to all policies contained within the following two documents:
· University policies: You must be logged into the student website to view this document.
· Instructor policies: This document is posted in the Course Materials forum.
University policies are subject to change. Be sure to read the policies at the beginning of each class. Policies may be slightly different depending on the modality in which you attend class. If you have recently changed modalities, read the policies governing your current class modality.
Course Materials
Blitzer, R. (2010). College algebra (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
All electronic materials are available on the student website.
| Assignment Breakdown | |
| Week One | |
| Discussion Questions | 2 |
| Participation | 2 |
| Individual: MyMathLab® Pretest | 1 |
| Individual: MyMathLab® Study Plan | 4 |
| Individual: MyMathLab® Posttest | 4 |
| Week Two | |
| Discussion Questions | 2 |
| Participation | 2 |
| Learning Team: Applying concepts – Part 1 | 5 |
| Individual: MyMathLab® Pretest | 1 |
| Individual: MyMathLab® Study Plan | 4 |
| Individual: MyMathLab® Posttest | 4 |
| Week Three | |
| Discussion Questions | 2 |
| Participation | 2 |
| Learning Team: Applying concepts – Part 2 | 5 |
| Individual: MyMathLab® Pretest | 1 |
| Individual: MyMathLab® Study Plan | 4 |
| Individual: MyMathLab® Posttest | 4 |
| Week Four | |
| Discussion Questions | 2 |
| Participation | 2 |
| Learning Team: Applying concepts – Presentation | 5 |
| Individual: MyMathLab® Pretest | 1 |
| Individual: MyMathLab® Study Plan | 4 |
| Individual: MyMathLab® Posttest | 4 |
| Week Five | |
| Discussion Questions | 2 |
| Participation | 2 |
| Individual: MyMathLab® Pretest | 1 |
| Individual: MyMathLab® Study Plan | 4 |
| Individual: MyMathLab® Posttest | 4 |
| Individual: MyMathLab® Final Exam | 20 |
| Assignment Totals | |
| Individual | 65 |
| Learning Team | 15 |
| Discussion Questions & Participation | 20 |
| Point Total | 100 |
| Week One: Graphing, the Distance Formula, and Circles | |||
| Details | Due | Points | |
| Objectives | 1.1 Identify functions behavior as increasing, decreasing, or constant. 1.2 Solve problems involving a function’s zeros, maximum, or minimum values. 1.3 Graph polynomial functions. 1.4 Graph rational functions. 1.5 Perform transformations on a given graph. 1.6 Find the distance between two points. 1.7 Find the midpoint of a segment. 1.8 Write the standard form of a circle’s equation. 1.9 Perform operations on functions. | ||
| Reading | Read Section 1.5 in Ch. 1 of College Algebra. | ||
| Reading | Read Ch. 2 of College Algebra. | ||
| Reading | Review the University of Phoenix Material: MyMathLab® Study Plan. | ||
| Video Week One Videos | Watch the Week One Videos on the student website. | ||
| Discussion Questions | Respond to weekly discussion questions. | During the week | 2 |
| Participation | Participate in class discussion. | During the week | 2 |
| Nongraded Activities and Preparation MyMathLab® Orientation | Resource: University of Phoenix Material: Using MyMathLab®
Complete the MyMathLab® orientation by clicking the MyMathLab® link on the student website and selecting MyMathLab® Orientation under the Homework and Tests tab. | ||
| Learning Team Instructions Learning Team Charter | Resource: Learning Team Toolkit
Complete the Learning Team Charter. | ||
| Individual MyMathLab® Pretest | Complete the Week One Pretest in MyMathLab®. | Monday | 1 |
| Individual MyMathLab® Week One Study Plan | Resource: University of Phoenix Material: MyMathLab® Study Plan
Complete the Week One Study Plan in MyMathLab®.
· Click the Study Plan button in MyMathLab® after completing the weekly pretest.
· First, complete some Practice problems until you feel ready for a quiz.
o Click the green Practice button within What to work on next. o Complete practice problems until you feel ready for a quiz. o Click the Close button and return to the main page for the Study Plan.
· Then, in the Quiz Me section, earn as many Mastery Points for the week as you are able, but at least 10.
o Click the Quiz Me button within What to work on next.
o Correctly answer 3 of the 4 questions to earn the Mastery Point (MP).
Note. If you do not correctly answer 3 of the 4 questions in the Quiz Me, revisit the practice problems for additional practice, and then retake the Quiz Me until you earn the Mastery Point.
o Once you have earned a Mastery Point, continue working in the Study Plan until you have earned at least 10 Mastery Points for the week. If you have fewer than 10 Mastery Points available to earn for the week, simply earn as many as are still available to you.
o The more Mastery Points you earn, the more complete your knowledge base will be for the course and the higher the grade you can expect in the course. | Monday | 4 |
| Individual MyMathLab® Week One Posttest | Complete the Week One Posttest in MyMathLab®. | Monday | 4 |
| Week Two: Systems of Equations and Matrices | |||
| Details | Due | Points | |
| Objectives | 2 2.1 Solve systems of linear equations 2.2 Distinguish between linear and nonlinear systems of equations. 2.3 Solve systems of nonlinear equations. 2.4 Use matrices and Gaussian elimination to solve systems. 2.5 Perform operations on matrices. 2.6 Solve systems of linear inequalities with graphing. | ||
| Reading | Read Sections 5.4 & 5.5 in Ch. 5 of College Algebra. | ||
| Reading | Read Sections 6.1–6.3 in Ch. 6 of College Algebra. | ||
| Video Week Two Videos | Watch the Week Two Videos on the student website. | ||
| Participation | Participate in class discussion. | During the week | 2 |
| Discussion Questions | Respond to weekly discussion questions. | During the week | 2 |
| Nongraded Activities and Preparation Graphing Equations Lab | Learn to graph equations in a live setting with a University of Phoenix math faculty member, Thursdays, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. AZ time.
Attend the lab using the directions located on the student website. | ||
| Individual MyMathLab® Pretest | Complete the Week Two Pretest in MyMathLab®. | Monday | 1 |
| Individual MyMathLab® Week Two Study Plan | Resource: University of Phoenix Material: MyMathLab® Study Plan
Complete the Week One Study Plan in MyMathLab®.
· Click the Study Plan button in MyMathLab® after completing the weekly pretest.
· First, complete some Practice problems until you feel ready for a quiz.
o Click the green Practice button within What to work on next. o Complete practice problems until you feel ready for a quiz. o Click the Close button and return to the main page for the Study Plan.
· Then, in the Quiz Me section earn 10 Mastery Points for the week.
o Click the Quiz Me button within What to work on next.
o Correctly answer 3 of the 4 questions to earn the Mastery Point (MP).
Note. If you do not correctly answer 3 of the 4 questions in the Quiz Me, revisit the practice problems for additional practice, and then retake the Quiz Me until you earn the Mastery Point.
o Once you have earned a Mastery Point, continue working in the Study Plan until you have earned at least 10 Mastery Points for the week. If you have fewer than 10 Mastery Points available to earn for the week, simply earn as many as are still available to you.
o The more Mastery Points you earn, the more complete your knowledge base will be for the course and the higher the grade you can expect in the course. | Monday | 4 |
| Individual MyMathLab® Week Two Posttest | Complete the Week Two Posttest in MyMathLab®. | Monday | 4 |
| Learning Team Applying concepts – Part 1 | Select three newly-learned math concepts, principles, or objectives from Week One or Two of the course.
Discuss them in your teams to ensure everyone understands the selected math concepts or principles.
Determine a real-life example scenario for each concept or principle.
· Discuss how the math concept applies to your scenario. Scenarios or examples should clearly demonstrate how the math principle can be used to solve a real-life problem.
· Research and include references formatted consistent with APA guidelines if necessary.
Submit a 1-paragraph summary of each of your discussed example scenarios and math principles to your instructor. | Monday | 5 |
| Week Three: Exponential and Logarithmic Functions | |||
| Details | Due | Points | |
| Objectives | 3 3.1 Identify types of symmetry and asymptotes given a function and a graphing calculator. 3.2 Solve exponential functions. 3.3 Solve logarithmic functions. 3.4 Identify graphs of exponential and logarithmic functions. 3.5 Convert between exponential and logarithmic forms. 3.6 Apply properties of logarithms. 3.7 Solve real-world applications using exponential and logarithmic functions. | ||
| Reading | Read Section 3.5 in Ch. 3 of College Algebra. | ||
| Reading | Read Ch. 4 of College Algebra. | ||
| Video Week Three Videos | Watch the Week Three Videos on the student website. | ||
| Participation | Participate in class discussion. | During the week | 2 |
| Discussion Questions | Respond to weekly discussion questions. | During the week | 2 |
| Individual MyMathLab® Pretest | Complete the Week Three Pretest in MyMathLab®. | Monday | 1 |
| Individual MyMathLab® Week Three Study Plan | Resource: University of Phoenix Material: MyMathLab® Study Plan
Complete the Week One Study Plan in MyMathLab®.
· Click the Study Plan button in MyMathLab® after completing the weekly pretest.
· First, complete some Practice problems until you feel ready for a quiz.
o Click the green Practice button within What to work on next. o Complete practice problems until you feel ready for a quiz. o Click the Close button and return to the main page for the Study Plan.
· Then, in the Quiz Me section earn Mastery Points for the week.
o Click the Quiz Me button within What to work on next.
o Correctly answer 3 of the 4 questions to earn the Mastery Point (MP).
Note. If you do not correctly answer 3 of the 4 questions in the Quiz Me, revisit the practice problems for additional practice, and then retake the Quiz Me until you earn the Mastery Point.
o Once you have earned a Mastery Point, continue working in the Study Plan until you have earned at least 10 Mastery Points for the week. If you have fewer than 10 Mastery Points available to earn for the week, simply earn as many as are still available to you.
o The more Mastery Points you earn, the more complete your knowledge base will be for the course and the higher the grade you can expect in the course. | Monday
| 4 |
| Individual MyMathLab® Week Three Posttest | Complete the Week Three Posttest in MyMathLab®. | Monday | 4 |
| Learning Team Applying concepts – Part 2 | Recall the example scenarios from Learning Team Project – Part 1 in Week Two.
Select 1 of the 3 example scenarios to use for the remainder of this project.
Transition your selected real-life scenario, which was illustrated in paragraph form last week, to arithmetic form.
· Include any necessary variables, clearly defined. · Include any formulas necessary to solve this problem. · Include written descriptions of your logic, as needed, to explain the transition from words to mathematics. · Solve the problem by demonstrating and explaining the step-by-step work involved to reach the answer.
Submit your work to your instructor. | Monday
| 5 |
| Week Four: Sequences and Series | |||
| Details | Due | Points | |
| Objectives | 4 4.1 Find terms of a sequence from the general term. 4.2 Solve factorial notation problems. 4.3 Solve recursion formula problems. 4.4 Find the sum of the first n terms of a sequence. 4.5 Solve application problems involving a series. 4.6 Find a general term given the terms of a sequence. | ||
| Reading | Read Sections 8.1–8.3 in Ch. 8 of College Algebra. | ||
| Video Week Four Videos | Watch the Week Four Videos on the student website. | ||
| Participation | Participate in class discussion. | During the week | 2 |
| Discussion Questions | Respond to weekly discussion questions. | During the week | 2 |
| Individual MyMathLab® Pretest | Complete the Week Four Pretest in MyMathLab®. | Monday | 1 |
| Individual MyMathLab® Week Four Study Plan | Resource: University of Phoenix Material: MyMathLab® Study Plan
Complete the Week One Study Plan in MyMathLab®.
· Click the Study Plan button in MyMathLab® after completing the weekly pretest.
· First, complete some Practice problems until you feel ready for a quiz.
o Click the green Practice button within What to work on next. o Complete practice problems until you feel ready for a quiz. o Click the Close button and return to the main page for the Study Plan.
· Then, in the Quiz Me section, earn Mastery Points for the week.
o Click the Quiz Me button within What to work on next.
o Correctly answer 3 of the 4 questions to earn the Mastery Point (MP).
Note. If you do not correctly answer 3 of the 4 questions in the Quiz Me, revisit the practice problems for additional practice, and then retake the Quiz Me until you earn the Mastery Point.
o Once you have earned a Mastery Point, continue working in the Study Plan until you have earned at least 10 Mastery Points for the week. If you have fewer than 10 Mastery Points available to earn for the week, simply earn as many as are still available to you.
o The more Mastery Points you earn, the more complete your knowledge base will be for the course and the higher the grade you can expect in the course. | Monday
| 4 |
| Individual MyMathLab® Week Four Posttest | Complete the Week Four Posttest in MyMathLab®. | Monday | 4 |
| Learning Team Applying concepts – Presentation | Create a presentation that follows your team’s process through the Learning Team Project.
· Begin by describing your discussion of your selected math concept and how you came up with the scenario to illustrate its real-world use.
· Discuss its transition from a verbally articulated scenario, to a written word problem, to a mathematically written problem.
· Conclude your presentation by showing how to solve the mathematically expressed problem.
· There is no predetermined length for the presentation; it should be long enough to effectively cover the material. | Monday | 5 |
| Week Five: Counting Methods and Probability | |||
| Details | Due | Points | |
| Objectives | 5 5.1 Use the multiplication principle to solve counting problems. 5.2 Solve permutation problems. 5.3 Solve combination problems. 5.4 Solve probability problems. | ||
| Reading | Read Section 8.6 & 8.7 in Ch. 8 of College Algebra. | ||
| Video Week Five Videos | Watch the Week Five Videos on the student website. | ||
| Participation | Participate in class discussion. | During the week | 2 |
| Discussion Questions | Respond to weekly discussion questions. | During the week | 2 |
| Individual MyMathLab® Pretest | Complete the Week Five Pretest in MyMathLab®. | Monday | 1 |
| Individual MyMathLab® Week Five Study Plan | Resource: University of Phoenix Material: MyMathLab® Study Plan
Complete the Week One Study Plan in MyMathLab®.
· Click the Study Plan button in MyMathLab® after completing the weekly pretest.
· First, complete some Practice problems until you feel ready for a quiz.
o Click the green Practice button within What to work on next. o Complete practice problems until you feel ready for a quiz. o Click the Close button and return to the main page for the Study Plan.
· Then, in the Quiz Me section earn Mastery Points for the week.
o Click the Quiz Me button within What to work on next.
o Correctly answer 3 of the 4 questions to earn the Mastery Point (MP).
Note. If you do not correctly answer 3 of the 4 questions in the Quiz Me, revisit the practice problems for additional practice, and then retake the Quiz Me until you earn the Mastery Point.
o Once you have earned a Mastery Point, continue working in the Study Plan until you have earned at least 10 Mastery Points for the week. If you have fewer than 10 Mastery Points available to earn for the week, simply earn as many as are still available to you.
o The more Mastery Points you earn, the more complete your knowledge base will be for the course and the higher the grade you can expect in the course. | Monday | 4 |
| Individual MyMathLab® Week Five Posttest | Complete the Week Five Posttest in MyMathLab®. | Monday | 4 |
| Individual MyMathLab® Final Exam | Complete the Final Exam in MyMathLab®. | Monday | 20 |
Discussion Questions
Week One Discussion Questions
· Explain how to determine the domain and range of a function.
· What must be done to the equation of a function so that its graph is shrunk vertically?
· Suppose you are provided with a function. How can you determine if there is an inverse function?
· How is finding the distance between two points in the rectangular coordinate system related to the Pythagorean theorem?
Week Two Discussion Questions
· Is it possible to use the methods for solving a system of linear equations to solve a system of nonlinear equations? Explain your answer.
· Explain the method for finding the solution of a system of linear equations using row operations.
· Compare and contrast the Gaussian elimination method with the Gauss-Jordan method of solving a system of linear equations.
· Suppose that in the process of solving a system of three linear equations in three unknowns, the last row of the matrix contains all zeros. How does this affect the solution of the system of equations?
Week Three Discussion Questions
· Given a rational function, identify a method which can be used to determine if there is a vertical asymptote.
· Suppose your friend is taking an algebra course and does not understand the definition of a rational function. How could you explain it to them?
· Explain the relationship between an equation in exponential form and the equivalent equation in logarithmic form.
· Why is zero excluded from the domain of a logarithmic function?
Week Four Discussion Questions
· Suppose you buy a new car for $18,000. At the end of n years, the value of your car is given by the sequence vn = 18000(3/4)n, n = 1, 2, 3, ….. Find the fifth term and explain what this value represents. Describe the nth term of the sequence in terms of the value of your car at the end of each year.
· Suppose you are provided with an arithmetic sequence. How can you find the sum of n terms of the sequence without having to add all of the terms?
· Suppose you are provided with a geometric sequence. How can you find the sum of n terms of the sequence without having to add all of the terms?
· Suppose a rumor is spread by first one person telling another individual and then the individual telling two other people. Each person in turn tells two other people. Can you consider this an arithmetic or geometric sequence? Explain your answer.
Week Five Discussion Questions
· Explain the difference between a combination and a permutation. When applying these counting methods in practical situations, how can you determine if the solution requires a combination or a permutation?
· How can you determine when two events are mutually exclusive? Provide an example along with the explanation.
· Provide an example of two events which are dependent; meaning that the occurrence of Event A is related to Event B.
· How can you apply probability concepts and apply methods for computing probability to everyday or professional situations with which you are familiar?