Class Notices
On this page, information gone over in class or in correspondence
with students that should be widely known will be posted.
- A note on the homework. Each homework
is graded out of 10 points in total. A perfect homework will yield
10 points; for mistakes, half-points will be deducted depending on the
number and severity of the mistakes. However, in most cases,
a grade no lower than a 5 or 6 will be given if an earnest attempt is
made at all the assigned questions; points will be deducted though in
addition for missing problems, etc.
- The math tutoring lab is now open and
available to all students. It is open between 11 AM and 6 PM, Monday
through Thursday, and also between 11 AM and 1 PM on Friday. I will
be there myself should you wish to stop by during non-office hours, on
the following schedule:
Tuesdays, 5 PM to 6 PM
Wednesdays, 11 AM to 12 noon
Thursdays, 4 PM to 6 PM
Fridays, 11 AM to 12 noon
If you have any questions and can make it to one of these times as
opposed to the scheduled office hours, feel free to drop by and I will
answer as many questions as I can, or if you feel like you need help
with homework questions or other general things, and I'm not in the tutoring
lab, the other tutors should be able to help you also, in general.
- The first test will be given on Friday September 21st. It
will cover the materials from Chapter 12 (sections 1 through 6) as well
as material from Chapter 5 covered so far (sections 1 through 3). The
class period on Wednesday September 19th will be given to review for the
test, and so the three sections of homework from Chapter 5 will be due no
later than Monday September 17th so that I can post the answers and solutions
as well as extra study materials for the exam. Also, I will not be in
town that weekend, so there will be someone else who will proctor the exam
on the Friday; class on Monday September 24th is also accordingly canceled.
I have not finalized the format of the test, but most likely it will
be some kind of a mix of multiple choice, true/false, and calculation questions,
though for this test, calculators will likely not be needed. Be sure
to check the Test Review
page later for extra materials related to the upcoming test.
- A note on the first test:
The first test was graded somewhat peculiarly because
of a typo in one of the questions and other factors. The number on
the paper is a raw score out of 150 total points; to calculate your grade
percentage, roughly add 18 to this number and then divide by 150. Under
this procedure, the class average works out to be a 75% (which is a C score),
and there were in fact no scores below a D for students who took the test,
which is overall not too bad. Keep in mind also that for students
who feel their score is not as high as they would have liked for it to be,
that there will most likely be some sort of extra credit assignment available
by the end of the semester to add points to your cumulative grade, as well
as the fact that the lowest of the three mid-term exams grades will be automatically
dropped in calculating the final grade, while homework makes up 20% of the
final grade (which should emphasize that regularly doing well on homework
will only benefit you not only in passing tests, but in the grade as well.)
- The second exam will not be held on October 19th as is indicated
in the Class Outline (mostly due to the fact that this is the date of fall
break, and thus, there are no classes on this day across the university.
Instead, we will attempt to cover Chapter 6 in enough time that the
next exam will be held on Monday, October 29, though if we do not get through
all of Chapter 6 by then, I may choose to not include certain sections on
the exam instead.
- The second exam is to be held on Wednesday, October 31. It
will cover Sections 5.4 through 5.7, as well as 6.1 through 6.6 (for more,
see the Test
Review page). For extra help on solving homework exercises, see
the Homework Answer
Keys section. If there are any other questions, be sure to try
and contact me as soon as possible so I can address them in a timely manner
before the test.
- The third exam will be Monday, November 19. It will cover
Sections 10.1 through 10.3, though not every topic in Section 10.3 is covered
(mainly just applications of annuity formulas to loans and mortgages, and
the idea of balloon payments). As usual, see the Test Review
page and the Homework Answer Keys
page for more information.
- The final exam is Monday, December 10 at 8:00 AM in the usual classroom.
It will be a cumulative final covering all of the topics we covered
during the semester. To help prepare, I have also posted in the Test Review
section the solutions to the previous midterm exams, and that combined with
the review sessions during class this week and the solutions to the homework
should hopefully prepare you for the final, which is worth 40% of your final
course grade. If there are any questions, or issues with being unable
to attend the final as scheduled, see me ASAP to work out an alternate time
before that date.
- There is an extra credit project which you can also complete and
turn in on the day of the final, which will be worth up to 20 test points.
To find the particulars of the assignment, check the Homework Assignments
page.