Math 57091

Math 57091: Applied Math for HS Teachers

Spring, 2014

TIME/PLACE: M 5:30pm-8:15pm, 158 MSB (for in-person meetings)

TEXT: Mathematical Modeling with Excel, Albright, Jones and Bartlett, 2010

INSTRUCTOR:

Chuck Gartland, 362 MSB, 330-672-9112 (ofc), 330-342-0893 (hm), 330-903-1159 (cell), gartland@math.kent.edu, http://www.math.kent.edu/~gartland
Remote Contact Times: T or Th 3:30pm-10:30pm, Sa 10:00am-5:00pm

COURSE OUTLINE:

Ch. 4-5
mid-term exam
Ch. 6
individual projects

FORMAT AND TECHNOLOGY:

Most lectures will be delivered live, on line, via web conference, during our regularly scheduled class time (Mondays, 5:30pm--8:15pm), using Blackboard Collaborate. Some lectures may be pre-recorded (and could be viewed at your convenience). Recordings of all sessions will be available for later re-viewing (but not for downloading).
Lecture notes (from whiteboard images of Bb Collaborate lecture sessions) will be available in .pdf form.
For remote questions outside of lecture sessions ("office hours"), we will use Blackboard IM---kind of like video Skype, but with whiteboards, screen and tool sharing, etc.
Blackboard Learn is the Course Management System employed by KSU. The main portal for our course is accessed by logging in to learn.kent.edu with your KSU Flashline credentials. Go there for more information on the Bb Collaborate and IM tools. In particular, to use Bb IM, you must first create an account and download the software.
Hardware/software requirements:

a computer (desktop, laptop, or tablet) running a "recent" Windows or Mac OS.
high-speed internet access (cable or DSL)
microphone, web cam, ... desirable
MS Office Excel (textbook refers to 2003, my laptop has 2010, current version is 2013)
or free/open-source alternative:

Apache Open Office, Libre Office (Windows, Mac, Linux)
NeoOffice (Mac OS X)

Training modules for Excel 2013, 2010, 2007, and 2011 for Mac can be found at office.microsoft.com, under "SUPPORT / Free Training". I found the demo "Create Your First Excel 2013 Workbook" to be a nice intro tutorial (with 5 short parts).
Recommended browser is firefox (alternate is Chrome), although most things seem to work OK with Internet Explorer---I haven't tried Safari. I get occasional Java warnings, although things seem to work still without enabling add-ins deemed by Java to be insecure.

CLASS OPERATION:

Homework will be assigned during the lectures. It will be turned in via e-mail (or perhaps through the Blackboard Assignments tool). Hand-written work may be scanned or digitally photographed. Homework will be due the following Sunday night. I will grade it Monday morning, e-mail back scans of the graded papers, and discuss it in Monday evening's lecture. Answer keys will be provided. Homework will count towards the final course grade (33%).
There will be a Mid-Term Exam after Ch. 4-5. In class (in person, at Kent), closed book, closed notes, no calculators. 75 min+ of the period will be allocated for the exam.
The regularly scheduled Final Exam Period (Monday, May 5, 5:45pm-8:00pm) will be used for presentations of final projects.
Please monitor your @kent.edu e-mail.
Please turn your cell phones OFF during in-person class meetings.

GRADES: Homework (33%), Mid-Term Exam (33%), Final Project (33%).

REGISTRATION REQUIREMENT: The official registration deadline for this course is January 26, 2014 (end of 2nd week). University policy requires all students to be officially registered in each class they are attending. Students who are not officially registered for a course by published deadlines should not be attending classes and will not receive credit or a grade for the course. Each student must confirm enrollment by checking his/her class schedule (using Student Tools in FlashFast) prior to the deadline indicated. Registration errors must be corrected prior to the deadline.

The last day to withdraw is March 23, 2014 (end of 10th week).

STUDENT ACCESSIBILITY POLICY: University policy 3-01.3 requires that students with disabilities be provided reasonable accommodations to ensure their equal access to course content. If you have a documented disability and require accommodations, please contact the instructor at the beginning of the semester to make arrangements for necessary classroom adjustments. Please note, you must first verify your eligibility for these through Student Accessibility Services (contact 330-672-3391 or visit www.kent.edu/sas for more information on registration procedures).

ADMINISTRATIVE POLICY AND PROCEDURES REGARDING STUDENT CHEATING AND PLAGIARISM: University policy 3-01.8 deals with the problem of academic dishonesty, cheating, and plagiarism. None of these will be tolerated in this class. The sanctions provided in this policy will be used to deal with any violations. If you have any questions, please read the policy here and/or ask.

PRE-REQUISITES:

MATH 21001 "Intro Linear Algebra"
MATH 22005 "Calc III"

INFORMATION SHEET: Please supply the following on a separate sheet:

Name
Degree(s), major(s), minor(s), year(s), institution(s)
Best time for "office hours" (remote questions)?
Pre-requisite Math courses, instructors and grades (if remember):

Intro Linear Algebra (e.g., 21001)?
Calc III (e.g., 22005)?

Other Math courses (as much information as you remember):

Prob/Stat (e.g., 30011, 40011, 40012, "Prob/Stat for HS Teachers")?
Intro ODEs (e.g., 32044)?

What computer software do you use:

spreadsheets: Excel?, Open Office Calc?, Other?, skill level?
presentations: Powerpoint?, Keynote?, Other?, skill level?

Comments

Chuck Gartland

January, 2014