MTH2205: Precalculus and Elements of Calculus (C - afternoon) (Summer 2021)

Instructor: Ivan Matic
email: Ivan.Matic@baruch.cuny.edu
Class time: MoTuWeTh 2:00PM - 4:30PM
Class location: online (Zoom information)
Section code: S2CA
Office hours time: We 9:30AM - 11:00AM, 4:30PM-5:00PM
Office hours location: online (Zoom information)
Grading formula
Homeworks and quizzes: 25%
Midterms: 50%
Final: 25%

Learning Goals

Upon completion of this course students will

Textbook: Gordon, Wang and Materowski: Applied Calculus for Business, Second Edition, Pearson, 2015.

If you purchased your course materials last semester for MTH 2003, you can use your same MyMathLab and e-Text for MTH 2205. Simply click on the MyMathLab link and you should be taken into your course without needing to purchase access.

Graphing calculator required: Texas Instruments TI-89 or TI-92 Plus. Simulator is available at https://ti89-simulator.com/.

Grading Policies

Homeworks and quizzes
Homeworks and quizzes together contribute to \(25\%\) of the the grade.
There will be 6 in-class quizzes. The first quiz is "Academic Integrity Quiz" and is given during the first class. The remaining quizzes will be on the following days: Thursday, July 15, 2021, Tuesday, July 20, 2021, Tuesday, July 27, 2021, Tuesday, August 3, 2021, and Tuesday, August 10, 2021.
The homework deadlines are on the blackboard and mymathlab websites.
With a well-documented reason, a student may miss one homework or one quiz during the semester. In that case the rescaled score from the final exam will count instead of the missing grade.
Midterms
There are two written midterm exams (\(M_1\) and \(M_2\)). Each of them contributes \(25%\) to the grade. The midterms will be on Thursday, July 22, 2021 and Thursday, August 5, 2021.
Final
The uniform final will be administered by the Mathematics Department on Thursday, August 12, 2021.
Grade and Curve
The course grade will be determined according to the formula \[0.25\cdot H + 0.25 \cdot M_1+0.25\cdot M_2+ 0.25\cdot F.\] The students will be ranked according to their total scores obtained by the previous formula. The scores from the uniform final will allow the department to compare this particular section with the other sections of the course. The scores from the uniform final will determine how many students in this section are allowed to receive each of the letter grades. The top students (according to their rank) will receive A, the next group B, and so on.
A student who receive failing grade on the final exam will get F in the course regardless of the grades during the semester.
Example: Assume that there are \(5\) students in the class: George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe. Assume that these are theirs scores:
Name Q/H M1M2FT
Adams, John 60 100 100 70 82.5
Jefferson, Thomas 50.5 60 100 55 66.375
Madison, James 49 60 50 100 64.75
Monroe, James 53 50 50 55 52
Washington, George 52.5 60 100 100 78.125
Then we first look at their scores from the final exam. They are 100, 100, 70, 55, 55. Assume that after the Math Department compared the scores with other sections, it created the following cut-offs for grades: 90 and above is A; 65 and above is B, 55 and above is C. Then this section is allowed to have two students who receive A; one student who receives B, and two students who receive C. The top two students who will receive A are determined based on the total score, and they are John Adams and George Washington. The third student who will receive the grade B is Thomas Jefferson. James Madison and James Monroe will receive the grades C.

Recording policies

Students who participate in this class with their camera on or use a profile image are agreeing to have their video or image recorded. If you are unwilling to consent to have your profile or video image recorded, be sure to keep your camera off and do not use a profile image. Likewise, students who un-mute during class and participate orally are agreeing to have their voices recorded. If you are not willing to consent to have your voice recorded during class, you will need to keep your mute button activated and communicate exclusively using the "chat" feature, which allows students to type questions and comments live.

Proctoring of exams

All students will be required to have their webcam on during the in-class examinations. If a student cannot have a camera on during the exams, then the students will receive the INC grade. The Mathematics Department will then schedule and administer the oral examination on one of the days between August 16 and August 20. The INC grade will be changed to the appropriate letter grade after the oral examination is completed.

Missed exams

All students must take the written exams at the same time. This rule will be strictly enforced to ensure the fair grading.
Late homeworks will not be accepted. Homework is a grading instrument that needs to determine the ability of students to complete and submit the assignments correctly and on time.
In the case of a missed written in-class exam, the student will be required to submit a written appeal with a well-documented reason for missing the exam. If the appeal is approved, the re-scaled score on the final may be used as the score for the missed exam. Two missed exams or three missed quizzes (in the case there are quizzes) result in an automatic F.
The math department‘s policy states that any score on the final below 50% may result in an automatic failure in the course, regardless of scores received during the semester. Thus, students who miss the final will receive an F. In the case of an extraordinary circumstance resulting in the missed final, a student who had a term average of at least 55% may appeal to the Mathematics Department. If that appeal is accepted, the student may receive an INC grade. A student who misses the final and has term grade lower than 55% will receive F regardless.

Disability accommodations

To receive special accommodations for the lectures and exams, students with disabilities need to contact the Office of Services for Students with Disabilities at (646) 312‑4590. More information can be found at Student Disability Services Website.

Academic integrity

Any act of a student that provides an unfair advantage to themselves or an accomplice is dishonest. If during an exam a student has within reach an object that can be used to gain an unfair advantage, the student is violating academic honesty codes, regardless of whether the student is observed to use such object. For example, phones or smart watches, even if turned off, cannot be on desks or wrists during an exam.
Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. Depending on the severity of the offense, cheating on an exam or assignment will result in a grade of 0 on that exam or assignment, or in a final course grade of D, or in a final course grade of F. All offenders will be reported to the Office of the Dean of Students.