COURSE: MATH 1720-002

TIME: 10:25--11:20 MWF

PLACE: Room 476 of Brown Hall

INSTRUCTOR OF RECORD: Dr. Robert Gardner
CLASS INSTRUCTOR: Jamie Howard

OFFICE: Gardner: Room 308F of Gilbreath Hall; Howard: 310 of Gilbreath Hall
OFFICE HOURS: Gardner: 9:00-10:00 TR; Howard: TBA

PHONE: Gardner: 439-6979 (308F Gilbreath); Howard: 439-6749 (310 Gilbreath); Math Department Office 439-4349

E-MAIL: Gardner: gardnerr@etsu.edu Howard: howardj@etsu.edu
WEBPAGE: Gardner: www.etsu.edu/math/gardner/gardner.htm (see my webpage for a copy of this course syllabus and updates for the course).

TEXT: Precalculus, 7th edition, Michael Sullivan, Prentice Hall, 2005.

CLASS NOTES: We will use overheads for most of the lecture, except for problem solving and working examples. Copies of the overheads are on the web at:

SAMPLE TESTS: Sample tests can be found from the Voyager Online Catalog. Click on "Course Reserve Search" and choose "Robert Gardner" from the instructor list, and then click on "Search." You may find the Precalculus 1 test solutions (Summer 2006) and the Precalculus 2 test solutions (Summer 2005) helpful. This class (Precalculus 1) has been recently reorganized and that is why the strange mix of tests.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: Instructor's Solutions Manual, Volumes I and II, Mark McCombs, Prentice Hall, 2005. A copy of each of these additional resources will be on reserve in the library. They are on reserve under my name but are listed under the Precalculus 2 (MATH 1720) class.

CALCULATORS:You may use a calculator on the tests - an inexpensive scientific calculator is sufficient. You will be expected to give exact solutions to test questions, and not approximations (which is what the calculator will often give you). BEWARE! Math is a matter of precision and there is a single correct answer to most problems and all other answers are incorrect! If the correct answer is 1/2, then 0.5 is also the answer since 1/2=0.5. But if the correct answer is 1/3, then 0.3333333333 is incorrect since 1/3 is not equal to 0.3333333333. I recommend that you concentrate on the mathematics and leave the numerical, computational work for another course which doesn't require such precision (such as physics, chemistry, or accounting).

A NOTE FROM THE TEXT TO THE STUDENT: Though the title of the course is "Precalculus - Algebra," we will cover material traditionally covered in a college algebra class. This material is normally covered in 9th grade (Algebra 1) and part of 11th grade (Algebra 2) high school courses. However, this should not lull you into a false sense of security! The material is tricky and requires the utmost attention to detail! DO NOT make up your own rules or write things which are incorrect. If you think you have found a shortcut that we have not discussed, then BEWARE! The instructor will work problems in the easiest way possible and if you have discovered some quick, clever shortcut it is probably wrong! DO show all work and all steps to each problem. In this way, you may get partial credit for an answer which is ultimately wrong (assuming that your reasoning is basically sound).

GRADING: Your grade will be determined from your scores on four tests (T₁-T₄) and a final (F). Given the instructor situation, Test 2 will cover the material of Test 1 (Sections 1.1-1.3 and 2.1) along with the rest of the Chapter 2 material. This will give you a second chance on the material of Chapter 1. Your lowest test score will be dropped and the first 2 quizzes you have taken will count as bonus credit to be added to your test scores. Your average will then be determined by weighing the three highest test scores and the final score equally:

MATH LAB: The Mathematics Laboratory is located in Room 310 of Warf-Pickle Hall. It is staffed by graduate students and upper level undergraduates. They are there to help you! Hours of operation are MTWR 11:00-5:00 Sunday 1:00-5:00. The phone number is 439-7611.

IMPORTANT DATES:
Monday and Tuesday, October 16 and 17 = Fall Break, no class.
Monday, October 23 = Last day to drop without college dean's written permission.
Monday, October 30 = Test 2 (1.1-1.3, 2.1-2.6).
Wednesday, November 15 = Test 3 (3.1-3.5, 4.1-4.3).
Thursday and Friday, November 23 and 24 = Thanksgiving Holiday.
Friday, December 1 = Test 4 (4.4-4.6, 4.8, 9.1-9.4).
Wednesday, December 6 = Last day to withdraw from the university.
Wednesday, December 13 = Final (departmental), 8:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.

TENTATIVE OUTLINE: We will try to adhere to the following schedule. "EOO" means Every Other Odd (that is, 1, 5, 9, 13, etc.). Ignore any problem requiring a "graphing utility."

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