University of Central Oklahoma

College Algebra Online summer 2014 course syllabus CRN 36140, 32548

Instructor: Dr. Michael McClendon
Office: MCS 148
Phone: (405) 974 5251 FAX (405) 974 3847
email: mmcclendon@uco.edu

I. Course Description: College Algebra includes the study of complex numbers,
equations and inequalities, graphing, functions, systems of equations,
matrices, zeros of polynomials, and sequences.
II. Prerequisites: Intermediate Algebra and/or high school Algebra II
III. Course Objectives:
a. Develop a working knowledge of algebra necessary for application to
other fields of study.
b. Develop the necessary manipulative skills to study more advanced
mathematics and statistics.
c. Serve as a preparatory course for calculus to benefit students whose high
school mathematics background are inadequate for this purpose.
d. Continue to assist students in improving their abilities to read, to
understand, and to use mathematics.

IV. Student Objectives:
a. Analyze functions and their graphs.
b. Sketch the graphs of functions including constant, linear, absolute value,
square root, polynomial, exponential, and logarithmic equations.
c. Solve polynomial, exponential, and logarithmic equations.
d. Solve systems of linear equations.
e. Create mathematical models to solve application problems.
f. Analyze numeric and algebraic patterns; generate numeric and algebraic
patterns.

VI. Grading Policy
There will be 34 online homework sets for you to complete. In order to finish
one homework set and to move on to the next homework set, you must answer at least
60% of the questions in each set correctly. If you answer a question incorrectly, you are
(repeatedly) provided the opportunity to answer it (or a similar question) again. There
will be three online exams and then there will be a final exam. Of the three exams, your
lowest grade will be dropped.
Your final grade will be calculated as below.

a. 30% of your grade will be your 3 exam grades.
b. 45% of your grade will be your homework grades.
c. 25% of your grade will be your final grade.
d. The course grade will be A (for 90% - above cumulative), B (for 80%-
89% cumulative), C (for 70% - 79% cumulative), D (for 60% - 69%
cumulative) and F (for less than 60% cumulative).

VII. MyMathLab
You do NOT need to purchase a textbook. You will need to purchase a
passcode from MyMathLab. MyMathLab is a where all of your assignments
and exams will be located. You can receive instant help if you are ever stuck
on a problem and you will receive immediate feedback when you submit an
assignment. At this website, you will be granted access to the entire textbook
from which the course is taught, also, and at a price significantly less than the
price of a textbook at the bookstore. So if you have already purchased a
textbook, my advice is to return it now for a full refund and to use a portion
of that money to register online at http://www.mymathlab.com. The course
ID for this class is mcclendon29895. Let me know
immediately if you are having troubles registering.

Furthermore, I would advise you to explore MyMathLab a little bit. It is an
easy to navigate website and there are a LOT of resources available with just
the click of your mouse. The assignments will appear as they become
available. My advice is to work each assignment as soon as it becomes
available, to not procrastinate. Otherwise you may miss a deadline and be
unable to submit an assignment. Also note that the only assignments that you
need to do are those outlined in part XI below in this syllabus. Of course, if
you would like to work extra assignments for your own practice and mastery,
by all means go ahead and do so.

Another important point - It may be the case that MyMathLab is on Eastern
time, and Oklahoma is located in Central time. So if an assignment is due at
midnight, that really means that the assignment is due at 11 pm.

VIII. Email policies
If you email me with a question or a request, I will respond in a timely
manner. If you miss an exam, email me and I will work with you in order to
determine a way to arrange for you to make it up. The same goes for missing
an assignment. If you email me then please use the email:
mmcclendon@uco.edu.

IX. Exams
During the semester there will be three exams and then the final exam. The
final exam is a cumulative exam. The lowest exam grade will be dropped, but
the final exam grade will not be dropped. Please note that since the final is
25% of your grade, then how you perform on the final can raise or lower your
final grade by two letter grades, that is, for example, it can take a D grade to a
B grade or an A grade to a C grade. Be extra careful when you take your final
exam!




You will be able to take each of the three exams up to three times. For each
exam, only your highest score will be counted. That is, for example, if you
take exam 2 one time then the score you earn will be your exam 2 grade. If
you take exam 2 twice, then the higher of the two scores will be your exam 2
grade. If you take exam 2 three times, then the higher of the three scores will
be your exam 2 grade. This policy holds for all three exams.
You will only be able to take the final exam one time.
X. Difficulties
a. If you have any technical difficulties, I cannot help you. You must call
either our IT department at (405) 974 2255, or else call Pearson
Technical Support at (800) 677 6337.
b. You are the one who enrolled for an online class. It is up to you to make
sure you can access everything online with your computer.
c. If you call our IT department, make sure you get the name of the
individual you talk to, so that if they cannot help you at least I might be
able to follow up and get your problem fixed.
d. If you have any math related questions that you cannot get answered, then
by all means write me an email or call me. I will get back to you very
quickly (no more than one day turnaround).
XI. Assignment policies
The due dates for each homework set and the due dates for each exam are
provided below.




Assignment Description of Section Objectives Available
Date
Due
Date
R this assignment reviews factoring and interval
notation.
June 1 June 20
1.1 plotting points, determine whether an ordered
pair is a solution of a given equation, find x- and
y- intercepts, graph equations by plotting points,
find distance between two points in the plane,
find the midpoint of a segment in the plane,
equations of circles
June 1 June 20
1.2 determine whether a correspondence or a relation
is a function, find function values, or outputs,
using a formula or a graph, determine whether a
graph is that of a function, find the domain and
range of a function
June 3 June 20
1.3 determine the slope of a line given two points on
the line, find the slope and y-intercept of a line
given the equation y = mx + b, or f(x) = mx + b
June 4 June 20
1.4 determine equations of lines, given the equations
of two lines determine whether their graphs are
parallel or perpendicular
June 5 June 20
1.5 solve linear equations, find zeros of linear
functions, solve a formula for a given variable
June 5 June 20
1.6 solve linear inequalities, solve compound
inequalities
June 9 June 20
2.1 graph functions, looking for intervals on which
the function is in creasing, decreasing or constant,
graph piecewise-defined functions
June 10 June 20
2.2 find the sum, the difference, the product, and the
quotient of two functions, find the difference
quotient for a function
June 11 June 20
2.3 find the composition of two functions and the
domain of the composition, decompose a function
as a composition of two functions
June 12 June 20
2.4 determine the symmetry of a graph, determine
whether a function is even, odd or neither, graph
and work with a transformation of a function
June 12 June 20
exam 1 June 16 June 20

3.1 perform computations involving complex
numbers
June 18 July 10
3.2 find zeros of quadratic functions and solve
quadratic equations, solve equations that are
reducible to quadratic, solve applied problems
using quadratic equations
June 19 July 10
3.3 find the vertex, the axis of symmetry and the
maximum or minimum value of a quadratic
function, graph quadratic functions, solve applied
problems involving maximum and minimum
function values
June 19 July 10
3.4 solve rational equations, solve radical equations June 23 July 10
3.5 solve equations with absolute value June 24 July 10
4.1 determine the behavior of the graph of a
polynomial function using the leading-term test,
factor polynomial functions and find their zeros
and their multiplicities, graph a polynomial
function, and find real-number zeros and relative
maximum and minimum values
June 25 July 10
4.2 graph polynomial functions, use the intermediate
value theorem
June 26 July 10
4.3 perform long division with polynomials and
determine whether one polynomial is a factor of
another, use synthetic division, use the remainder
theorem to find a function value f(c), use the
factor theorem to solve an equation
June 26 July 10
4.4 find a polynomial with specified zeros, find the
rational zeros and the other zeros of a polynomial
function, use descartes rule of signs
June 30 July 10
4.5 for a rational function, find the domain and graph
the function, identifying all of the asymptotes
July 1 July 10
4.6 solve polynomial and rational inequalities July 2 July 10
exam 2 July 3 July 10
5.1 determine whether a function is one-to-one, and if
it is, find a formula for its inverse, graph relations
and their inverses
July 7 July 21
5.2 graph exponential equations and exponential
functions
July 8 July 21
5.3 graph logarithmic functions, find common
logarithms and natural logarithms with and
without a calculator, convert between exponential
equations and logarithmic equations
July 8 July 21

5.4 express logarithms as a sum, product, or
difference of logarithms, express sums, products
and differences of logarithms as a single
logarithm, evaluate logarithms, simplify
logarithmic expressions
July 9 July 21
5.5 solve exponential equations July 10 July 21
exam 3 July 14 July 21
6.1 solve a system of two linear equations by
graphing, or by using the addition technique or
the substitution technique
July 16 July 29
6.2 solve a system of equations in three variables July 16 July 29
8.1 find terms of sequences given the nth term, look
for a pattern in a sequence and try to determine a
general term, find partial sums, convert between
sigma notation and other notation for a series,
construct terms of a recursively defined sequence
July 17 July 29
8.2 for an arithmetic sequence, find terms and the
common difference, find the sum of the first n
terms of an arithmetic sequence
July 21 July 29
8.3 identify the common ratio of a geometric
sequence and find a term and the sum of the first
n terms, find the sum of an infinite geometric
series if it exists, given a repeating decimal find
fractional notation
July 22 July 29
8.4 list the first few statements in a sequence, prove
statements using mathematical induction
July 23 July 29
8.7 expand a power of a binomial, perform binomial
expansion on complex numbers
July 24 July 29
final exam July 25 July 29

Note: In the table columns above, Available Date and Due Date, the first date is the date
that the section assignment becomes available online, so that the assignment for the
section cannot be completed before this date. The second date is the date that the section
assignment becomes unavailable, so that the assignment for the section cannot be
completed after this date.