NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS COLLEGE COURSE SYLLABUS

 

Course Title:	Pre-Calculus Math
Course Prefix & Number:	MATH 2412	Section Number:	0402	Semester/Year:	Fall 2020
Semester Credit Hours:	4	Lecture Hours:	80	Lab Hours:
Course Description (NCTC Catalog): In-depth combined study of algebra, trigonometry, and other topics for calculus readiness.
Course Prerequisite(s): MATH 1314 College Algebra or the equivalent preparation.
Required or Recommended Course Materials: Pre-calculus, Edward B. Burger, Thinkwell, 2014 Access code for the online component (Required - you can do this thru Canvas) Calculator - TI-30X IIS or equivalent. Graphing calculators and phone calculators will not be allowed on exams.

 

INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION

Name of Instructor:	Ravi Kumar
Campus/Office Location:	Corinth 313
Office Hours:	MW:  11:00 am- 1:00 pm TR:      1:00 pm-3:00 pm; 5:00-6:30 pm
Telephone Number:	940-498-6282, ext. 6355
E-mail Address:	rkumar@nctc.edu

 

OFFICE HOURS

All office hours will be held online this semester.  Students can schedule an appointment with their instructor by selecting the Cisco Webex option in Canvas and navigating to the “Office Hour” tab.  The times that the instructor is available will be displayed there and a student may schedule a meeting by choosing a time and selecting “Confirm Meeting” at the bottom of the page.

 

GRADING CRITERIA

# of Graded Course Elements	Graded Course Elements	Percentage or Point Values
17	Quizzes	10%
33	Homework Assignments	15%
4	Exams	60%
1	Final Exam	15%

 

Grade Scale:   90 – 100% = A;   80 – 89% = B; 70 – 79% = C;  60 – 69% = D;  Below 60% = F

The grading policy may be amended during the semester at the instructor’s discretion. 

 

HOMEWORK & QUIZZES POLICES

Homework Assignments & Quizzes There will be a graded homework assignment for each section we cover.    All assignments(homework & quizzes) will be available from the first day of the semester, but must be done by the posted due date at 11:59 p.m.  Students may work ahead as far as they like.  Manage your time & schedule so that you can complete the assignments ahead of time when necessary.  There will be no make-up assignments. The number of times you can take each assignment is unlimited prior to its due date.  Each assignment will consist of approximately 10 – 20 questions. The entire assignment must be submitted all at once; however, each time you attempt an assignment, you’ll only have to rework the problems you missed on the previous attempt.  You should definitely try to take each assignment until you get every problem correct.  Since notes are not allowed when taking exams, you should work the assignments problems until you can do them without notes. The links to the graded assignments, along with the corresponding due dates, are all found under the Assignments link on the left-hand navigation bar in our course Canvas site.

TESTING POLICY

All testing will be online this semester except for classes that meet face to face.  Testing may be administered in a variety of ways and the mode of testing may change during the semester as deemed appropriate by the instructor.  Students may be required to use a webcam while testing.  Students may be asked to demonstrate knowledge/skills in a one-on-one conference if deemed necessary by the instructor. 

TENTATIVE TEST SCHEDULE

 

The exams are given on Mondays, 06:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., according to the following schedule:

Exam # 1:                 Monday, September 14, 2020

Exam # 2:                 Monday, October 12, 2020

Exam # 3:                 Monday, November 09, 2020

Exam # 4 :                Monday, November 30, 2020

Final Exam(Comprehensive ):    Monday, December 7, 2020

 

This schedule is subject to change at the instructor’s discretion.

Students who are unable to attend the above primary exam dates & times may, with the instructor’s approval, test at another day.  These alternate testing arrangements must be communicated to the instructor at least 1 weeks prior to the primary testing date and may be approved at the instructor’s discretion. 

Exams will generally be graded in about a week.  Once graded, the grades will be posted in our Canvas course site. 

 

LEARNING PROCEDURES

After you’ve read through this entire syllabus and the other documents, click on the Thinkwell content link on the left hand navigation bar of our Canvas course site.  Thinkwell is the publisher of the online text we will be using.  The first time you do this, you’ll be asked to purchase access with a credit or debit card (cheapest option), enter an access code you’ve already purchased at the NCTC bookstore, or get temporary access for 14 days. Once you’ve passed the purchasing part, expand the third chapter, Orientation and Getting Started Materials, by clicking on the triangle to the left of the chapter title.  Once you have looked through all of the Orientation and Getting Started Materials, you are ready to start learning the course material. Each chapter will expand to sections, each section expands to subsections, and each subsection expands to reveal the learning materials for that subsection (Book pages, Video Lesson, Video sample solutions, & Interactive Practice).   I highly recommend you watch each video lesson and do the interactive practice.  Each video lesson is done by Professor Ed Burger, the author of the text, and averages about 7 minutes in length.  The Interactive Practice consists of 1 – 4 problems that can be done unlimited times.  These are not part of your grade, but will give you feedback as to whether or not you understand the material.  The Book pages are just what they say – online text pages.  You may find that you like reading through these in addition to watching the videos.  The Video sample solutions are a handful of additional examples you can view for each subsection. At the end of each section, you will find a Practice Quiz (Not for Grade) and Practice Book Exercises.  Both of these are always available and may be done unlimited times.  The Practice Quiz problems will change some on each attempt.  The Practice Book Exercises are static – they never change.  I recommend you attempt the Practice Quiz at the end of each section and read the solutions for feedback before you try the corresponding Graded assignment for that section.    The accessibility statement for Canvas is available at http://www.canvaslms.com/accessibility . Thinkwell runs on the same Canvas platform, so this statement also applies to Thinkwell. If you have any additional needs in order to access the course content, please contact me.

 

EMAILS

I will check emails periodically Monday thru Friday and will try to respond within 24 hours.  Email will not be checked over the weekend, holidays, or after 7 pm on any weekday.  Keep in mind if there are any emails that are urgent over the weekend TRY not to panic.  The solution probably can be resolved quickly upon the beginning of the week.  Be mindful of the tone that is presented in emails.  If it is aggressive, unprofessional, or is academically offensive in anyway, the professor will not reply.  Know that the student’s name may be given to the Associate Dean of Denton County Campuses for further review.

 

RELIABLE TECHNOLOGY

In an effort to keep everyone within this class on an equal playing field regarding IT issues, everyone will be held to the same process and standards.  Be sure that you are doing all of your assignments on a reliable computer with sufficient battery life and appropriate Internet connectivity.   The instructor cannot help instances of computers “shutting down,” “crashing,” “running slow,” or “electrical outages due to a storm,” etc.  Be mindful of this before you begin any assignments.   The burden rests solely on the student if there is a problem mid-assignment and it truly rests with someone other than the student, you will have to:   1.Create an e-ticket at  http://www.nctc.edu/eLearning_Department/Support.aspx Select “submit a request.”  Describe the problem to the e-Learning Department and produce the evidence to support your technological issue.  Include screenshots via computer or phone of the error message or issue.  In addition, include dates and times within the screenshots or photos.   2. Forward the emailed response to the instructor from the e-Learning Department if there is evidence to support your claim.  That includes the response that the Canvas help desk delivered with the overwhelming amount of data regarding your issue to indicate that the technical difficulty was through no fault of the students’.  Do not email the instructor if the e-Learning Department cannot verify your technical difficulty.  Please include your “request number” in parenthesis which can be found in the email from e-Learning.   3. Then the instructor will gather all evidence from the student, e-Learning, and from the student activity from within Canvas to make an appropriate decision in moving forward with the request to re-open assignments.  If students do not provide a good defense, the instructor will not likely re-open any assignments.    4. Finally, THE INSTRUCTOR WILL LOOK AT THE ENTIRE RECORD OF THE STUDENTS’ ACTIVITY ON CANVAS.  If the student makes a false claim regarding technical difficulties, they should expect to be dropped from the course at the point of the offense.  This is child’s play to look at students’ Canvas activity so avoid being inventive of any fictitious IT stories. On a personal note:   This syllabus is our contract; it cannot and will not be amended by students for personal issues.  This is not limited to birthdays, deaths, hospital / incarceration stays, or minor holidays.  Everyone is held to the same standard in this class. Decreased stress for this class can be traced back to utilizing a calendar system (for all assignment due dates), working on a reliable computer, and not waiting until the last minute to get started on assignments (cheating, plagiarism, creating fictitious I.T. stories, and sloppy work can get the very best under these conditions).  Overall, I would respect a student more if they honestly could not complete an assignment rather than to invent creative stories, blame others, or recycle assignments or copy other work.  In short, these issues just waste my time and could get the student in more academic trouble and potentially expelled from college.

 

 

 

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the successful completion of this course the student will be able to:
1	Demonstrate and apply knowledge of properties of functions.
2	Recognize and apply algebraic and transcendental functions and solve related equations.
3	Apply graphing techniques to algebraic and transcendental functions.
4	Compute the values of trigonometric functions for key angles in all quadrants of the unit circle measured in both degrees and radians.
5	Prove trigonometric identities.
6	Solve right and oblique triangles.

 

STUDENT EMAIL

All students at NCTC are assigned a student email address, also known as Lion Pride email. Lion Pride email can be accessed on the NCTC home page by clicking on MyNCTC, then the link “Lion Pride Email” to the left. After clicking the Lion Pride Email link, the Microsoft Office 365 window will open.
1. Enter your NCTC student e-mail address. (for example, Smithj123456@student.nctc.edu)

2. Enter your password (your NCTC Student ID Number, either 7 or 9 numbers).
3. From the list of Microsoft icons, choose MAIL.
4. You will be asked to set your language and local time zone (Central Time). Your account is now activated.

 

**It is the student’s responsibility to activate and regularly monitor the assigned NCTC (Lion Pride) e-mail account. Important announcements and notifications from the Admissions office, Financial Aid, or other college staff will be sent via the Lion Pride student email system.

 

For communicating with classmates and instructors, students also have an option to communicate through Canvas. Canvas messaging is NOT the same as Lion Pride e-mail. Failure to read and/or receive NCTC e-mails (either in Lion Pride or in Canvas) is no excuse for not complying with any school policy. Be sure to regularly check BOTH the Lion Pride email as well as the Canvas inbox for important messages and information.

 

ATTENDANCE POLICY

Regular and punctual attendance is expected of all students in all classes for which they have registered. All absences are considered to be unauthorized unless the student is absent due to illness or emergencies. It is the student’s responsibility to provide documentation as to the emergency for approval by the faculty member. Approved college-sponsored activities are also excused absences. The instructor is responsible for judging the validity of any reason given for an absence. Valid reasons for absence, however, do not relieve the student of the responsibility for making up required work. Students will not be allowed to make up an examination missed due to absence unless the absence is documented and excused by the instructor. Student will be dropped from a class by the Registrar upon recommendation of the instructor who feels the student has been justifiably absent or tardy a sufficient number of times to preclude meeting the course’s objectives. Persistent, unjustified absences from classes or laboratories will be considered sufficient cause for College officials to drop a student from the rolls of the College. From Board Policy FC (LOCAL)

 

 

 

LAST DAY TO WITHDRAW

Last day to withdraw from a 16-week course with a “W” is Monday, November 2, 2020.

 

 

MATH LAB

Students who need help with any math class can visit the NCTC Mathematics Lab to receive assistance. Sign up for an appointment or see the most current tutoring hours for all campuses at http://www.nctc.edu/student-services/student-success/tutoring/mathematics-lab.html. 

 

 

DISABILITY SERVICES (Office for Students with Disabilities)

The Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) provides accommodations for students who have a documented disability. On the Corinth Campus, go to room 170 or call 940-498-6207. On the Gainesville Campus, go to room 110 or call 940-668-4209.  Students on the Bowie, Graham, Flower Mound, and online campuses should call 940-498-6207.

North Central Texas College is committed to both the spirit and letter of federal equal opportunity legislation, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, ADA Amendments Act of 2009, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (P.L. 93-112).   https://www.nctc.edu/catalog/student-services/office-students-with-disabilities.html

 

CORE CURRICULUM FOUNDATIONAL COMPONENT AREA (For classes in the Core)________        

 

            Communication

            Mathematics                  

            Life and Physical Science

            Language, Philosophy & Culture

            Creative Arts

            American History

 

            Government/Political Science

            Social and Behavioral Sciences

            Component Area Option

 

 

REQUIRED CORE OBJECTIVES (For classes in the Core)

 

            Critical Thinking

            Communication

            Empirical and Quantitative

 

            Teamwork

            Personal Responsibility

            Social Responsibility

 

COURSE TYPE

            Academic General Education Course (from ACGM but not in NCTC Core)

            Academic NCTC Core Curriculum Course

            WECM Course

 

STUDENT HANDBOOK

Students are expected to follow all rules and regulations found in the student handbook. https://www.nctc.edu/_documents/academics/student-handbook.pdf. 

 

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY

Scholastic dishonesty shall include, but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, academic falsification, intellectual property dishonesty, academic dishonesty facilitation and collusion.  The use of online math solvers with submitted work is considered academic dishonesty.  Faculty members may document and bring charges against a student who is engaged in or is suspected to be engaged in academic dishonesty.  See Student Handbook, “Student Rights & Responsibilities: Student Conduct ([FLB(LOCAL)]”. 

Consequences for academic dishonesty may include:

• Zero on the assignment
• Failing grade for the course

 

Name of Chair:	Ben Owens
Office Location:	Corinth 236
Telephone Number:	940.498.6209
E-mail Address:	bowens@nctc.edu
Name of Instructional Dean:	Mary Martinson
Office Location:	Gainesville 1404
Telephone Number:	940.668.7731 ext. 4377
E-mail Address:	mmartinson@nctc.edu

 

INFORMATION FOR ONSITE (FACE-T0-FACE) CLASSES

Potential Conversion of Onsite Classes to Online/Remote Format: North Central Texas College students should be aware that in the event of a college closure due to COVID-19, onsite classes will be converted to an online/remote format. Students should plan ahead to ensure they have access to the computer equipment (either PC, MAC, or tablet), webcam, and internet connectivity to continue their classes in an online/remote format. Please read all your official North Central Texas College student emails as the transition from onsite to online/remote might require a reorganization in your personal situation. Students will be granted a 72-hour transition and grace period. Online classes will continue as scheduled without disruption. Wear a mask, stay safe, and contact your Instructor as the situation arises. These policies and procedures were updated on July 30, 2020 and are subject to change.

 

Face Coverings: Per the North Central Texas College guidance on face coverings on campus, in the instructional setting, faculty and students must wear face coverings, such as masks or face shields. Students without coverings, or those who do not comply with the rules relating to face coverings, will not be able to participate in on-campus classroom activities. To request an exception to this requirement, students should contact the NCTC HR Office of Enrollment Management (ccove@nctc.edu). Failure to comply with the face coverings requirement may result in the Instructor directing the student to leave the classroom. Any student asked to leave the classroom may be referred to the student conduct officer. These policies and procedures were updated on July 30, 2020 and are subject to change.

 

Temporary COVID-19 Attendance Policy for Face-to-Face Meetings: We are facing an unprecedented situation in which all of us must be flexible and make prudent decisions in the best interest of our families, our campus, and our community. In light of this, North Central Texas College is temporarily establishing the requirement that faculty keep records of student attendance for face-to-face course meetings as well as a documented seating chart. In addition, students who are sick or need to quarantine should not attend classes. Students will not be required to provide formal documentation from a health care provider and will not be penalized for COVID-19 related absences when proper notification to campus health officials is made in accordance with the guidelines stated below.

 

Faculty will:

• Notify students about important course information and delivery changes through Canvas and campus email.

 

Students should:

• Provide notification to campus officials (via NCTC Daily Health Check protocol through Canvas) if they have tested positive for COVID-19 or have to quarantine so we can confirm reported absence with instructors, monitor, and assist the campus community.
• Notify instructors in advance of the absence.
• Connect with that class through Webex if the class session is being transmitted in a hybrid fashion.
• Keep up with and/or make up missed classwork or assignments.
• Submit assignments digitally through Canvas or other means as announced by your instructor.
• Work with their instructors to reschedule exams, labs, and other critical academic activities described in the course syllabus.
• Check Canvas and campus email daily to receive important announcements pertaining to the course.

During this period, faculty with face-to-face meetings will establish assigned seating/work stations to facilitate roll-taking, and, if necessary, contact tracing. Additionally, we ask all members of the College community to be attentive to their health, and safeguard others, by following the CDC’s guideline to “stay home when you are sick.” You should stay home if you have symptoms. More information on what to do if you are sick is available at the CDC’s website.

Additional NCTC information is available at http://www.nctc.edu/coronavirus/index.html

 

CAMPUS POLICIES

Tobacco-Free Campus:  NCTC restricts the use of all tobacco products, including cigarettes, e-cigarettes, cigars, pipes, and smokeless tobacco, on campus property.

 

Campus Carry: Effective August 1, 2017, a license holder may carry a concealed handgun on or about the license holder's person while the license holder is on the campus of an institution of higher education or private or independent institution of higher education in this state. For more information, see the website at https://www.nctc.edu/campus-safety/campus-carry.html.

 

Parking Permits: The North Central Texas Community College District has managed traffic and parking regulations in order to ensure the safety of the campus community related to the operation and parking of vehicles on campus. These regulations apply to all operators of motor vehicles on campus. For parking permits and more information, see the website at https://www.nctc.edu/campus-safety/transportation-parking.html.