Msth for Liberal Arts Test Colorado College

Course Syllabus - Spring 2007

From the College Catalog : Mathematics for the Liberal Arts. (This course is an approved Colorado Statewide Guaranteed Transfer Course). Designed to give liberal arts students the skills required to understand and interpret quantitative information that they encounter in the news and in their studies, and to make quantitatively-based decisions in their lives. Topics include a survey of logic and analysis of arguments, identifying fallacies in reasoning, working with numbers and units, linear and exponential relations and essentials of probability and statistics. The emphasis is on applications with case studies in economics, finance, environmental sciences,health, music and science. Prereq: three years of high school mathematics. .

Text: Bennett and Briggs, Essentials of Using and Understanding Mathematics , Addison-Wesley, 2002. ISBN 0-201-79387-3. A student solution manual is available, but not required.

Calculator: You will need a calculator that can do exponents as well as the basic arithmetic operations.

Exams: There will be two in-class exams - dates below - and a comprehensive final exam for the course. The comprehensive final exam will be held during the common final exam period for mathematics courses: Saturday, May 5^th, 2007 from 9:00 - 12:00. Set this time aside now. You will be expected to take the final exam on this day. Having the final rescheduled is extremely rare and not permitted for reasons such a plane ticket that was purchased earlier or attendance at weddings, etc.

Homework: Homework will be assigned from the text and may also be given on handout sheets. Homework will be collected in units on the dates specified in the homework section. Selected problems will be graded.

Project: A term project is required of all students. The subject may be taken from a list of projects (see projects page) or may be of your own choosing (with my approval). All projects must deal with a practical application of mathematics in everyday life.
An outline and annotated bibliography for the project is due not later than March 1.
The bibliography must contain at least four references or web sites. Projects are typically 6-8 pages long. They must be neatly typed with correct spelling and grammar, fully documented, well organized, and detailed explanations and conclusions. You may work in groups of no more than three people, everyone in the group gets the same grade.

Grades:

In-Class Exams (40%)
Graded Assignments (20%)
Project(15%)
Final Exam - May 5th (25%)

There's no curving of exam grades : A(100-90) B(89-80) C(79-70) D (69-60) F (<60)

Plusses and minuses may be used in final grades at my discretion.

Time Table and Syllabus:

Date	Topic/Chapter Unit/Due Dates	Date	Topic/Chapter Unit/Due Dates
1/16	Intro to Course	3/13	Tables and Graphs 5C
1/18	Informal Fallacies 1A	3/15	No Class
1/23	Sets and Venn Diagrams 1C	3/20-22	Spring Break - no class
1/25	Critical Thinking 1D	3/27	Graphics in the News 5D
1/30	Units and Currency 2A	3/29	Correlation and Causality 5E
2/1	Unit Conversions 2B	4/3	Review for Exam II
2/6	Uses and Abuses of Percentages 3A	4/5	Exam II
2/8	Scientific Notation and Number Perspective 3B Unit I Homework Due	4/12	Probability 6A
2/13	Number Deceptions 3D	4/14	Probability 6B
2/15	Review for First Exam	4/17	Law of Averages 6C Unit III Homework Due
2/20	Exam I	4/19	Counting 6D
2/22	Compound Interest 4A	4/24	Exponential Growth 7A Projects Due
2/27	Savings Plans 4B	4/26	Doubling Time and Half-Life 7B
3/1	Loan Payments 4C Project Outline Due	5/1	Voting 9A Unit IV Homework Due
3/6	Understanding Statistical Studies 5A	5/3	Review for Final
3/8	Should You Believe a Statistical Study 5B Unit II Homework Due	5/5	Final Exam

Note: Any and all of the above is open to negotiation.

CLAS Policies

Spring 2007 CLAS Academic Policies

The following policies pertain to all students and are strictly adhered to by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS).

Every student MUST check and verify their schedule prior to the published drop/add deadlines. Failure to verify a schedule is not sufficient reason to justify a late add or drop later in the semester. It is the student's responsibility to make sure that their schedule is correct prior to the appropriate deadlines.
CLAS students must always have an accurate mailing and email address. Email is the official method of communication for all University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center business. Go to http://www.cudenver.edu/registrar to update and/or change your email address.
Students are NOT automatically added to a course off a wait list after wait lists are dropped. If a student is told by a faculty member that they will be added off the wait list, it is the responsibility of the student to complete the proper paperwork to add a course. Students are NOT automatically added to a course off the wait list after the 5^th day of the semester when wait lists are dropped.
Students must complete and submit a drop/add form to make any schedule changes. Students are not automatically dropped from a class if they never attended, stopped attending or do not make tuition payments.
Late adds will be approved only when circumstances surrounding the late add are beyond the student's control and can be documented independently. This will require a petition and documentation from the student. Late adds will only be approved if the student has not taken any exams, quizzes, or has not completed any other graded assignments. Independent verification of this from the professor of record will be required. Please note that the signature of a faculty member on an add form does not guarantee that a late add petition will be approved.
Late drops will be approved only when circumstances surrounding the late drop are beyond the student's control and can be documented independently. This will require a petition and documentation from the student. Please note that the signature of a faculty member does not guarantee that a late drop petition will be approved.
Students wishing to graduate in spring of 2007 must meet with their academic advisor by the end of the drop/add period to obtain a graduation application. This application must be completed and submitted by 5 PM on January 31, 2007. You can obtain an application ONLY after meeting with your academic advisor. There are no exceptions to this policy or date.
Students are responsible for completing financial arrangements with financial aid, family, scholarships, etc. to pay their tuition. Students will be responsible for all tuition and fees for courses they do not officially drop using proper drop/add procedures and forms.
Students who drop after the published drop/add period will not be eligible for a refund of the COF hours or tuition.