CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SUCCESSFUL ONLINE STUDENT
Before registering for this online course verify that you
are sufficiently prepared for the demands of an online course. This online
course requires:
• Computer literacy
• Time
• The ability to work independently
• The ability to read notes and examples from the textbook
• Experienced users of email with attachments
• Experienced navigators of the World Wide Web
• Willingness to contact WebCT support at if necessary when encountering
technical difficulties
• The ability to download files, save files and upload files
• The ability to download and install free software from the Internet
• Access to and the ability to use/learn Excel
INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION
Name: Dr. K. Y. Ward
Title: Assistant Professor of Mathematics
COURSE INFORMATION
Title: Math for Liberal Arts (ONLINE)
Credit: Three Hours
Section: E25
PRE-REQUISITES
MAT 101 or placement or SAT score
REQUIRED TEXTBOOK
Comap, For All Practical Purposes,7^th edition, W. H. Freeman and Company
SUPPLEMENTARY TOOLS AND SERVICES
1). TI-83 graphing calculators or equivalent (no cell phone calculators)
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Mathematics applied to solving practical problems in political science,
sociology, ecology, geography, visual arts and geometry. Mathematical methods
are used to examine how groups make voting decisions, achieve power, divide
resources, resolve conflicts, to study landscape species patterns, economic and
biological population growth, and artistic and mosaic patterns.
COURSE DELIVERY
All course related materials will be posted in Blackboard. Course material
will be uploaded every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday by 8 am. All notes will be
located under the “Learning Modules” tab and all homework assignments will be
located under the “Assignments” tab. Students are required to check the tabs
every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
LEARNING MODULES
The course material is divided into five learning modules. Within each
learning module there will be several lectures followed by respective homework
assignment(s). The content of the learning modules are as follows:
1). Module 1: Identification Numbers
We will cover sections from Chapter 16 which covers composing/validating
identification numbers.
2). Module 2: Linear Programming
We will cover sections from Chapter 6 which covers the topic of maximizing
and minimizing problems.
3). Module 3: Voting
We will cover sections from Chapter 9 which looks at various techniques of
voting.
4). Module 4: Fair Division
We will cover sections from Chapter 13 which include topics about strategies
to divide items.
5). Module 5: Finance
We will cover sections from Chapters 21 and 22 which include topics about
saving and borrowing money.
LEARNING MODULE 1: IDENTIFICATION NUMBERS
ORDER OF ACTIVITY --------------------------------
TOPIC
Lecture 1 ………………………………………… Check Digits
Lecture 2 …………………………………………UPC
Lecture 3 …………………………………………U.S. Banking System
Lecture 4 ………………………………………… Codabar Method
Homework Assignment 1 …………………Material from Lectures 1 - 4
Lecture 5 …………………………………………ISBN
Lecture 6 …………………………………………Zip Codes, Zip + 4 Codes
Lecture 7 …………………………………………Bar Codes and Zip Code Bar Code
Lecture 8 ………………………………………… Decimal Digits and Several Examples
Lecture 9 …………………………………………Delivery Point Bar Code and UPC Bar Code
Lecture 10 ………………………………………Soundex Coding System
Lecture 11 …………………………………………Driver’s License Schemes
Homework Assignment 2 ………………Material from Lectures 5 - 11
LEARNING MODULE 2: LINEAR PROGRAMMING
ORDER OF ACTIVITY
---------------------------------TOPIC
Lecture 1 …………………………………………Review Graphing Techniques
Lecture 2 …………………………………………Review Graphing Linear Equations
Lecture 3 …………………………………………Review Graphing Linear Inequalities
Lecture 4 …………………………………………Review System of Linear Equations
Lecture 5 …………………………………………Feasible Regions, Corner Points, Profit Formula
Homework Assignment 3…………………Material from Lectures 1 - 5
Lecture 6 …………………………………………Mixture Problem (Skates and Dolls)
Lecture 7 …………………………………………Mixture Problem (Juices)
Lecture 8………………………………………….Mixture Problem (More than two products )
Homework Assignment 4…………………Material from Lectures 6 - 8
LEARNING MODULE 3: VOTING
ORDER OF ACTIVITY --------------------------------TOPIC
Lecture 1 …………………………………………Introduction
Lecture 2 …………………………………………Plurality Voting and Condorcet winner
Lecture 3 …………………………………………Borda Count
Lecture 4 …………………………………………Sequential Pairwise Voting
Lecture 5 …………………………………………Hare System
Homework Assignment 5…………………Material from Lectures 1 -
LEARNING MODULE 4: FAIR DIVISIO
ORDER OF ACTIVITY
----------------------------------TOPIC
Lecture 1 …………………………………………Taking Turns
Lecture 2 …………………………………………Adjusted Winner Procedure
Lecture 3 …………………………………………Knaster Inheritance Procedure
Homework Assignment 6…………………Material from Lectures 1 - 3
LEARNING MODULE 5: FINANCE
ORDER OF ACTIVITY --------------------------------TOPIC
Lecture 1 …………………………………………Simple Interest
Lecture 2 ………………………………………… Compound Interest
Lecture 3 …………………………………………Compounded continuously
Homework Assignment 7…………………Material from Lectures 1 - 3
Lecture 4 ……………………………………….Saving: Example for needing an annuity
Lecture 5 …………………………………………Borrowing: car loan
Lecture 6 …………………………………………Borrowing: credit cards
Homework Assignment 8…………………Material from Lectures 4 - 6
Lecture 7 ………………………………………Borrowing: home loans (30 vs. 15 yr.)
Lecture 8 …………………………………….Borrowing: home loans (paying additional to 30 yr . vs.
biweekly)
Homework Assignment 9…………………Material from Lectures 7 - 9
COMMUNICATION TOOLS
A. BLACKBOARD MAIL
All students will send email using the Blackboard mail tool. I will respond
to all email messages within 48 hours, except on weekends.
B. DISCUSSION BOARD
In order to encourage communication and collaboration with classmates, we
will have online discussions about the course material. I will post a question
for each learning module of the course under the “Discussions” tab in
Blackboard. This question will encourage students to think about the “big
picture” of how mathematics can be applied to everyday life. In your responses,
you may initiate the discussion or respond to another student’s entry. This is
the class participation part of the course and you will be evaluated on the
quality, relevance, and clarity of your responses. In addition to your formal
contributions to the Discussion Board, you are encouraged to use the Discussion
Board to find answers to your course related questions and provide answers to
the questions of your classmates on an informal (not graded) basis.
SUBMITTING YOUR WORK
All coursework will either be submitted to me directly under the Assignment
tab or placed under the Discussion Board tab in Blackboard. In order for me to
effectively manage an online course, I am requiring all students to use the
following file naming system when submitting work:
FirstName.LastName.AssignmentNumber. For example, if your name is John Smith and
you are completing Assignment 1, then name your file JohnSmith[1] before
submitting. The turnaround time for homework assignment results will be 48
hours.
EVALUATION
Your progress in this course will be evaluated using homework assignments
and discussion board participation.
Homework Assignments…………90%
Discussion Board Participation……………10%
The Grading Scale is as follows:
MAKEUP POLICY
Late homework assignments will not be accepted and there will be no makeup
homework assignments given. When computing the final course grade, the lowest
homework assignment grade will be dropped.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
Violations of academic integrity will be penalized in one of the following
ways; failing grade on assignment, failing grade in course, and/or student
meeting with department chair.
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTS
If you are a student with a disability and believe you will need
accommodations for this class, it is your responsibility to contact the Office
of AccessAbility Services at (860) 465-5573. To avoid any delay in the receipt
of accommodations, you should contact the Office of AccessAbility Services as
soon as possible. Please understand that I cannot provide accommodations based
upon disability until I have received an accommodation letter from the Office of
AccessAbility Services. Your cooperation is appreciated.
| A FEW IMPORTANT DATES |
FALL 2008 |
| First day of classes |
September 2 (Tues.) |
| Midterm Grade dues |
October 20 (Mon.) |
| Class Withdrawal Deadline |
November 7 (Fri.) |
| Thanksgiving Recess-no classes |
November 26 - 30 (Wed. - Sun.) |
| Last day of classes |
December 11 (Thurs.) |
| Final Exams |
December 13 – 19 (Sat. – Fri.) |
WHAT TO DO ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE SEMESTER
I. READ DOCUMENTS
During the first week of class, all students must read the information
located under the “Course Content” tab in Blackboard. Topics covered include
• The Characteristics of the Successful Online Student
• Course Details
• The Learning Modules Master Lesson Plan
• What to Do on the First Day of the Semester
II. COMPUTER READINESS
Make sure your computer is ready for use. Contact WebCT support at when
encountering technical difficulties or acquiring MS Word, Excel, or PowerPoint .
III. SEND EMAIL TO INSTRUCTOR
All students must send an email (using the Blackboard mail tool) confirming that
you have read the information located under the “Course Content” tab in
Blackboard. NOTE ABOUT ATTACHMENTS All documents are to be sent by email (using
the Blackboard mail tool) using MS Word. Refer to page 6 of this document for
file naming system for submitting your work.
