Normally, prior to two of the four class meetings each week, you will have a short preparatory assignment to complete. These are graded based on effort and completion rather than on correctness. Find them at the course website: https://drbuske.github.io/Math221/course/.
Daily Prep submissions will be a single (scanned) PDF document uploaded via D2L Brightspace. It is almost certainly better that your valuable time be spent on understanding mathematical concepts than on typing solutions. Scanning your writing is likely faster, easier, and, frankly, preferred.
Associated with the course is an open source (FREE) electronic homework system (MyOpenMath). We will use this for MOMwork. To access this, use the link https://www.myopenmath.com/.
Each Thursday for exactly the first 5 minutes of class, a group quiz will take place. It will consist of questions that follow up on daily class activities from the week prior. Each group will submit one quiz. Only members of each group that are present will be awarded credit.
There will be two (2) gateway exams, four (4) written exams and two (2) oral exams. The gateway exams appear in MyOpenMath and are aimed at mastery. You must earn 100% on these to earn any (and all) credit. You will have as many attempts as you need in order to pass by the stated deadline if you start the process early. You will need to upload your work in answering the final question on each gateway exam.
The oral exams will be 15-20 minutes in length. The first will take place just prior to midterm and the second will take place during the last two weeks of the term. The concept may seem intimidating at first, but past student response suggest this to be a valuable means of assessment and academic growth.
I will use my best professional judgment in determining grades. While many courses utilize 90%, 80%, 70%, and 60% as cutoffs for A, B, C, and D grades, these will serve only as guidelines. Averages above these marks will guarantee these grades but lower marks may earn higher final grades.
