Instructor: Andrew Przeworski
Office: SH 743D
Phone: 696-3443
email: przeworski@marshall.edu
Office Hours: Monday and Tuesday 4-6pm, Wednesday and Thursday 4-5pm, and by appointment
Course Description: 3 hrs. A course for non-science majors that develops quantitative reasoning skills. Topics include
logical thinking, problem solving, linear modeling, beginning statistics and probability, exponential and logarithmic
modeling, financial and geometry concepts.
Text: Using and Understanding Mathematics: A quantitative reasoning approach, 4th edition, Bennett-Briggs.
ISBN: 0321458206
Course Objectives: In this course, we seek to provide students with the mathematical tools needed to function as citizens
in our increasingly quantitative society. Students should be able to think critically and make decisions about quantitative issues.
Students should also gain the quantitative skills necessary for subsequent course work, e.g. the Integrated Science course.
Examinations: There will be three in-class exams and a comprehensive
final exam. All exams are closed book and closed notes. The in-class exams will
be on Tuesday February 12, Tuesday March 4, and
Tuesday April 15. The final exam will be Tuesday May 6 6:30-8:30pm. Makeup exams will be given only in cases of excused absence.
Excused Absences: The university excuses certain kinds of absences, as described in the
General Undergraduate Catalog (p128-130). I will require that any such absence be approved by the
appropriate dean.
Homework and Quizzes: Homework will be assigned in
each class. Most of the homework problems will not be collected, but
occasionally a few of the problems will be collected and graded. In
addition, on the first non-exam class day of each week (except the first week)
there will be a short quiz at the end of class. The quiz will consist
of one or two of the homework problems assigned during the previous
week. The quizzes are closed book and closed notes. There will not
be any makeup quizzes. If you don't take a given quiz (for reasons
other than an excused absence), the score will be recorded as a zero.
Only your 12 highest quiz scores will count toward the final grade.
Class attendance: I do not intend to take attendance, although the quizzes will provide a partial attendance record.
Daily attendance is strongly encouraged.
Grading: Each in-class exam will be worth 100 points. The
comprehensive final exam is worth 120 points. Each quiz will be worth 10 points.
The homework total will be scaled to be out of 60 points.
The total number of points available is then 600. Any score
of at least 540 guarantees an A. A score of at least 480 guarantees at
least a B. A score of at least 420 guarantees at least a C. A score of
at least 360 guarantees at least a D.
Homework assignments and topics covered