Classes:

The course is taught in a weekly lecture, supplemented by a weekly recitation class. Each lecture divides into a number of recitation sections. Your CRN for this course is the CRN of your recitation section. The recitation section is taught by an instructor, who in addition holds office and Math Emporium Help Session hours. You must consult the Schedule of Classes to find the time and the location of your recitation class, which will not be the same as the location of the lecture. If you encounter a mathematics problem, feel free to discuss it with any of the lecture or recitation teachers associated with any section of the course. If you have an administrative problem, please discuss it with your course lecture teacher.

Text:

The text for the course, divided into 10 Units corresponding to 10 weekly lectures and quizzes, is "Vector Geometry: Math 1224" by William Greenberg. The textbook should be available at the University Bookstore on campus, University Volume Two Bookstore in University Mall, and the Tech Bookstore on South Main Street, at a cost of less than $10. It is also available for download on the Math 1224 course homepage (http://www.emporium.vt.edu/math1224).

Course Information:

Check the course homepage for detailed course information. Check especially the following menu items on the left side of that page: "Schedules", "Quizzes", "Proctored Exams" and "Getting Help."

Lectures:

Each weekly lecture is 75 minutes long. The lecture will elaborate on the information in each of the Units. Each student is expected to read through the scheduled Unit be fore attending the lecture. Obviously, the ability to read and understand mathematics from a text is important to any scientist or engineer, and while there may be areas of the Unit which the student does not understand on his/her own, just the attempt to read and comprehend the material is an important exercise. It may, in fact, be difficult to follow the lecture if the material is not first read, as some of the more basic concepts will be assumed to be already familiar to the student by virtue of having read the Unit. Some students find it useful to bring to the lecture the text or a copy of the relevant Unit.

Practice Quizzes and Quiz-for-credit:

In lieu of homework, there are weekly Quizzes which may be practiced and taken over the Internet. Quizzes can only be accessed through the Quizzes link on the left side of the Math 1224 course homepage. You can practice the Quizzes before taking them for credit from any Internet site, for example, your dorm room. When you are confident of your proficiency with the material, you can take the Quiz -for-credit only one time. The Quiz-for-credit can be taken from any computer, and you may work as long as you wish on each Quiz-for-credit. (But take care not to be idle for more than 30 minutes—see Warnings below.) However, although you can refer during the Practice Quizzes and during the Quiz-for-credit to lecture notes and to any other notes you wish, you are bound by the Honor Code to take the Quiz-for-credit without the assistance of any other person. You can take each Quiz-for-credit any time of the day or night, although you must take it before its deadline. The deadlines are indicated on the Schedules page for your lecture section and in the paragraph below labeled Deadlines. The Practice Quizzes will go online one week before the Quiz-for-credit deadline and will stay online until the end of the semester. That will enable you to practice them in preparation for the three Exams and the Final. Each quiz has between 6 and 9 problems.

Exams:

Three Proctored Exams are given during the course of the semester. Each Exam covers material from the preceding several Lectures and the corresponding recitations: Exam 1 covers Units 1–4, Exam 2 covers Units 5–7, and Exam 3 covers Units 8–10, along with problems from the corresponding worksheets, with each Exam consisting of 16 problems. There is no such thing as a Practice Exam. However, all Exam questions are taken from the Quizzes, and the Quizzes will stay on-line even after the weekly deadlines, so practicing the Quizzes is the best way to prepare for the Exams. The Exams will be available until the indicated deadlines (see Deadlines below). They must be taken in the "proctored" section of the Math Emporium, must be taken without any notes or other assistance, must be taken before their deadline, and must be completed while proctors are on duty. Therefore, even if you begin an Exam before the weekly deadline, keep in mind at what time the proctors go off-duty, as you will have to end the exam at that time. Note that there is no proctoring at the Emporium on Friday evenings, all day Saturday, and Sunday mornings, so no Exams may be taken at those times. Other than these proctoring restrictions, you may work as long as you wish on each Exam. (But take care not to be idle for more than 30 minutes—see Warnings below.) More details can be found by clicking the Proctored Exams link on the Math 1224 course homepage.

Be aware that all mathematical computations on Exams must be made on the Math Emporium computers using the provided onscreen scientific calculator program, since you can not bring your own calculator (or anything except your Virginia Tech ID and writing instruments) into the proctored section of the Emporium. Go to the Emporium well before the Exams and make certain you know how to work with their calculator.

Be careful that you do not mistake the Quiz and Exam deadlines for this course with the proctored testing hours posted by the Math Emporium. You are responsible for meeting the deadlines of this course. Consult the "Schedules" link for your section on the Math 1224 course homepage if you are uncertain of any deadlines.

Final Exam:

Despite what the University timetable may indicate, the Final Exam will be available to be taken in the proctored section of the Math Emporium for one week before the deadline, beginning this semester on Thursday, December 10, at noon and ending Monday, December 14, with the latest start time at 5:00 pm. on the last day. The exact hours each day during which the Final Exam can be taken will be posted on the course website toward the end of the semester. The Final Exam consists of 22 problems, and the material on the Final Exam will be the same as that on the ten quizzes. In order to practice this material, the Practice Quizzes will stay on-line until after the deadline for the Final Exam.

Warnings:

It is strongly recommended that the latest version of the Firefox web browser be employed, since this browser has been the most thoroughly tested. Anyone may download this software without cost from their website (http://getfirefox.com).

If you do any of the things in the following list while you are logged into the testing system, your quiz or exam is likely to be immediately graded before you are ready. This can happen before you have answered a single question, in which case you will be assigned a grade of zero for that test. Whether you are taking a test at the Math Emporium or on your own computer, it is YOUR responsibility to avoid these errors.

WHILE YOU ARE LOGGED INTO THE TESTINGSYSTEM…

NEVER use any navigation buttons on your Internet browser (Back or Forward, for example). Also, before taking any Quiz-for-credit, it is essential that all other windows on your computer be closed (except Sliderule, if you are at the Emporium). Always begin the Quiz-for-credit with a clean screen, and maintain that environment. In addition, you must make sure that any program running in the background which can interrupt a session is disabled. (Beware: Instant Messaging is a frequent villain.)

NEVER spend more than 30 minutes viewing one problem. After 30 minutes of inactivity, you will time-out and your quiz or test will be graded automatically. To avoid this, watch your time and click on a new problem button every 20 minutes. You can always return to the one you were working on by clicking on its number button. It is not good enough to simply move the computer mouse. You must be active within the testing system to avoid timing-out.

NEVER allow yourself to be logged into the testing system more than once at the same time. This includes your own computer in your dorm room. For example, this could happen if you are taking practice quizzes to study and forget to logoff before you start a graded quiz or exam. To avoid this, always logoff the testing system EVERY TIME you are ready to take a Quiz-for-credit or Exam. You may take as many practice quizzes as you wish in one session, but as soon as you are ready to access anything that is graded, make sure that you logoff first. Then you can log back in to take the graded quiz or exam.

NEVER allow your Virginia Tech PID and Password to be used anywhere else while you are in the testing system. At various times while you are in the testing system, the verification process will check that no one else is using your PID/Password . This includes your own computer in your dorm room. For example, if you have your computer set to save your Password and someone logs in with your PID at your dorm computer while you are taking a test, it will be detected by the verification process. This can also happen if you have set your computer to automatically check your e-mail while you are away. It is your responsibility to be sure that only you are using your Virginia Tech PID/Password.

You will not be permitted to retake a quiz or exam if you fail to take any of these precautions and your test closes prematurely.

Deadlines:

The deadline for each Quiz-for-credit and each Exam (but not the Final Exam) is as follows (The spring break period is not counted in figuring the deadline):

Monday lecture sessions: 9:00 pm Sunday

Tuesday lecture sessions: 9:00 pm Monday

Wednesday lecture sessions: 9:00 pm Tuesday

Thursday lecture sessions: 9:00 pm Wednesday

These deadlines will be clearly posted in the Schedules link at the course website as well. You must begin the Quiz-for-credit or Exam by the deadline. For the Final Exam deadline, see the appropriate paragraph above. Note that you must abide by the deadlines for this course. Do not accept information as to deadlines from any source other than this contract and the course website. Please read the Responsibility section below.

If an Exam is not begun by its deadline, regretfully a grade of zero for the Exam will be included in the course average. Unfortunately, every semester there are students who fail to take an Exam before its deadline, sometimes because of confusion or forgetfulness about the deadline, often because of an unexpected delay in arriving at the Math Emporium for students who have left the Exam for the last hours of the last possible day. This has dire consequences on the semester grade, considering the importance of each Exam in the course average. The best protection against such a lapse is not to leave the Exam for the last possible day. Please plan to take the Exam on a day prior to its deadline day, or, at the very least, during the early hours of the deadline day. Do not gamble on arriving at the Math Emporium just before the deadline. From the experiences we have witnessed in previous semesters, we can not emphasize this more strongly.

Recitations:

The weekly 50 minute recitation will cover important mathematics supplementing the Units and the lectures. Students will work in groups on worksheets provided by the recitation instructor. Quiz and exam problems may test material covered in these worksheets. The final recitation grade will be based both on recitation attendance and on recitation performance (see the paragraph following). Any problems related to recitation should be addressed to the recitation instructor.

Attendance:

The lectures will explain the mathematics, outline the Quiz problems and discuss applications. Students are urged to read through the Unit to be covered in lecture before attending the lecture, since, with only one lecture per week, it is frequently necessary to go rapidly through topics or to assume some familiarity with the topics.

Attendance and participation at all recitations is expected. However, for good cause excused absences may be approved by the recitation instructor, who will generally designate a makeup assignment. Students should consult with their recitation instructors to discuss making up work missed for excused absences as soon as possible. The recitation instructor may refuse to admit any student who is late for class.

Each unexcused recitation absence above a grace allotment of one absence will result in a 2% reduction in grade (of the 15% allotted to recitation grade).

Emergency Closings:

In the case of snow emergencies or other unexpected University closings, missed lecture classes will be made up in a subsequent evening class as quickly as large lecture rooms can be secured. All students will be informed by email about any make-up lectures. If there is an unplanned school closing, please keep checking your email for the location and time of the replacement lecture.

Recitation classes missed during such University closings will not be held at a later time. Instead, your instructor will email you the missed recitation worksheet as well as additional material to help you understand the content of the worksheet.

Grading:

There will be 10 weekly quizzes, accessible from any computer, each counting equally in the quiz grade. There will also be three exams and a final, given only in the proctored section of the Math Emporium. The final grade will be determined by the sum of the grades achieved on the quizzes, exams and final and the recitation participation, as follows:

Quizzes	15% of final grade in total
Exams (3)	16% of final grade each
Final Exam	22% of final grade
Recitation	15% of final grade

The grading scale is: (Within each grade, pluses and minuses may be given; these cutoffs will not be decided until after the final exam.)

A 90–100%

B 80–89%

C 70–79%

D 61–69%

F 0–60%

NOTE: In most cases the final grade G will be:

G = Q * (15/100) + T * (70/100) + R * (15/100) where the Exam-Final total T is:

T = E1 * (16/70) + E2 * (16/70) + E3 * (16/70) + F * (22/70). Here Q is the average of the quiz grades, R is the recitation grade, E1, E2, E3 are the exam grades, and F is the final exam grade, each of these having a maximum score of 100%. However, in those cases where the lowest exam score Em is 20 percentage points lower than the Exam-Final total T, a small correction in T is made. In such cases, Em will be replaced by T -20 and T will then be recalculated, as given by the formula:

T=IF [Em<T -20, T -Em*(16/70)+(T -20)*(16/70), T]

This correction cannot lower your grade.

Responsibility:

The acceptance of responsibilities (studying text before lecture, attending lectures and recitations, practicing quizzes, meeting numerous deadlines) is perhaps one of the most important lessons of the course. The management of time in order to meet course attendance requirements and test deadlines is, for some students, a more difficult problem than learning the mathematics. Time-management skills are, however, essential to success in and beyond the university. We consider your academic and professional development to be an essential element of this course, and for this reason we will strictly enforce attendance and deadline policies.

Your course grade (as with most University courses) is determined by your performance in the course, as outlined by this document. If you miss one of the ten Quiz deadlines, obviously your grade will be adversely impacted by 1.5%, which will have that limited effect on your course grade. However, if you miss an Exam deadline, you will have a 0 for that Exam, which will reduce your grade by 16%, ie., a drop of as much as two letter grades. Taking the Quizzes and Exams before the deadline is entirely your responsibility. Therefore, considering the dire consequences of missing an Exam deadline (and the lesser effect of missing a Quiz deadline), do not wait until the very last day of the Exam or Quiz interval. Take these tests early. Every semester we have a number of students who have had unexpected complications on the last day, or just plain forget the deadline, and there is nothing we can do to assist them. Take the tests early or risk the consequences. The same, of course, goes for the Final Exam deadline.

This seemingly Draconian policy does not apply if your failure to take a Quiz or Exam, or miss a recitation, is beyond your control, for example, illness which can be documented by the University, or power loss in your dormitory or at the Math Emporium (which will automatically cancel a test and not let you retake it). Departing Blacksburg for the weekend and not being able to return before the deadline is not an acceptable excuse, since you could have (and should have) taken the test before departing the area, precisely to avoid this eventuality. If you have an acceptable problem, you must contact your lecture teacher to have your ticket for the test renewed.

NOTE: All emails to staff should contain 1224 in the subject line; otherwise they are likely to be lost in the current flood of junk mail.

Help:

For assistance with course work, you may go to the office hours of any lecture teacher or any recitation teacher in Math 1224. These office hours are distributed throughout the workweek and are listed (as well as office location) under Getting Help and Instructors at the Math 1224 web site. There will also be special Help Sessions for quiz questions, held at the Math Emporium, and listed under Getting Help on the Math 1224 course homepage. Note that you are responsible for any missed lecture material; the Help Sessions are not a substitute for missed lectures. The Math Assistants in the General Computer area of the Emporium are for Math Emporium courses which do not have classroom teachers (for example, Math 1114), and will not be available for assistance with course material from Math 1224.

Emails:

Course Objectives: