Mikel Haug » ONRAMPS UT PRECALCULUS MATH 305G: 3rd PERIOD

ONRAMPS UT PRECALCULUS MATH 305G: 3rd PERIOD

OnRamps Precalculus M305G High School Syllabus

 

Mission Statement

 

To help students develop a love for learning and be open minded, confident, problem solvers with analytical and critical thinking skills.  To help students embrace effective strategies of reacting to challenges, to understand the role of mistakes and failure as steps toward success and to persist, adapt, and overcome. 

 

Course Description

 

The primary focus of precalculus is to prepare students for further studies in math and science.   Precalculus will lay the foundation for higher mathematics by helping students develop a better understanding of mathematics and an intuitive grasp of functions and their graphs. Multiple representations of problems and topics and the connections between them will be stressed as will the communication of mathematical concepts. Justification of solutions will be emphasized and varied approaches to a problem will include physical, verbal, numerical, graphical, and analytical techniques.  Math M305G employs Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL), a pedagogy designed to engage students in the educational process.  Inquiry-Based Learning is a student-centered methodology, which emphasizes the importance of the active construction of learning. Therefore, students are expected to pose questions, make decisions, design plans and experiments, discuss, collaborate, communicate results, and provide justified answers and explanations when engaged in the inquiry process.

 

Attention is devoted to mathematical reasoning in solving problems, understanding concepts, connections, and the application of those concepts.  Students deepen and extend their knowledge of functions, graphs, and equations from their high school algebra and geometry courses so that they can successfully work with the concepts in a rigorous university-level calculus course. This course is designed to push students, emphasizing conceptual understanding of mathematical definitions and developing logical arguments with their peers and may be used to fulfill the mathematics component of the university core curriculum addressing communication skills, critical thinking skills, and empirical and quantitative skills.

 

The overall goal is to have students “do” mathematics - that is, to have students engage in thinking about the connectedness that exists between various basic areas of 
mathematics.  Students should work to provide rigorous arguments at different levels that support 
the development of these connections.  The hope is that students will more deeply understand the discipline of mathematics and the fact that if one does not ask “why” when engaging in “doing” mathematics - then the processes experienced are strictly mechanical.

Procedures and Expectations:

 

  • You are expected to come to class prepared and on time. Prepared means having all materials and completed assignments.  On time means ready to work when the bell rings, not starting to get your materials unpacked.  You are expected to present work on the board.

 

Cell Phones and earbuds are not allowed in class.  When you enter the class, turn off your phone and place it your purse or backpack.  If you are caught with your cell phone during class, it will be turned over to the teacher and held until Friday after school, (if collected on a Friday, it will be held until the following Friday).  If needed sooner, a parent may come in to retrieve it.

 

  • You should treat yourself, your classmates, your instructor, and any guests with respect. listen to and follow directions the first time they are given, and follow the student code of conduct.

Attendance:

 

Attendance is critical to the learning in this course.  If an absence is expected then arrangements should be made with the High School Instructor of Record prior to the absence.  If an absence is unexpected the students must communicate with the High School Instructor of Record as soon as possible to make arrangements to make up the missed work.  If missed assignments are not made up in a timely manner the grade may result in a zero.

 

Test windows are set by the University of Texas and test dates are firm.  I will notify students about a week before setting specific test dates to be sure everyone will be here.  There will be exam at the end of each semester that can be used to replace one low test grade.

 

 

Quiz Retakes:

 

Students will have the opportunity to retake most quizzes on a specific date after they have attended tutoring to discuss errors.  The grades of the two quizzes will be averaged to replace low quiz grades on the high school end of the course.

 

 

High School Assessment

 

Nine-weeks grades are calculated as follows: the test average (one or two tests per nine-weeks) is weighted 35%, the quiz average is weighted 50%, and the daily participation average is weighted 15%. 

The semester average is calculated by averaging the two quarters in that semester and for the yearly average, the two semesters are averaged.