Gary Jensen Last modified: Thu Jan 27 14:51:40 CST 2000
Description from course listings: A review of the mathematics of grades K-8, frequently at a level beyond its usual presentation in the schools. Applications of all concepts will be given in abundance. Credit 3 units.
Time and Location: Lectures are 4:00 - 5:30 p.m. Mondays and 4:30 - 6:00 p.m. Wednesdays, in room 218 Cupples I.
Examination Schedule: There will be two 90 minute exams plus a final. A few short quizzes might also be given. In addition to these written exams, each student will give a 15 minute lecture, followed by 5 minutes of discussion, on a topic of the course chosen in consultation with the instructor. The written exams are tentatively scheduled for Wednesday February 23 and Wednesday April 12. The Final Exam is tentatively scheduled for 4-5:30 p.m. Friday, April 28. These times will be discussed and settled during the first class meeting. Students may schedule their lecture at any time I am free during the period February 14 through April 21. Convenient times might be just before or just after class. You may invite your friends to attend your lecture.
The exams will be of the free response type. Questions will mostly ask for explanations of how to do mathematical operations and of why these operations work. About half of each class will be devoted to discussion, which will comprise the kinds of questions that will be posed on the exams. Calculators may be used during the exams. Short quizzes will be used when the instructor needs to determine how well the class is comprehending a given topic.
Make-ups will be given for these exams only in the event of excused absences. Legitimate excuses from exams (for example, for verified sickness, family emergencies, etc.) should be brought to Professor Jensen's attention as soon as possible, preferably before the exam. Make your end of semester travel reservations early, as a conflicting travel reservation is not a valid excuse for missing the final. Unexcused absence from any exam will result in a score of zero.
Instructor: Gary R. Jensen. His office is in room 104, Cupples I. Office phone is 935-6302, e-mail address is gary@math.wustl.edu, home phone 862-4569. Announcements will be posted occasionally on the Math 266 home page located at
Office Hours Professor Jensen will establish office hours in consultation with the students during the first class. The course assistant, Dr. Holly Bernstein, will hold office hours on Fridays, either 10-12 or 1-3, to be decided during the first class.
Text:Mathematics for Elementary School Teachers, Sixth Edition, by Rick Billstein, Shlomo Libeskind and Johnny Lott. This course covers chapters 1 - 6 and part of 7. See Lesson Schedule for details. The text will be supplemented by notes handed out in class.
Requirements: Students will learn the material by
reading the text book and notes, doing practice exercises,
doing the homework problems and attending class where concepts and
exercises will be discussed. Written homework assignments will be
collected in class every Monday. Late assignments will be
accepted up through the next class meeting THREE times, no questions
asked. If a student hands in three assignments late, then no more
assignments will be accepted late from that student, no matter what
the reason. An assignment is late if it is not handed in by the
beginning of the class meeting at which it is due.
Students may resubmit any of the first three homework assignments. A
resubmission will count as a late assignment. It will be regraded
and the second score will be the one used for that assignment.
Computer usage: Computers will be used for e-mail and web access during the semester. The last class of the semester will be held in the Computer Classroom in room 014 Eads Hall where students will encrypt and decrypt using the Arithmeticulator.
Class attendance: Classes run from 4:07 to 5:30. Please arrive on time and stay until the end of class. Late arrivals and early departures are disruptive. Because the class lectures and the class discussions are of central importance for this class, attendance is required. Any student absent more than three times will be asked to drop the course.
Homework: A written homework assignment will be handed out each Monday and collected the following Monday. Homeworks will be graded, with comments, and returned in class the next Monday. The homework must be written on 8.5 x 11 paper, not torn from a spiral notebook. Multiple pages must be stapled together. Unstapled papers will not be accepted. These assignments will count towards your grade. Each assignment will be worth roughly 30 points. At the end of the course all the homework scores will be summed, divided by the total possible points and multiplied by 30, to give a number H, your homework score.
Collaboration: This course will follow the guidelines set down under "Statement of Student Academic Integrity" on page 23 of Course Listings Spring 1999. You are encouraged to collaborate on all homework and to form study groups. However, each student must write up and hand in his or her own homework assignments. You might have worked a problem with someone else, or someone else showed you how to do the problem, but you must then write up the solution on your own. At the end of each assignment list the names of everyone with whom you worked, or who gave you help, on the assignment, in accordance with guideline 2 of the academic integrity statement. Suspected violations of these guidelines will be referred to the Committee on Academic Integrity.
CalculatorsA calculator may be used in this course on all homework, quizzes and exams. The recommended calculator is the TI Explorer Plus. Local office supply stores sell this calculator for about $20.
Grades: Details on how grades will be determined will
be posted here sometime before the start of the course.
Your grade for the course will be based on your
two written exam scores (20% per exam), your final exam score (20%), your lecture
(20%) and your written homework (20%). Let E1 and E2 be your
exam scores, F your final exam score, L your score out of 30 for your
lecture and H your homework score, each scaled to 30 possible points.
Let
Lesson Schedule This will be availabel sometime before the course begins.
There are no relevant exams for use as study guides in this course. Practice problems will be distributed in class.
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Gary Jensen
Last modified: Thu Jan 27 14:51:40 CST 2000