MATH 152A - Math Topics for Elementary Teachers

Fall Semester 2010-2011

3 credits

Required Materials: The text is Mathematics for Elementary Teachers, A Contemporary Approach,Eighth Edition, by Gary L. Musser, William F. Burger, and Blake E. Peterson, Wiley, 2008. You will also need a basic calculator.

Catalog Description: This course includes concepts essential to mathematics for elementary school teaching candidates. Topics include: informal geometry, measurement, problem solving, descriptive statistics, and elementary probability. This course does not meet the CBU General Education Math requirement. Prerequisite: MATH 100 or equivalent.

Topics:

Chapter 7 - Ratio, Proportion, and Percent

Chapter 8 - Integers

Chapter 9 - Rational Numbers, Real Numbers, and Algebra

Chapter 10 - Statistics

Chapter 11 - Probability

Chapter 12 - Geometric Shapes

Chapter 13 - Measurement

Goals for the Student:

The goal of this course, beyond those in the catalog, are to learn basic mathematics and its properties. You will not only learn how to perform mathematical operations, but why the operations are performed as they are. As a teacher, you must have a more thorough background in a subject than what you are actually going to teach. This allows you to lead your students in learning and to also help the advanced student.

Reading Homework: You need to read this textbook. It is very readable and contains much that we cannot get to in class. You will also be asked to read material from various web locations.

Homework: Routine written homework will usually be assigned each class and due the next class. Students may work collaboratively on these problems. Each assignment will consist mostly of problems where the answers are in the back of the book. One or two problems will be designated as graded problems. These are to be placed at the end of the assignment. All work is to be submitted on 8.5 by 11 inch paper without frayed edges and is to be done in pencil. All the work for each problem is to be shown. Where necessary or helpful, include some clear, plain English.

Each regular homework counts 10 points. If an assignment has two graded problems, each is worth 3 points. A single graded problem is worth 5 points. However, the non-graded problems must be submitted in order to receive credit for the graded problems. All assignments are submitted at the beginning of the period in which they are due. If an assignment is not ready for submission at the time due, you are to submit a paper with an explanation and statement relating to when it will be turned in. However, credit will not be given for graded problems once solutions are posted or they have been discussed in class. Also, penalties may be assessed for late homework.

Finally, at the end of each assignment, include a short comment about how things are going. Comments could be about difficulties experienced, things that are going well, suggestions for the class, requests for appointments, etc. In general, comment on whatever it would be helpful for me to know.

There may also be some short papers assigned, which will be graded on a 10 point scale, and a 30 point scale on a small project.

Tests: There will be three or four hour exams and a cumulative final examination, with dates to be announced.

Make-up Exams: Make-up exams will not usually be given. Failure to take an exam results in a score of 0. For exceptional circumstances, exceptions may be made at the discretion of the instructor.

Grading: The routine homework will count for 15% of the final grade, with the lowest 1/7 of the homework grades being dropped. The hour exams count for 65% of the final grade, and the final exam counts for 20%. The following percentage scale will be used as a base:

A 90–100 B 80–89 C 65–79 D 60 – 64 F 0–59

The final grade may be adjusted downward due to attendance as explained below.

Attendance: Daily attendance is important and expected. Attendance is taken at the beginning of each class. Each absence beyond 3 will result in a 1% reduction in the final course grade. If you enter the class after attendance is taken, you may see me after class to have the recorded absence changed to 1/2 an absence. Also, from page 25 of the 2010-11 CBU Catalog:

Any student who has missed a total of eight (8) hours or approximately 20% of class time may be given a mark of "F" after the last day to withdraw from classes has passed.

Plagiarism: The Christian Brothers University policy on plagiarism is clearly stated in the Compas and will be followed in this class.

Resources:

Information for this course can be found on my World Wide Web homepage, which can be accessed at