Syllabus: Fall 2023
Office Hours
Office hours are a combination of on-campus and online. I am in my office on campus every Monday and Wednesday, but I have a Zoom session scheduled every Friday. Office hours are always 'walk-ins welcome!' You never need an appointment for office hours. But if you need to see me outside of these times, please contact me and we will set up a meeting at a time that works for both of us! This link is valid for the duration of the semester.
Know The Policy
All students must comply with the University policy regarding face coverings (https://uca.edu/coronavirus/students/).
Lecture
We meet MWF at 8:00 AM in CCCS 105. Plan to attend every lecture, because you will be actively engaged in solving problems. You should always bring your calculator, and/or be ready to log onto the lab computers to access additional problem-solving tools (i.e., Wolfram Alpha).
Quizzes
There will be a quiz due every Friday. Thirteen quizzes are scheduled, and ten will count toward your grade. If you miss a due date, for whatever reason, you should regard Quizzes 11–13 as make-ups.
No late quizzes will be accepted. All quizzes must be submitted via Blackboard, and the Assignment will disappear after the deadline. If you miss a deadline for any reason, Quizzes 11–13 should be used as make-ups.
Quizzes will follow a slightly unorthodox format. Rather than you solving a problem for me, I will give you an incorrectly solved problem. Your job will be to locate, identify, and correct the errors. See the How To Quiz document in BBoard, the Google drive, or here on the course web.
Exams
There will be no formal exams this semester. But I wouldn’t rejoice just yet. You will be submitting four complete and comprehensive portfolios of problems which will document your mastery of the course material.
Problem-Solving Portfolios
As you are no doubt aware, watching someone else practice a skill does nothing to improve your own capabilities (elsewise I’d be a guitar virtuoso with a drawerful of Olympic figure skating medals).
Your portfolios will consist of a selection of problems from each chapter of the textbook. You may self-select problems, within the parameters outlined for each chapter. You will complete a minimum of five problems from each chapter. This is the minimum threshold for earning a grade of C for the semester. To earn a higher grade, you will be required to complete additional problems, up to eight problems per chapter.
You will compile your portfolios using Blackboard’s Portfolio tool, to be submitted four times. Portfolio A will cover Chapters 02 and 03, Portfolio B will cover Chapters 04−06, Portfolio C = Chapters 07 and 08, and Portfolio D will cover Chapters 09−11. You can document your problem-solving in a variety of ways: scanning a handwritten page and saving it as a pdf file or creating a LATEX document and exporting it to pdf are two of your best bets, but not your only options. I will not be accepting paper portfolios.
The Temptation To Cut Corners
Transcribing exam problems from the Solution Manual clearly violates UCA’s Academic Integrity Policy. And yet, you might be tempted to do it. You’re running out of time, you’re frustrated, your other classes are getting really hard…the rationalizations will seem perfectly reasonable to you, and it might seem like no big deal.
It’s a big deal. And you don’t need a sanctimonious lecture from me telling you so. You know it’s not honest. But here are a few things you might not know: the Solution Manual for this textbook has errors in it (there’s no solution manual that doesn’t). When you blindly copy the error, you are tipping your hand. The manual is also written by a person (or several people). Those people (typically grad students) will have their own quirks of style, and their style is not your style. How do I know? Because you are copying style conventions that are not taught in any American school, but which are standard in other parts of the world. And the person writing the manual may or may not even be using the relevant method demonstrated in the book, so there’s that.
Asking the Chegg or Course Hero ‘experts’ is also a violation of UCA’s Academic Integrity Policy. It’s also an amateur move. You will either get a scan of the page from the solution manual (see above), or you will get ‘expert’ help from an international student who will use all those aforementioned style quirks that you might not recognize, but I will.
Simply solve the problems yourself. When you need help, please ask. You can always ask questions anonymously on the Blackboard discussion threads. Problems that have been transcribed from the Solution Manual will receive zero points. Or worse, depending on how pervasive the problem is. See the Academic Integrity section .
Problems which may not be entirely numerically correct, but which are also clearly your own original work, will always be worth more points. Always.
Points and Grades
Scores will be reported using Blackboard, but you should keep track of your point progress over the semester. Points may be earned in the following ways:
Quizzes:
10 quizzes @ 20 points each = 200 points
= 30%
Portfolio A:
16 problems @ 10 points each = 160 points
= 16%
Portfolio B:
24 problems @ 10 points each = 240 points
= 24%
Portfolio C:
16 problems @ 10 points each = 160 points
= 16%
Portfolio D:
24 problems @ 10 points each = 240 points
= 24%
= 100%
Total:
Letter Grade
A
B
C
D
F
895–1000
795–894
695–794
600–694
0–599
Point Range
You have enormous control over your grade; you may choose how many problems you are willing to solve to achieve the grade you want. To earn an A, you don’t necessarily have to complete eight problems from each chapter. If you are doing well on the quizzes, you might need fewer problems in your portfolio.
Academic Integrity
The University of Central Arkansas affirms its commitment to academic integrity and expects all members of the university community to accept shared responsibility for maintaining academic integrity. Students in this course are subject to the provisions of the university's Academic Integrity Policy, approved by the Board of Trustees as Board Policy No. 709 on February 10, 2010, and published in the Student Handbook. Penalties for academic misconduct in this course may include a failing grade on an assignment, a failing grade in the course, or any other course-related sanction the instructor determines to be appropriate. Continued enrollment in this course affirms a student's acceptance of this university policy.
It is also a matter of academic and personal integrity to take responsibility for withdrawing yourself from this course if the situation requires it. The last day for unrestricted withdrawal with a W is 11/15/23. Only W grades may be assigned through the 12th week of the semester. After this date, only grades of A, B, C, D, or F will be allowed.
Student Evaluations
Student evaluations of a course and its professor are a crucial element in helping faculty achieve excellence in the classroom and the institution in demonstrating that students are gaining knowledge. Students may evaluate courses they are taking starting on the Monday of the twelfth week of instruction (11/20/23) through the end of finals week by logging in to myUCA and clicking on the Evals button on the top right.
Americans With Disabilities Act
UCA adheres to the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act. If you need an accommodation under this Act due to a disability, please contact the Office of Accessibility Resources and Services (OARS), 450-3613.
Title IX Disclosure
If a student discloses an act of sexual harassment, discrimination, assault, or other sexual misconduct to a faculty member (as it relates to "student-on-student" or "employee-on-student"), the faculty member cannot maintain complete confidentiality and is required to report the act and may be required to reveal the names of the parties involved. Any allegations made by a student may or may not trigger an investigation. Each situation differs and the obligation to conduct an investigation will depend on those specific set of circumstances. The determination to conduct an investigation will be made by the Title IX Coordinator. For further information, please visit: http://uca.edu/titleix.
*Disclosure of sexual misconduct by a third party who is not a student and/or employee is also required if the misconduct occurs when the third party is a participant in a university-sponsored program, event, or activity.
