How your grade will be calculated
Types of assignments and grading criteria
This section of MATH 5001 is part of the Writing Intensive Program
This document describes a general plan for the course. Changes may be necessary.
Text: Mathematics for Elementary Teachers, Geometry, and the accompanying Class Activities book by Sybilla Beckmann. These can be purchased from BelJean Copy Print Center, 163 E. Broad St for $25.39.
Course topics: Shapes: spacial visualization; angles, including their relevance to describing the behaviour of reflected light; definitions of circles and spheres and ways that circles can meet circles and spheres can meet spheres; fundamental facts about triangles, including the sum of the interior angles and the Pythagorean theorem; quadrilaterals and other polygons, including a study of defining properties versus additional properties of special quadrilaterals; using Venn diagrams to show relationships; basic constructions with straightedge and compass; polyhedra and other solid shapes, including the five Platonic solids. Motion and change: reflections, translations, and rotations, and how these transformations are used to define, create, and analyze symmetry; congruence and its relationship to the rigidity of triangles; similarity and its use in determining distances. Measurement: the concept of measurement and the U.S. Customary and metric systems; measurable attributes; converting from one unit of measurement to another; fundamental principles about area and their use in determining areas; why the "one half base times height" formula for areas of triangles is valid; areas of parallelograms; areas and perimeters of circles; the number pi; the perimeter of a region versus its area; fundamental principles about volumes and their use in determining volumes of objects; why the formulas for volumes of prisms, cylinders, pyramids, and cones make sense; the behaviour of areas and volumes under scaling.
Course objectives: To strengthen and deepen knowledge and understanding of elementary geometry and how it is used to solve a wide variety of problems. In particular, to strengthen the understanding of and the ability to explain why various formulas and procedures in geometry work. To strengthen the ability to communicate clearly about mathematics, both orally and in writing. To promote the exploration and explanation of mathematical phenomena. To show that many problems can be solved in a variety of ways.
How your grade will be calculated:
We will grade all your work on a 5 point scale, and we will assign points as follows:
|
# of points |
description |
characteristics |
|
5 points |
exemplary |
work that could serve as a model for other students |
|
4 points |
competent |
good, solid work that is largely correct |
|
3 points |
basic |
work that has merit but also has serious shortcomings |
|
2 points |
emerging |
work that shows effort but is seriously flawed |
|
0 points |
no credit |
no work submitted, or no serious effort shown |
We will calculate your course average using the following percentages.
|
Three tests |
total 45% |
|
checked homework |
15% |
|
scored homework |
15% |
|
class participation |
5% |
|
final exam |
20% |
I expect to assign letter grades as follows.
|
for scores between |
and |
letter grade |
|
4.4 |
5 |
A |
|
3.8 |
4.4 |
B |
|
3.2 |
3.8 |
C |
|
2 |
3.2 |
D |
|
below 2 |
F |
Types of assignments and grading criteria:
You will work on three different types of assignments throughout the semester: don't hand in assignments, checked assignments, and scored assignments.
I encourage you to work on assignments with your classmates. Of course, you should adhere to UGA's Academic Honesty Policy, as described in http://www.uga.edu/ovpi/honesty/main.html. Therefore, always write your homework up on your own, using your own words to express the ideas you have discussed with others. Do not allow anyone to copy your work. When you discuss assignments with others, all partners should "give and take" ideas.
Late homework will not be accepted. I will drop your lowest checked assignment score and your lowest scored assignment score in order to compensate for illnesses or emergencies.
Don't hand in assignments: Most sections in the text include a number of exercises that have detailed solutions. The exercises will be assigned for you to solve without handing in your work. Read the solutions only after you have seriously attempted to solve the exercises: by grappling with the exercises you will learn much more than if you simply read the solution right away. The exercises will help prepare you to solve the problems, so do not skip them. The solutions to the exercises provide you with many examples of good mathematical explanations: use them as models for your own writing of mathematical explanations. In many cases, there is more than one way to solve an exercise. Therefore your solution need not be identical to the given solution in order to be correct. If in doubt, please check with me or with Tanya.
Checked assignments will give you an opportunity to develop ideas and deepen your thinking without holding you to the polished level of performance that is expected on the scored assignments. Some checked assignments will ask you to solve a problem in the book, some will ask for exploratory writing, and some may ask you to participate in an online discussion. A checked assignment will receive a grade of check, of check-minus, or of 0 as follows.
A score of check, which counts as 5 points, will be given to work with the following characteristics:
- The work addresses the problem that was posed and makes significant progress.
- The work is neatly written and is understandable.
A score of check-minus, which counts as 3 points, will be given to work that represents a serious attempt but that fails to meet the standards set for a check.
A score of 0 will be given to work that was not handed in or that does not represent a serious attempt.
A checked assignment may be re-assigned as a scored assignment, or there may be a test question related to the checked assignment. Therefore, you should make your best effort on these assignments, and you should follow class discussions on them closely.
Scored assignments will ask you to write polished mathematical explanations of facts or phenomena in elementary mathematics. We will determine your score on an assignment by the extent to which your work meets the following criteria (which also appear on page 9 of the text).
Writing Intensive Program: This section of MATH 5002 is part of the Writing Intensive Program. All sections of MATH 5002 stress the writing of mathematical explanations. The Writing Intensive Program is designed to help courses teach the writing process within various disciplines. Although you have taken English courses on writing, and although these courses will help you with all your writing, mathematical writing has its own special features. In mathematics, we seek coherent, logical explanations, in which the desired conclusion is deduced from starting assumptions. Our graduate assistant, Tanya Cofer, has been trained by the Writing Intensive Program to help you learn to write good mathematical explanations. By participating in the Writing Intensive Program we have also learned about ways to use writing to deepen your understanding of the course concepts.
Class work: We will frequently work in small groups during class. When you work in a group, please make sure that everyone in your group has a chance to think about the question and has an opportunity to discuss and debate it. At times, this may mean that you should "hold back" a little, at other times you may need to ask your group to wait a moment for you to think about something. Although it can be tempting to listen to someone else's solution before thinking deeply about a problem, the process of grappling actually helps us learn and understand. Therefore please be sensitive to each other and allow everyone time to think.
Notice that class participation counts for 5% of your grade. I will determine your participation score by observing your work in class. To receive full score you must engage yourself in the material and be an active and thoughtful participant during small group work and during class discussions.
Attendance is required. Unexcused absences will result in a lowering of your grade at a rate of 1 percentage point for each unexcused absence beyond 2, and a rate of 2 percentage points for each unexcused absence beyond 4. After 6 or more unexcused absences, your grade may be lowered even further, or you may be dropped from the course. Please make every effort to arrive in class on time. Late arrivals can be disruptive, and can cause you to miss important material or announcements.
Materials Needed: Please have the following items available for your use in class and when working on assignments: