How your grade will be calculated
Types of assignments and grading criteria
These sections of MATH 5003 are part of the Writing Intensive Program
This document describes a general plan for the course. Changes may be necessary.
Text: Mathematics for Elementary Teachers for MATH 5003, and the accompanying Class Activities book by Sybilla Beckmann. These can be purchased from Julie McEver in room 434B of Boyd Graduate Studies for $10.
Course topics: The course topics will be chosen to address students' needs. Topics may include the following. Descriptive statistics. Probability: understanding and calculating probability, including conditional probability. Combinations and Pascal's triangle. Expected value. Number Theory: greatest common divisor and least common multiple. Prime numbers. Divisibility tests. Decimal representations of rational and irrational numbers. Irrationality of the square root of 2. Algebra and functions, including ratio and proportion as part of the study of linear functions. Applications of ratio and proportion, such as adjusting for inflation with the Consumer Price Index. The course will emphasize solving a wide range of problems as well as posing and modifying problems. Computer technology will be used.
Course objectives: To strengthen and deepen knowledge and understanding of statistics, probability, elementary number theory and algebra, or other topics in mathematics, and how these topics are used to solve a wide variety of problems. In particular, to strengthen the understanding of and the ability to explain why various procedures and formulas in mathematics 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. To learn to pose and modify mathematical problems.
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 or very good |
work that could either serve as a model for other students or comes close to this standard |
|
4 points |
competent |
good, solid work that is largely correct |
|
3 points |
basic |
work that has merit but also has significant shortcomings |
|
2 points |
emerging |
work that shows effort but is seriously flawed |
|
0 points |
no credit |
no work submitted, or no serious effort shown |
I will calculate your course average using the following percentages.
|
test |
25% |
|
homework |
25% |
|
field experience assignment |
15% |
|
final exam |
35% |
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 several different types of assignments throughout the semester: don't hand in assignments, checked assignments, scored assignments, and your field experience assignment.
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. Please consult with me as soon as possible if you are unable to hand in an assignment due to an illness or emergency.
The Field experience assignment is due Wednesday, March 27.
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 the teaching assistants.
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 may ask you to solve a problem in the book and some may ask for exploratory writing. 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 usually ask you to write polished mathematical explanations of facts or phenomena in elementary mathematics. We will determine your score on such an assignment by the extent to which your explanation meets the following criteria:
Writing Intensive Program: These sections of MATH 5003 are part of the Writing Intensive Program. All sections of MATH 5003 will 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 assistants, Tawanda Gwena and Tanya Cofer, have 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.
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 1. After 3 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 a calculator available for your use.