Mathematics

MA 114-001 Home Page

Semester: Fall 2009
Time: TH 10:15 - 11:30 a.m.
Place: SAS 2203

Name: Stephen Schecter
E-mail address: schecter@math.ncsu.edu
Office location: SAS 3226
Office hours: 9:10 - 10:00 a.m. MTWHF
Office telephone number: 515-6533
Office fax number: 513-7336

Name: Aditya Gandhi
E-mail address: adgandhi@ncsu.edu
Office hours: 1:15 - 3:15 p.m. Thursday, 124 Harrelson

Name: Rachael Gordon-Wright
E-mail address: rkgordon@ncsu.edu
Office hours: 12:20 - 1:20 p.m. and 5:00 - 6:00 p.m. Wednesday, 146 Harrelson
Wednesday Dec. 2: no 5:00 - 6:00 p.m. office hour. Instead Rachael will have an office hour Tuesday Dec. 1 3:00 - 4:00 p.m. in 124 Harrelson.

Name: Jonathan Merlini
E-mail address: jmerlini@gmail.com
Office hours: 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. Monday, 146 Harrelson

Elementary matrix algebra including operations, inverses, and systems of equations; introduction to linear programming including the simplex method; sets and counting techniques; elementary probability including conditional probability; Markov chains; applications in the behavioral, managerial and biological sciences.

MA 101 or equivalent.

Lavon Page and Sandra Paur, Topics in Finite Mathematics, Pearson, 1996, $52.

Click here for the schedule of lecture topics and tests.

Attendance at all meetings of the class is expected. Students are expected to arrive on time, to contribute to the learning environment, and to stay until the class ends.

We will make a seating chart on Thursday, August 27. Please decide by then where you would like to sit. We will use the seating chart to take attendance and to pass back tests.

The attendance record is used to answer inquiries by University administrators. It is not used in grading.

If you are ill with symptoms of H1N1 influenza (i.e. fever over 100, sore throat, cough, stuffy or runny nose, fatigue, headache, body aches, vomiting and diarrhea) please do not come to class. Instead, immediately contact your medical provider or Student Health Services (515-7107) for advice or to arrange an appointment.

If you are diagnosed with H1N1, please inform me immediately. You will be required to stay away from class until at least 24 hours after you are free of fever (100 degrees), or signs of fever, without the use of fever-reducing medications.

We will use WebAssign for graded homework assignments and for on-line discussions about the class. In addition, you can check your grades (both homework and tests) on WebAssign.

After logging in to WebAssign at the link above, select "MA 114, section 001, Fall 2009" from your list of courses at the upper left. (If you are taking only one course that uses WebAssign, you will not have to do this step.)

You must purchase access to WebAssign for this semester at $15.95 per course. If you have not yet done this, you will see information about purchasing access on this page. Select either "purchase access online" or "continue my trial period", then click "Continue".

You are now at the WebAssign home page for MA 114-001. From here you can access homework assignments, participate in on-line forums about the class, and check your grades. If you can't figure out how to do these things, click on "Guide" at the upper right to download the WebAssign Student Guide, or click on "Help".

Each student has slightly different problems, so correct answers will differ.

Before you attempt a WebAssign problem, you should do the related homework problems from text that have been assigned. (See below, "Additional Homework".) The problems from the text have answers, which will help you learn how to do them.

When you submit an answer to a WebAssign question, WebAssign will tell you if it is right or wrong. You may submit up to ten answers to each question. Only your last answer counts toward your grade on the assignment.

To ask a question about a WebAssign problem, use the "Ask Your Teacher" link at the top of the assignment (below "Current Score") or at the bottom of the assignment (below "Submit All New Answers"). I will see exactly what problem you are working on. Please don't use email; with email I won't see your problem.

Each assignment has a due date and time. No answers are accepted after that time (according to Webassign's clock, not your clock). Extensions are granted only for reasons such unanticipated illness or emergency. To request an extension, click on the "Extension Requests" link at the top of the assignment (below the due date) or at the bottom of the assignment (below "Submit All New Answers"). Then click on "Manual", then type your message and click "Submit". You can arrange to receive e-mail reminders of assignment deadlines by clicking on "Notifications" at the upper right of a WebAssign page.

When you compose a message for an on-line forum, please give it a subject that helps people decide if they want to read it.

In addition to the WebAssign assignments, I will assign homework from the text to be done at home and discussed (but not turned in) at the next class. Homework assignments are here.

I sometimes send e-mail to the class. E-mail goes to the address you have given to the University. To see what this address is, go to the University OnLine Directory and look yourself up. If that is not the e-mail address you want, there is a link that lets you change it.

The Matrix Algebra Tool helps with matrix algebra.

The Row Op Tool helps with row operations.

You can watch MA 114 video lectures over the internet at the MA 114 Online Home Page.

For tutoring and other help options, click here and look under "Help with Your Math Class".

There will be four hour tests and a final exam. For dates see the schedule.

Please bring a blue book when you take a test. If you do not, we will still grade your test, but we will not be responsible if part of it is lost.

On all tests that you turn in for this course, you must show your work to receive credit. Calculators may be used for arithmetic only.

If you miss a test, I will need a letter documenting the reason. Makeup tests will only be given for reasons such as illness, family emergency, participation in a University-sponsored event, required court attendance or military duty, or religious observances as certified by the Department of Student Development. See the University policies.

If you know you will be absent on a test date, you must clear the absence with me in advance. In the case of an unanticipated absence on a test date, you should give me documentation as soon as possible. Again, see the University policies.

Makeup tests will be given Saturday, October 17, at 9 a.m. (Tests 1 and 2) and Saturday, December 5, at 9 a.m. (Tests 3 and 4). You must have prior permission from me in order to take a makeup test on one of these days.

At the end of the course, you will have six grades: one based on the WebAssign assignments, four hour tests, and the final exam.


• 1/6 of your grade will be based on WebAssign assignments.
• Each of the four hour tests counts as 1/6 of your grade.
• The final exam counts as 1/3 of your grade.
• The fractions add up to 1 1/6. We adjust as follows:
  • If the lowest of your six grades is the WebAssign grade, it is dropped.
  • If the lowest of your six grades is an hour test, it is dropped.
  • If the lowest of your six grades is the final exam, it only counts as 1/6 of your grade.

Please review the University guidelines on academic integrity here (items 7 - 13).

NC State team solves problem of how to draw Venn diagrams for arbitrary number of sets.

The NC State policy on working with students with disabilities can be found here.

NC State home page