Math V01 Start Page, Fall 2009

Introduction and Announcements

Welcome to the start page for Math V01 (Elementary Algebra) at Ventura College. Michael Bowen (email) will be teaching this course during the fall 2009 semester.

Important note: This web page is not a substitute for attending class; regular attendance is an expectation of this course. Modifications to homework assignments, and other important news announced in class, may not appear on this page for several days. You are still responsible for all assignments and in-class announcements even if they do not appear here! If you wish to verify information on this page, please contact the instructor.

Textbook Information

The ISBN number is provided as a convenience if you wish to purchase this item online. The VC bookstore may stock a different ISBN number; either may be used for the course. If you buy from the bookstore, obtain the least expensive version you can find; do not pay extra for MyMathLab, WebAssign, or other software. If you obtain the book from another source, please be sure to obtain the correct edition, as noted below. Older editions are, of course, much less expensive, but the homework problems are different. This will place you at a disadvantage relative to your classmates on quizzes, which are taken directly out of the homework problems in the current edition.

This text is required:

• Author: M. Lial
• Title: Beginning Algebra, Tenth edition OR Second custom edition for Ventura College
• ISBN-10: 0-321-43726-8
• ISBN-13: 978-0-321-43726-6

Holidays

Classes at Ventura College will meet Monday through Friday each week of the semester, excepting only the dates listed below.

• Monday 7 Sep 2009 (Labor Day)
• Monday 9 Nov 2009 (Veterans Day)
• Thursday 26 Nov through Friday 27 Nov 2009 (Thanksgiving)

Final Examination

Date/time:  Thursday 15 October 2009, 12:30 p.m.

Be sure that your big party to celebrate the end of finals occurs after the appropriate date. Requests for administration of early or late finals that require the instructor to reschedule his work or make a special trip to campus are subject to a deduction of points, regardless of the reason for the request.

Grading Status

Check whether final grades are posted yet for your course.

Current Assignments

• These are listed in reverse chronological order.
• Note: "EOO" (every other odd) means to do problems
  1, 5, 9, 13, 17, 21, 25, 29, 33, 37, 41, 45, 49, 53, 57, 61, etc.
• Note: Please do "E.C." (extra credit) problems on a separate sheet of paper from the regular assignment.

Due Date	§	Title	Problems	E.C.
15 Oct 2009	Final Examination Recommended study problems suggested at right Exam starts at 1:00 p.m. (short review at 12:30)		(For students with minimal study time) Page 431: 1–77 EOO Page 461: 1–24 ALL Page 542: 1–16 ALL
			(For students with additional study time) The above plus Page 431: Remaining problems from 1–80 Page 457: 1–16 ALL; 19–27 ALL; 31–56 ALL Page 539: 1–36 ALL Even-numbered problems from the ranges of the Chapter 6–7 homework assignments
14 Oct 2009	7.1	The Fundamental Property of Rational Expressions	13–23 ODD; 27; 29–61 EOO; 63–73 ODD	—
	7.2	Multiplying and Dividing Rational Expressions	5–61 EOO	—
13 Oct 2009	6.4	Special Factoring Techniques	7–53 ODD	—
	6.5	Solving Quadratic Equations by Factoring	13–81 EOO	—
	6.6	Applications of Quadratic Equations	(No assignment)	—
12 Oct 2009	6.1	The Greatest Common Factor; Factoring by Grouping	1–85 EOO	—
	6.2	Factoring Trinomials	23–59 ODD	—
	6.3	More on Factoring Trinomials	25–77 EOO; 79; 81; 83	—
7 Oct 2009	Chapter 5 Test (Last chapter test before the final exam) Recommended study problems suggested at right		(For students with minimal study time) Page 395: 1–8 ALL; 10; 11; 13–25 ALL
			(For students with additional study time) The above plus Page 391: 1–37 ALL; 44–52 ALL; 55–68 ALL; 74–76 ALL; 79–88 ALL Even-numbered problems from the ranges of the Chapter 5 homework assignments
6 Oct 2009	5.6	Special Products	5–53 ODD	—
	5.7	Dividing Polynomials	7–31 ODD; 41–73 EOO	—
5 Oct 2009	5.1	The Product Rule and Power Rules for Exponents	25–79 ODD	—
	5.2	Integer Exponents and the Quotient Rule	15–51 ODD; 57–71 ODD	74; 76; 78
	5.3	An Application of Exponents: Scientific Notation	13–49 ODD	—
	5.4	Adding and Subtracting Polynomials; Graphing Simple Polynomials	9–77 ODD	90; 92; 94; 96
	5.5	Multiplying Polynomials	3–83 ODD	—
29 Sep 2009	Chapter 4 Test Recommended study problems suggested at right		(For students with minimal study time) Page 323: 2–19 ALL
			(For students with additional study time) The above plus Page 320: 1–38 ALL; 40–47 ALL; 49 Even-numbered problems from the ranges of the Chapter 4 homework assignments
28 Sep 2009	4.1	Solving Systems of Linear Equations by Graphing	1–9 ODD; 17–29 EOO; 33–41 ODD	—
	4.2	Solving Systems of Linear Equations by Substitution	3–31 ODD	—
	4.3	Solving Systems of Linear Equations by Elimination	5–41 ODD	—
	4.4	Applications of Linear Systems	(No assignment)	—
	4.5	Solving Systems of Linear Inequalities	(No assignment)	—
23 Sep 2009	3.6	Functions	7–27 ODD; 33–37 ODD	—
	Chapter 3 Test Recommended study problems suggested at right		(For students with minimal study time) Page 268: 1–25; ALL
			(For students with additional study time) The above plus Page 265: 3–23 ODD; 24; 25–47 ODD Even-numbered problems from the ranges of the Chapter 3 homework assignments
21 Sep 2009	3.1	Reading Graphs; Linear Equations in Two Variables	9–69 ODD	—
	3.2	Graphing Linear Equations in Two Variables	1; 3; 5; 17–55 ODD; 63; 67	—
	3.3	The Slope of a Line	3–9 ODD; 17–51 ODD; 57–63 ODD	—
	3.4	Equations of a Line	7–33 ODD; 37–53 ODD; 63; 65	—
	3.5	Graphing Linear Inequalities in Two Variables	11–29 ODD	—
15 Sep 2009	Chapter 2 Test Recommended study problems suggested at right		(For students with minimal study time) Page 186: 1–20 ALL
			(For students with additional study time) The above plus Page 181: 1–67 ODD Even-numbered problems from the ranges of the Chapter 2 homework assignments
14 Sep 2009	2.7	Further Applications of Linear Equations	17–37 EOO	—
	2.8	Solving Linear Inequalities	9–69 EOO	—
8 Sep 2009	2.4	An Introduction to Applications of Linear Equations	5–53 EOO	—
	2.5	Fomulas and Applications from Geometry	13–45 EOO; 63–85 ODD	—
	2.6	Ratios and Proportions	3–11 ODD; 29–61 EOO	—
31 Aug 2009	2.1	The Addition Propery of Equality	5–41 EOO; 49–65 EOO	—
	2.2	The Multiplication Property of Equality	9–69 EOO	—
	2.3	More on Solving Linear Equations	5–61 ODD	—
27 Aug 2009	Chapter 1 Test Recommended study problems suggested at right		(For students with minimal study time) Page 93: 1–32 ALL Page 92: 129–140 ALL; 143; 144
			(For students with additional study time) The above plus Page 88: 1–127 ODD Even-numbered problems from the ranges of the Chapter 1 homework assignments
26 Aug 2009	1.7	Properties of Real Numbers	1–29 ODD; 55–79 ODD	—
	1.8	Simplifying Expressions	5–73 EOO	—
24 Aug 2009	—	Syllabus Worksheet (obtain a copy) (NOTE: This assignment is worth 15 points.)
	1.1	Fractions	7–51 ODD; 55–69 ODD	—
	1.2	Exponents, Order of Operations, and Inequality	1–19 ODD; 23–49 ODD; 53–79 ODD; 83; 85	—
	1.3	Variables, Expressions, and Equations	13–55 ODD; 59–81 ODD	—
	1.4	Real Numbers and the Number Line	9–19 ODD; 23–63 ODD	—
	1.5	Adding and Subtracting Real Numbers	9–97 EOO	—
	1.6	Multiplying and Dividing Real Numbers	13–117 EOO	—

Future Assignments

• These are tentative; the instructor may make changes to this list from time to time.
• Students must not rely on printed versions of this list; instead, they should check the live online version periodically for possible updates.
• Students who work ahead and complete one or more assignments in advance are taking a risk that the assignment(s) may change before the due date, in which case the advice in the preceding sentence is particularly applicable.
• Students are responsible for completing the assignments as finalized in the Current Assignments section above, and should not expect to earn extra credit for completing tentatively assigned exercises that are later modified or removed from this list.
• (All assignments now have due dates)

§	Title	Problems	E.C.

Course Handouts and Study Aids

The documents listed below are available for viewing or download. The list below provides links to download free software to read the file formats of the various documents.

• PDF (Adobe® Acrobat Reader™) is the best format to use if you want to print on paper (for example, to replace a lost copy).
• HTML files are not, for the most part, printer-friendly; this is the best format for on-screen reading, and if you can read these words, you already have the software!
• DOC files are in the native Microsoft® Word format; if you do not have Word, use this Word Viewer from the Microsoft web site (this software can display Word files, but cannot modify them).
• PPT files are PowerPoint® presentations; if you do not have PowerPoint, use this PowerPoint Viewer, again from the Microsoft web site.

Course Handouts

• Course Information:  (HTML)  |  (PDF)
• Course Requirements and Grading, Side 1:  (HTML)  |  (PDF)
• Course Requirements and Grading, Side 2:  (HTML)  |  (PDF)
• Tips for Success:  (HTML)  |  (PDF)
• Standards of Student Conduct and Classroom Rules  (HTML)  |  (PDF)
• Syllabus Worksheet:  (DOC)  |  (PDF)
• Instructor's Schedule (PDF; not really a handout; this is a copy of the printed schedule that appears on the instructor's office door)

Study Aids

• Multiplication Tables:  (DOC)  |  (PDF)
• Divisibility Rules:  (DOC)  |  (PDF)
• Sieve of Eratosthenes (PDF) with directions (finds prime numbers) (HTML)
• Powers of Ten Tutorial (off-site; requires Java™ Runtime Environment [free download] to be installed and enabled on your computer):  (HTML)
• Translating English Phrases Into Algebraic Expressions:  (DOC)  |  (PDF)
• Multilingual Vocabulary for Mathematics (possibly helpful for students whose first language is not English):  (HTML)
• Basic Geometry Review:  (PPT)  |  (PDF)
• Rectangular Graph Paper (PDF):  5 squares to the inch  |  2.5 squares to the inch

Will You Succeed or Fail in Mathematics?

This checklist is adapted from a handout prepared by math and philosophy instructor Steve Thomassin. It will allow you to compare your approach to a mathematics course to the approaches taken by successful … and unsuccessful … students.

Attribute Type	Predictor of Success	Predictor of Failure
Attitude	Focus on things that are under your control.	Blame things that are out of your control (the text, the instructor, or "the system") for your difficulties.
	Be optimistic. Believe that you can do it.	Be pessimistic. Convince yourself that you will fail.
	Be positive. Find ways to make math interesting and fun.	Be negative. Find ways to make math dull and painful.
	Be open. See the uses, power, patterns, and magic of mathematics.	Be closed. Blind yourself to math's uses and its practical and esthetic value.
	Be practical. Make yourself aware of the doors that passing each math class opens to you.	Be impractical. Ignore the doors that open when you pass a math class.
Class Work	Attend every class. Aim for perfect attendance, even if you already know it all.	Be absent often. Dig a hole so deep that you cannot climb out except by dropping the course.
	Be focused. Concentrate on the math topic at hand.	Be mentally elsewhere. Daydream. Talk. Distract and annoy neighboring students.
	Take good notes. Solve problems along with the instructor.	Avoid participating in the discussion. Just watch the instructor.
	Be inquisitive. Ask questions so that the instructor knows what you would like to learn more about.	Be uninterested. Make the instructor guess what it is that you might be confused about.
Homework	Be regular. Always do at least some homework before the next class, and finish by the due date.	Be sporadic. Do homework only when it easily fits your schedule.
	Invest time. Spend double to triple the amount of in-class time.	Invest little time. Spend less time doing homework than you spend in class.
	Review notes; read text; do all assigned problems (maybe even more), and check the answers.	Ignore notes and text explanations; try a few problems, and don't bother checking to see if they are right.
Getting Help	When needed, take advantage of all opportunities: study groups, tutors, instructor office hours.	Even when lost, never seek assistance.