Week 3

This week we'll be talking about solving inequalities (section A.8) and rational exponents and radical equations (section A.9).   The section A.8 homework will be due on Tuesday, the section A.9 homework will be due on Thursday, and the quiz will be due on Saturday.   You can take the quiz as many times as you like and only the highest grade will count.  Please note that although the learning aids such as "help me solve this" and "view an example" are not available while you take the quiz, they are available in review mode.

You may take the quiz as many times as you like and only the highest grade will count.

If you look at the schedule, you will notice that the first take-home test is coming up next week.   This is an online test with the option to show your work.  If you choose to show your work on a particular question, there may be the possibility of partial credit in the event that the question is marked wrong.   I will make the take-home test available at the end of this week.

Week 2

This week we'll be talking about solving equations (section A.5) and complex numbers (section A.6).   The section A.5 homework will be due on Tuesday, the section A.6 homework will be due on Thursday, and the quiz will be due on Saturday.  Please note that the last two questions of each weekly quiz will be review problems from previous sections.   

As I mentioned in last week's email, it is important that you do not become overreliant on the learning aids that accompany each homework problem (e.g. Help Me Solve This and View an Example).    Unless you do some preliminary work such as taking notes on the ebook, reading the lecture notes, or watching the videos, there's a good chance that the material will not "stick."  (This is based on feedback from many of my previous students.)   

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.  I'd be happy to help via email or by a face-to-face meeting during my office hours.  In addition, if you're on campus, the Academic Resource Center (ARC) offers free tutoring.

Week 1

I’d like to welcome you to online college algebra.  

This week we will be working on Sections A.1 through A.3, which contain a review of algebra, geometry, and polynomials.  

The homework for this week is due on Tuesday evening and Thursday evening at 11:59 p.m. Remember that the homework problems may be done an unlimited number of times until you receive a perfect score.  Based on feedback from previous online students, although it might seem more expedient to jump right into the homework and use the learning aids to help you solve the problems, you will most likely find that you absorb the material better if you are able to put the problems in context.  So you should take a look at the ebook, the lecture notes, and the videos before beginning the homework.

This week’s quiz is due on Saturday evening, and the quiz problems are taken directly from the homework problems.  You will get only one attempt to answer each question, and you must complete the entire quiz before it is graded.    The learning aids (e.g. Help Me Solve This and View an Example) that are available for the homework problems will not be available for the quizzes.    Quizzes may be taken an unlimited number of times before the due date and only the highest grade will count.

If you have any questions on the material, please post your questions to the discussion board so that everyone can benefit from the response.  You also may use the “Ask My Instructor” button next to every problem to send me an e-mail regarding that problem.