Syllabus for Technical Math I 804-115-0001 (21451)

Madison Area Technical College

Fall 2009


Lecture: MTWRF:  8:30 AM to 9:20 AM in Rm 237 ; Instructor: Al Lehnen Office: Room 335E ; Office Phone: 246-6567 ; Home Phone: 238-7333
E-mail:  alehnen@matcmadison.edu  ; website: http://my.execpc.com/~aplehnen/al.htm ; Arts & Sciences Office: Room 246 ; Phone: 246-6246

Office Hours:

Monday 9:30 AM to 10:20 AM
Tuesday 2:30 PM to 3:20 PM
Wednesday 9:30 AM to 10:20 AM
Thursday 2:30 PM to 3:20 PM
Friday 9:30 AM to 10:20 AM

Or by Appointment


Take Home Quiz/Exam Solutions: http://faculty.matcmadison.edu/alehnen/TechMathI/TM1QuizExamSolutions.html

Text: A. Washington, Basic Technical Mathematics, Ninth Ed., Addison-Wesley, 2009.

Course Objectives: To provide the student with the background in mathematics to:

(1) Successfully complete an Associate Degree Program in a technical field.

(2) Use mathematics as a means of clearly communicating ideas and concepts.

Course Outline of Instruction: http://wids.matcmadison.edu/10804115.pdf

Attendance: This is the responsibility of each individual student. An exam missed without adequate notification and explanation will result in an automatic grade of zero. Quizzes will never be accepted late. There will be No Exceptions to these two rules !

Grading: Two sources will contribute to the grade in this course :

(1) The eight highest of ten take-home quizzes, each quiz worth 25 points.

(2) Eight hour exams each worth 100 points.

Note: Any exam missed without an official excuse counts as a score of zero, as does any take-home quiz not handed in when due. Since the two lowest quiz scores are dropped, these are the only ones that you can afford to miss. Exams may always be taken early to avoid conflicts. The following final point totals are guaranteed as minimum grade requirements:

940 - A 900 - AB 840 - B 800 - BC 700 - C 600- D

These minimum values may be lowered if results warrant. In borderline situations class participation, attendance, the trend of exam scores, etc., may be used to justify the higher grade. For more details see the "grade scorecard".

Assignments: A course in technical mathematics is not necessarily difficult. However, it will involve a good deal of work on your part. It will be nearly impossible for you to learn and master the content of this course without persistent practice. Hence, there will be three kinds of assignments.

(1) Working assigned exercises associated with the sections of the text covered. It is the responsibility of the student to keep current, as these problems will not be collected.

(2) Assigned take-home quizzes each worth 25 points. These should be completed as directed and handed in when due. They will not be accepted late. Copies of the quizzes can be downloaded from http://faculty.matcmadison.edu/alehnen/TechMathI/QuizPacketMath1f09.pdf . Some of the projects involve using WinPlot. Detailed instructions for using this program are at http://faculty.matcmadison.edu/alehnen/winptut/winpltut.htm.

Calculator/Exam Policies: A handheld scientific and/or graphing calculator should be used on both homework and exams. All exams will be open note/open book.

Course Content:

Units of Study Exam Date
I. Basic Algebraic Operations: Sections 1.1 - 1.9 9/04/2009
II. Solving Equations and Word Problems : Sections 1.10 - 1.12, Chapter 18 9/18/2009
III. Factoring and Fractions : Chapter 6 10/02/2009
IV. Quadratic Equations and Functions: Sections 7.1 - 7.3, Chapter 3, Section 7.4 10/16/2009
V. Systems of Linear Equations and Determinants: Chapter 5 10/29/2009
VI. Units of Measurement and Geometry : Appendix B, handout, Chapter 2 11/11/2009
VII. The Trigonometric Functions : Chapter 4 11/20/2009
VIII. Radian Measure, Solving Oblique Triangles, Vectors and Graphs of Trigonometric Functions: Chapter 8, Sections 9.5, 9.6, 9.4, 10.1, 10.2, 10.4 12/11/2008

Take-Home Quiz Due Dates:

Quiz 1
9/03/2009

Quiz 2
9/17/2009

Quiz 3
9/25/2009

Quiz 4
10/01/2009

Quiz 5
10/15/2009

Quiz 6
10/28/2009

Quiz 7
11/10/2009

Quiz 8
11/19/2009

Quiz 9
12/04/2009

Quiz 10
12/10/2009


It is my sincere desire that you will succeed in this course. I hope you will have questions, comments and suggestions! If you find yourself getting lost and/or behind please come see me for help before it is too late.