Mathematics 4020

Spring 2010

Instructor: Kelly A. MacArthur

Class Time and Place:4:35-6:30 p.m.
Mondays and Wednesdays in AEB320

Office Hours: Mondays 1:00 - 4:00 p.m., Wednesdays 8:30 - 11:30 a.m.,
Fridays 7:30 - 11:30 a.m., or by appointment.
Office Location: JWB226
Office Phone Number: 581-6837
E-mail address: macarthur@math.utah.edu
Website: www.math.utah.edu/~macarthu

Text: Mathematics for Elementary School Teachers: A Contemporary Approach,
7th edition, by Musser, Burger, Peterson.

Prerequisite: At least a C grade in Math4010 (Mathematics for Elementary Teachers 1).

Tutoring Lab: T. Benny Rushing Mathematics Student Center (adjacent to JWB
and LCB), Room 155
M - Th 8 a.m. - 8 p.m.
F 8 a.m. – 6 p.m.
(opens the second week of class) (closed Saturdays, Sundays and holidays)
They are also offering group tutoring sessions. If you're interested,
inquire at the Tutoring Lab.

Private Tutoring: University Tutoring Services, 330 SSB (they offer
inexpensive tutoring). There is also a list of tutors at the Math Department
office in JWB233.

Math Education Website: The math department has a web page
for math teachers in K-12 schools.

Computer Lab: in the T. Benny Rushing Mathematics Student Center, Room 155C.
M – Th 8 a.m. – 8 p.m.
F 8 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Link to computer lab

Grading: The grades will be calculated as follows:
Weekly Homework 7%
Problem Sets 8%
Midterm 1 20%
Midterm 2 20%
Practicum 14%
Portfolio 6%
Final Exam 25%


Teaching Philosophy: I believe strongly that mathematics, at its
core, is the art/experience/science of problem solving and pattern recognition.
It is inherently a creative process, one to be struggled with, repeated, and
enjoyed. The process requires imagination, persistence, courage, processing
time, and ultimately produces experiential, mathematical skill. It is from
this perspective that I teach. I'm not as concerned with the destination, i.e.
the answer, as I am about the journey of problem-solving and mathematical
exploration since it is exactly the entirety of the journey that creates
the answer. And, self-confidence and mastery are then natural by-products
of the mathematical journey.

Weekly Homework: You are responsible for knowing these policies. Please take it
seriously because the flexibility listed here is literally all there is.


Problem Sets: Throughout the semester, I will assign 6 problem
sets that will be given in addition to your weekly homework. The problem
sets will be graded for correctness, like the exams (unlike the
weekly homework). The grade of each problem set will be based on accuracy,
thoughtfulness, completeness and clarity of communication (i.e. there may
be no credit given for answers given without work shown). Each set will
contain roughly 15-25 problems on it and you can use these, as well as the
weekly homework, as study tools for the exams. These problem sets will be
due a week or two after assigned. The lowest problem set score will be
dropped, thus late problem sets will NOT be accepted under any circumstances.


Practicum: Each student will spend three hours in an elementary
school classroom observing children in the classroom. This classroom
experience will be discussed in our class as an assignment. Please be
sure to complete your observations by February 2nd and turn in your
permission slip by then
(I will not read and/or grade your practicum
report unless this is turned in). After your observations are complete,
you will spend another three hours working with a small group of children
(at least two and the children must be non-family members) teaching a
math lesson. The practicum report is a typewritten analysis of your
mathematical work with the children. Be sure to keep careful notes from
this work in order to have the information available when you write your
practicum report. The report is due Monday, April 12th and will be
discussed in more detail during class. For every day, or portion
thereof, that your Practicum report is late, you will be deducted 20
percentage points! Remember that writing the practicum report is
required to pass this course.


Portfolio: The portfolio assignment will be handed out in the
first week of class, so you can be working on it throughout the semester.
You can choose to put your portfolio in a notebook or in an accordian file,
whichever you prefer. This is meant to be a long-term reference for you
with regard to all the math we cover in this course. You will use your
portfolio in your Math Methods course to expand on some of the ideas
therein. These will be due during the last week of class. (I
will set up individual appointments with you to bring your portfolio to
me for grading.) I do not accept late Portfolios. The portfolio assignment
will also be discussed more in class.

WebCT: I will put your grades online on WebCT.
You can get there easily from the main University of Utah website www.utah.edu.
(There's also a link from my website.) To log in, you use the same student id
and password that you use for Campus Information System. I do my best to
update the grades on a regular basis and keep everything accurate.
However, I would advise you to check your grades often to make sure there
were no data entry mistakes. I'm always happy to correct any mistakes I've
made. You just need to let me know about them.

Calculators: Calculators will not be used much in this class. For
exams, you will be allowed to use a scientific calculator. This will be
discussed more in class.

Grading Scale: Although I'm not philosophically opposed to curving
grades, I find it's rarely necessary. The grade scale will be the usual:
A (93-100), A- (90-92), B+ (87-89), B (83-86), B- (80-82), C+ (77-79),
C (73-76), C- (70-72), D+ (67-69), D (63-66), D- (60-62), E (0-59).
If I do need to curve the grades, I will simply shift everything down
by a few points (whatever is necessary).

Other Policies: Due to experience, I have decided to make some
additional policies regarding my classroom administration and grading.
  1. There will be no retakes of exams…ever. Your score is what
    you get.
  2. You may take an alternate exam at the Testing Center if you talk
    to me about it first and explain the extenuating circumstances that
    make it necessary. Needing to work, babysitting your siblings,
    oversleeping, or needing more time to study do not pass as acceptable
    reasons to inconvenience me. Getting in a car crash or your
    mother’s death, on the other hand, is sufficient reason to
    request to take an alternate exam. But, it is 100% your responsibility
    to communicate with me as soon as is possible, before the exam
    occurs. Talking to me after the test will be sufficient
    reason for me to allow you to get a zero on that test.
    I reserve
    the right to make alternate exams more difficult than the scheduled exam.
  3. I will demand respectful behavior in my classroom. Examples of
    disrespect include reading a newspaper or magazine in class, social
    chatting with your friend in class, text-messaging your buddies
    during class or cuddling with your girl/boyfriend in class. If you
    choose to be disrespectful during my class, I can guarantee I
    will take action to terminate your disruptive behavior.
  4. You need to have a valid email address registered with Campus
    Information System. I will regularly send emails to the class and expect
    you to be responsible for receiving that information.
  5. There will be no cursing nor negative ranting (for example,
    “math sucks”) on any written work turned in. The penalty
    for such things on your written work will be a zero score on that
    assignment or test!
  6. If you have crisis-level extenuating circumstances which require
    flexibility, it is completely your responsibility to communicate
    with me as soon as possible. The longer you wait to communicate with
    me, the less I can do to help.