Course Policies

Attendance: According to University policy (see here for the relevant section in the Student Code), "regular class attendance is expected of all students at the University." This applies to both the lectures and the discussion/recitation sections. While attendance will not be checked and will not directly be factored into the grade, if you do skip class you do so at your own risk; any quizzes you miss as a result of skipping class will count as 0 points and hurt your grade. (Of course, an absence due to illness or other legitimate excuses, including religious observances, is a different matter; see below for policies that apply in those cases.)

Homework: Assignments from the text will be given each lecture hour. Homework will not be collected or graded, but you should do these assignments in order to be prepared for quizzes and exams.

Quizzes: Quizzes will be given about once a week. The quizzes will cover material from the past 2 - 3 lecture hours. The problems on the quizzes will be similar or identical to problems worked out in the discussion sections or assigned as HW problems. If you attend the lectures and discussion sections and keep up with the homework assignments, you should have no problems with the quizzes. The quizzes will be given during the Tuesday/Thursday discussion sections. The specific dates may vary, depending on the amount of material covered in the lectures, but will be announced in advance during the lectures (but not posted on the website).

Midterm Exams: There will be three midterm exams given during the regular class hour. The dates for these exams are February 12, March 9, and April 11.

Final Exam: The Final Exam will cover material roughly equivalent to 2 one-hour exams, and will be cumulative. It will take place Saturday, May 5, 8-11 a.m. the slot assigned for this class according to the Spring 2007 Final Exam schedule. (There is no conflict or combined final for this class.)

Make sure to plan your travel at the end of the semester accordingly. University regulations are very strict about taking the Final at the assigned slot; in particular, you cannot take the final at an earlier date in order to accommodate travel plans.

Policy on missed quizzes: There will be no make-up quizzes. A missed quiz will count as 0 points unless you have a legitimate excuse, such as illness, or a field trip for another class, and can show appropriate documentation for it, such as a doctor's note in case of illness, or an instructor's note in case of a field trip. With a valid excuse, a missed quiz will be marked as "excused". This simply means that your quiz average will be based on the remaining quizzes (with the lowest score dropped), i.e., it will be just as if the "excused" quiz had never taken place.

If you think you qualify for an excused quiz, get in touch with your TA as soon as possible, but no later than a week after the quiz was given, and provide him/her with appropriate documentation. In case of illness, make sure to get a note from your doctor or hospital personnel.

Policy on missed hour exams: Missed hour exams are treated similarly, i.e., marked as "excused" if a valid excuse is presented (no make-ups), but with one significant difference: the absence from an hour exam has to be documented by a letter from the Dean. (For quizzes, other documentation - such as a note from McKinley - is sufficient, though a letter from the Dean would, of course, also be acceptable.) To get such a letter issued, go to the Dean's Office at 300 Student Services Building, 610 East John St., phone 333-0050, explain your case, and ask them to send a letter to the instructor. The people there deal with these situations all the time and have form letters that they are happy to send to instructors if they believe you have a valid excuse (e.g., illness, but not, for example, oversleeping). One major advantage of going through the Dean's Office is that you can take care of any other missed classes at the same time by having letters sent to all of your instructors.

NOTE: An unexcused absence from an hour exam counts as a zero (which is far worse than a mere F). So, don't oversleep!

Calculator policy: Calculators are not allowed in exams and quizzes; exam and quiz problems will be written such that they do not require a calculator; calculators would be a hindrance and distraction, and in most cases completely useless. You do not need to bring a calculator to the lecture or discussion sections. (I don't carry a calculator with me either.) Occasionally, you may need a calculator to do a homework problem, though the majority of homework problems will be of the no-calculator variety. For the calculator problems, a basic calculator is sufficient; you do not need graphing or programmable calculators.

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