Math Guidebook

DeVry Inc.Math GuidebookMath 032, 092, 102, 104 & 114

College of Liberal Arts & SciencesCopyright 2012

The contents of this document are produced and maintained by DeVry Educational Development Corporation for the exclusive use of DeVry faculty, staff and students. Content from this document cannot be duplicated, modified, distributed, or used for any other purpose without the prior written consent of the copyright holder. 2012 DeVry Educational Development Corporation

ContentsCourse Structure2MATH Program at DeVry2Course Map3eCollege4Syllabus4Gradebook4Doc Sharing4THE HUB 2.05Discussion Requirements and Tutor Source6Speaking Math in the Discussions6Adding Screen Captures to Discussions7MyMathLab: General10Logging in to MyMathLab10Locating the Essentials: Textbook Pages and Help Options in MML11Textbook Pages11Help Options in MML12Entering Answers in MyMathLab13Reviewing an Exam13Using the Study Plan15MyMathLab: Assignments18Course Entry Homework18Chapter Sets20Chapter Homework20Chapter Exam21Final Exam22Practice Final Exam22Final Exam23

Course Structure MATH Program at DeVry The MATH program at DeVry is based on a philosophy called mastery learning. Mastery learning allows you to move at your own pace and become fully competent in a concept before moving on to the next one. Your motivation and participation in the class will determine the rate and degree of your success. The MATH sequence is made up of three courses. Your transfer credits, placement scores, and program of study determine whether you enter the sequence at MATH032, 092, 102, 104 or 114.

You are expected to complete all the course material in no more than 8 weeks follow your Course Schedule to stay on track. If you dont complete the work, you will receive an F in the course and a chance to take the course again in the next session, starting where you left off. If you let one or more sessions go by before retaking the course, all your previous work will be lost and you will have to start the course over from the beginning.

Working ahead is expected! After confirming with your Professor that you have completed all assignments for your course, you will move on and start the next course in the sequence before the 8-week session is complete. If you finish MATH032 or MATH092/102 early, you must begin the coursework for the next course in the sequence in the same session.

If you are an associates degree student, your terminal course is MATH102. You have completed the sequence once you have finished all the requirements for MATH102. However, the NSA program requires both MATH102 and MATH114, so you will be expected to continue to MATH114 if you finish MATH102 early.

Do you know which course of the MATH sequence you are enrolled in? If you are unsure, you must contact your advisor and your Professor immediately. Do not start any coursework until you know which of the three course levels you need to start with!

Course Map

First, start with the Entry Homework for the course in which you are enrolled. You have four attempts to score an 80% on the Entry Homework. When you pass the Entry Homework with a score of 80% or better, you can move on to the homework assignments Each Chapter Set is made up of the Chapter Homework, Unit Mixed Review, Unit Review, and Chapter Exam. To learn more about Chapter Sets. When you pass the first Chapter Exam with a score of 80% or better, you are to move to the next Chapter Set. After all Chapter Sets are complete, you can move on to the Final Exam. You have the chance to take a Practice Final Exam before the actual Final Exam. To learn more about the Final Exam. When you pass the Final Exam (a score of 80% or better is recommended), you will begin to work on the next course in the MATH sequence.

eCollege Locating the Essentials: Syllabus, Gradebook, Doc Sharing, HUB Syllabus

Your Syllabus is located under Course Home on the left of your eCollege screen.

The Syllabus contains a great deal of information related to your course.

One critical piece of information found in the Syllabus is a link to your Course Schedule. The Course Schedule includes a detailed summary of the minimum assignments you are recommended to complete each week. Use the Course Schedule together with your MML Gradebook to make sure you are working on the correct assignments, in the correct order, and you are staying on schedule. Feel free to work ahead!

Gradebook Unlike other courses, your grades are tracked in the eCollege gradebook, which is located along the top of your screen.

The Math sequence is made up of three courses, all of which are included in your MyMathLab Gradebook. This means when you finish one course and move to the next, the average shown in MyMathLab will be for all courses, not just the course you are currently working on. Your total course points will always show in the eCollege gradebook, but your letter grade will only be viewable at my.devry.edu. This grade reflects your overall course grade. The grades in the eCollege Gradebook are for the highest grade completed. You will only get one grade for the highest course in the MATH sequence you complete in this session.Doc Sharing Doc Sharing is located along the top of your eCollege screen.

THE HUB 2.0

You can access THE|HUB 2.0 using the Student Resources page under Course Home. THE|HUB 2.0 is the student resource center, available to all students. It holds the majority of course videos, in addition to a wealth of information pertaining to the Library, electronic readings, iLabs, and iConnect tools. All the videos and information are fully searchable. In addition, THE|HUB 2.0 provides students with Web 2.0 collaboration tools, including blogs, discussion forums, and image galleries.

Discussion Requirements and Tutor Source The Discussions are located in eCollege inside of each week. There is one graded discussion and one optional discussion forum for general questions each week. For general questions, you have three options: For general math questions, you are encouraged to post to the Open Forum in the Discussion area each week. For general questions or math questions, visit the Tutor Source under the course home page and talk live with a MATH tutor. For general questions of a personal nature or questions regarding your grade or progress, email your Professor.

Speaking Math in the Discussions You will have to use keyboard notation to type mathematical equations and expressions into the threaded discussions. This notation is very similar to what you would use for entering formulas into Excel. Since this is not a programming course, feel free to be creative. There are three keys to speaking math in the threads successfully:

Here is an example of how textbook notation and threaded discussion notation are different.

Textbook Math Notation to add two fractions and write the answer as a mixed number:

Threaded Discussion Notation to add two fractions and write the answer as a mixed number:

(5/6) + (3/4)

We need a common denominator to add fractions. The LCM for 6 and 4 is 12. For the first fraction, multiply top and bottom by 2, to get the LCM of 12 on the bottom. For the second fraction, multiply top and bottom by 3, to get the LCM of 12 on the bottom. This gives you:

10/12 + 9/12

Now add together the tops, leaving the bottom:

(10 + 9)/12 = 19/12

Since the top is bigger than the bottom, we have an improper fraction here. If MML says to write the answer as a fraction or integer, we are done. If MML says to write the answer as a mixed number, we have to re-write 19/12 as 1 and 7/12.

As you can see again, the work in the threads yields a much clearer explanation!

Additionally, the work in the threads allows you to post follow-up questions, such as: I wonder what MML means by write as fraction or integer. I wrote 1.3 as my answer is that not an integer?

Expect keyboard notation to be used in the Tutor Source sessions as well.

Here are some more examples of keyboard language for popular math expressions: x^3 x raised to the third power

sqrt(91) the square root of 91

LOG_b_(x-2) the logarithm base b of (x 2)

Left ________________ Right Using underscores as spacers

Adding Screen Captures to Discussions

When you are posting to the Discussions, you may need to attach a screen capture to your post to explain a question more clearly. All MML issues should be accompanied by a screen capture to help clarify your question.

Watch the Getting Started tutorial for an animated version of the steps below. To make a screen capture, first be sure you can see what you want to capture on the screen. Press the Print Scrn button, often found on the upper right of your keyboard. (Some computers require you to press Shift and Print Scrn to take a screen capture.) You wont see anything happen, but the computer has stored a copy of what you see on the screen.

Open Microsoft Word and select Paste in the upper left-hand corner. You can also use Ctrl-V. Your capture should appear in the document.

You can use the Crop tool from the Picture Tools by choosing Format in the toolbar. Cropping will allow you to show only the portion of the capture you wish to share.

Also, to use call attention to various places in your capture using tools such as arrows and textboxes, choose Insert in the toolbar.

When you are satisfied with the Word document save the file. To attach your file to a Discussion post, first type your message in the Response field. In the Attachment section, click Browse, locate your file, and click OK. Click Post to send your message. After a minute, your post will appear in the discussion and a link will appear to your Word document.

If you have any questions about the Discussions themselves, speaking math in the threads, or including a screen capture in your post, be sure to post to the Open Forum.

Here is an example of how a screen capture would be used in the threaded discussions:

Student 1: What did I do wrong?? My answer is the same as MMLs: -3, 6!! (Attached screen print)

Student 2: Student 1, I noticed that your answer is missing the parentheses. I wonder if this matters??

Professor: Yes, the parentheses matter!! -3, 6 means there are two possible values for x. (-3, 6) is a coordinate pair, where x=-3 and y=6. The problem asked you to state the solution as a coordinate pair!

For screen captures for MML questions, make sure your cursor is on the answer box before you print the screen, so we can see the MML answer in the gray box and the answer you typed in the yellow box. Make images of HW problems, Pretest problems or Study Plan problems, NOT Chapter Exam or Final Exam problems.

MyMathLab: General

Logging in to MyMathLab

Click on My Assignments in Course Home. Follow the link to homework, quizzes, and tests.

Locating the Essentials: Textbook Pages and Help Options in MML Textbook Pages While your MATH textbook can be accessed via chapter tabs in eCollege, you can also access your textbook from MyMathLab. The textbook can be accessed from the eCollege home screen, or from within the Homework or Study Plan exercises.

Help Options in MMLWithin the Homework and Study Plan exercises, you have access to help features that provide immediate step-by-step instruction and guided practice on the type of problem you are trying to solve. Always use the features to the right of the problem to help guide your studies from the bottom up! First look at the Textbook Pages for this section. Next view the Animation or Video, if available. Have MML lead you through a step-by-step example of a similar problem in View an Example. Last, NEVER first, do a guided practice problem with Help Me Solve This. This option can get a bit confusing, so be sure you never start with it!

Last help option

3rd help option

2nd help option

1st help option

Entering Answers in MyMathLab

To learn how to type your answers in properly in MML click on the Tools for Success bullet under the Course Home tab of eCollege. Then click on the How do I enter answers? link.

Reviewing an Exam

After you take the Entry Homework, Chapter Pretest, Chapter Test, Unit Review, Practice Final Exam, or the Final Exam, you need to review and analyze your exam to see what you got right and wrong. Fix items that are incorrect re-learn how to do them correctly using your Study Plan. Use your Course Schedule to see which chapters and sections are covered on the exam so you can use the Study Plan effectively.

To review your exams: 1) Click My Gradebook in eCollege.

2) Click Review next to the exam you wish to review.

3) Click on the first problem that was incorrect. It is identified by a red X on the problem number. Move your cursor on top of the gray answer box. Compare your answer in the yellow pop-up box to the correct answer in the gray box.Incorrect Problem Number

Retrace your work to find your mistakes. Use the Study Plan, the Discussions, and Tutor Source to help identify your error and learn how to do this problem correctly.

Follow this procedure for all incorrect problems.

Using the Study Plan

The Study Plan should always be used AFTER you have taken a test. A new Study Plan will be generated after every test you take, to help you fine-tune the areas you need to study before you retake the test for a better score.

To fix incorrect problems on any test, use the Study Plan:

Open your Study Plan to the first chapter tested your Course Schedule will tell you which one that is. Work on the sections, objectives and problems marked with a pencil. These are the problems you should review and retest. Do a problem and check your answer immediately. Use the textbook pages, video, animation, and View an Example option within an exercise to help you learn. Take advantage of the similar problem option until you have enough practice, then go to the next problem and/or objective. Get additional help in the Discussions, from Tutor Source, or email your instructor, especially if you disagree with a decision MML made by marking your answer as incorrect. Attach screen captures of the question and your answer. Explain what you have done to arrive at your answer and where you are stuck or disagree.

Click My Study Plan in eCollege.

The following is a visual example of using the Study Plan.

This student is reviewing the Practice Final Exam for MATH104/114. Pencil icons indicate that some review in chapters 12, 13, 14, 16, and 19 might be beneficial before taking the Final Exam.

Look for icons here that indicate which areas need more review.

When the student clicks Chapter 12, the page indicates that only section 12.6 needs additional review (noted by the pencil). Sections 12.1 through 12.4 have been mastered (noted by the hat icon).

When the student clicks section 12.6, then clicks the button Show What I Need to Study, a list of exercises appears. Select and work as many of the problems with a pencil as needed to relearn the skill missed on the Practice Final Exam.

When the student clicks Exercise 15, that exercise appears for practice. Use the help features on the right to guide your studies, from the bottom up! After you have learned how to do a problem correctly using the help features, click Similar Exercise to work this problem type one more time before moving to the next exercise.

MyMathLab: Assignments Course Entry Homework

To take the Entry Homework:

Click on My Assignments, click on the Entry Homework linkIf your score is 80% or better, move on to the Chapter Homework.

If your score is below 80%: Dont panic! Most students do not pass the Entry Homework the first time. See what you got right and wrong by reviewing and analyzing the homework. Use your Study Plan for practice and review a new Study Plan is generated for you after each test you take. Ask for help in the Discussions or by using Tutor Source. Explain what you have tried and where you are getting stuck; use screen captures as needed. When ready, retake the Entry Homework. You have four attempts to earn 80%, and your instructor can authorize another attempt if needed. Use your Study Plan and the Discussions between each retake! The Course Entry Homework ensures mastery of the early objectives of your course it does not count towards your course grade but you must pass it before you can access the assignments in the first Chapter Set.

Chapter Sets

Each of the Chapter Sets in your course is composed of Chapter Homework, Unit Mixed Review, Unit Review, and a Chapter Exam.

Chapter Homework

Next, go to the Chapter Homework for structured guided practice. You can also use your Study Plan for additional practice. Complete all Chapter Homework assignments for the Chapter Set in order. You have unlimited retakes for HW assignments.

Do a problem and check your answer immediately. Use the textbook pages, video, animation and View an Example option within an exercise to help you learn. Take advantage of the similar problem option until you have enough practice, then go to the next problem.

You must score 80% on each HW assignment before you can progress to the next HW assignment.

You must complete all HW for a chapter set before you take the Unit Mixed Review. When you achieve an 80% on the unit mixed review, move on to take the Unit Review.

Your Chapter Homework counts for 15% of your overall grade.

Unit Mixed Review and Unit Review After completing all the Chapter Homework, take the Unit Mixed Review. If your score is 80% or better, move on to the Unit Review. After you achieve an 80% on the Mixed Review, move on to the Unit Test.

If your score is below 80%: See what you got right and wrong Unit Review by analyzing the Review in the MML Gradebook. Use your Study Plan for practice and review. Ask for help in the Discussions and by using Tutor Source. When ready, retake the Unit Review. You have two more attempts to pass the Unit Review. Your instructor can authorize another attempt if needed. Use your Study Plan between each retake! Your instructor will not grant you another attempt on a Mixed Review, Unit Review, or Chapter Exam unless you have worked problems in the study plan. The Unit Mixed Review does not count towards your course grade but you must pass it before you can access the Unit Review and Chapter Exam. This is done to ensure that you will do well on the Unit Test.

Chapter Exam

After you have passed the Mixed Review with an 80% or better, you will take the Unit Test.

If your score is 80% or better, move on to the next Chapter Set. If this is your final Chapter Set for the course, move on to the Final Exam.

If your score is below 80%: See what you got right and wrong on the Chapter Exam by reviewing and analyzing the test in the MML Gradebook. Use your Study Plan for practice and review. Ask for help in the Discussions and by using Tutor Source. When ready, retake the Chapter Exam. You have two more attempts to pass the Chapter Exam. Your instructor can authorize another attempt if needed. The instructor will require that you work the problems in the study plan before being granted any additional attempts. Use your Study Plan between each retake! Only the highest score counts for each Chapter Exam.

Final Exam

Practice Final Exam

The Practice Final Exam is optional but highly recommended. You may take the Practice Final Exam only one time.

You only get two attempts at the Final Exam. Completing and reviewing the Practice Final Exam will increase your chances of doing well on the Final Exam. If you choose not to take the Practice Final Exam, simply submit it with a score of zero.

Before beginning the Final Exam, you should verify that you have completed all Homework assignments with 80% scores and all of the Unit Reviews and the Chapter Exams with 80% scores or better.

To analyze your Practice Final Exam:

See what you got right and wrong on the Practice Final Exam by reviewing and analyzing it in the MML Gradebook. Use your Study Plan for practice and review. Use your Course Schedule to see which chapters and sections are covered on the Practice Final Exam to use the Study Plan most effectively. Ask for help in the Discussions and by using Tutor Source.

Final Exam After you have submitted the Practice Final Exam, you will take the Final Exam. If your score is 80% or better, you are finished with the MyMathLab portion of your coursework. (You may retake the Final Exam if youd like your highest score above 80% in two attempts will be the one that counts.)

If your score is below 80%: See what you got right and wrong on the Final Exam by reviewing and analyzing the test in the MML Gradebook. Use your Study Plan for practice and review. Ask for help in the Discussions and by using Tutor Source. When ready, retake the Final Exam. You have up to two attempts to earn the highest possible score on your Final Exam. Your instructor will not authorize an additional attempt even if your score is below 80% Use your Study Plan between your first attempt and your retake! Only the highest score counts for the Final Exam.