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Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.
- Albert Einstein
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Math 25 Class Information 
Class times: Study Session times: Office Hours by appointment 3 credits, 3 lecture hours per week about 6 hours homework per week CRN 22365 |
Instructor Information 
David Van Slyke website: http://mathoer.net Zoom room: https://lanecc.zoom.us/my/vanslyked work email: vanslyked@lanecc.edu work cell phone: (541) 357-7551 office: Building 16 Room 261 (Please communicate with me using the above cell phone or LCC email. Please do not use my LCC office phone or moodle's messages.) |
Math 25 includes a review of most Math 20 topics (ratios, proportions, percents, measurement unit conversions, and geometry) and greatly expands their real-life usefulness in health decisions, personal finance decisions, and business decisions.
You will be required to learn and use specific techniques and processes that may be different from what you have used in the past, and develop your ability to communicate mathematically by showing all work in a neat and organized manner.
Students are encouraged to use study groups for all types of homework.
Grading is done by correctly using a philosophy named "standards based grading". Students earn their letter grades by completing achievements.
Official Course Description: MTH 025 is a course in the application of basic mathematics to everyday situations. Topics include applications involving budget and retirement, simple and compound interest, mortgage and charge options, household and garden, health formulas, food preparation, measurement systems, markup and discounts. This course will include skill maintenance and explorations, and may involve group work and projects.
Our class has a lot of homework. Expect to spend 4 to 8 hours each week doing homework if you have an average math foundation from the previous class.
Please schedule different blocks of time for appetizer and real homework, as explained in the study skills page.
Please bring to class paper, a pencil, a highlighter, and a notebook.
You will need a scientific calculator that can do exponents and has a π key. A model with parenthesis keys and a fraction key is highly recommended. The official class guidelines recommend a Sharp D.A.L. 500 calculator. This model is most popular. Some students instead use a Casio that is also inexpensive and also gets good reviews.
An optional resource is Basic College Mathematics by Charles McKeague. This is the Math 20 textbook. It has nice videos for every example problem. It is available as a physical book or an e-book. (If you buy the physical book, you also get the e-book for free.)
Together our class times, study sessions, this class website, the textbook if used, and the videos and OER textbooks linked from the class website provide many different ways of understanding each math topic. Find the resources that work best for you!
One of your key tasks is to condense your class notes, thoughts, homework, and favorite example problems into an improved set of notes that you are allowed to use on the quizzes and final exam. Preparing these notes carefully is invaluable!
By LCC policy, missing all classes and assignments during the first week causes you to be dropped from the class.
The deadline for a tuition refund is 11:59 pm on the Sunday at the end of the first week of the class.
The last day of Spring term (June 13th) is now the final day for schedule changes, dropping classes, grading option changes, etc. This is much later than usual.
The Spring term holidays are Spring Conference (Friday, May 1st) and Memorial Day (Monday, May 25th).
Our final exam has a scheduled time Monday (for Math 20) or Tuesday (for Math 25) during finals' week, starting at 10am (our normal class start time) and lasting for 110 minutes. This may or many not be useful to us.
If you want to complete any of the end-of-term test taking achievements before the end the term, take a test early. If you score 60% or 66% (or higher) you can check off the appropriate achievement early! Your normally scheduled test remains a chance to improve your score.
You can add this calendar to your own calendar app using this ICAL address.
Please note that LCC policy allows students with three or more finals on the same day to reschedule one of them. Sometimes final exams may be taken early because of medical or other concerns.
LaneCC provides dumploads of resources to help students succeed. You can click on the image to the right to see my own compilation of student resources. Also see the tutoring section in the study skills page.
It is often valuable to visit an Early Outreach Specialist who is trained to connect students to whatever resources can help. The one who normally works most closely with Math 20 students is Katherine Kaylegian (e-mail).
Instead of quiet office hours we have chatty study sessions!
These can serve several different purposes.
You do not need to bring questions to study sessions. It can be nice to simply study quietly while knowing that help is available from the instructor or classmates. That help can look like a few things:
The free tutoring provided by the Math Resource Center happens remotely during Fall term 2020.
First, make a reservation for a 30-minute appointment using the website WC Online. This is quicker if you use the pull-down menu to select the topic in which you want tutoring.
Second, five minutes early before your appointment go to a Zoom meeting room named Study Annex Tutoring, where a front desk person will greet you and assign you to a "breakout room" in Zoom. The front desk person can also help you get Zoom working with text chat, audio, and/or video to best suit your needs and what tools you have available at home.
Third, your tutor joins you in the breakout room. Enjoy your live tutoring!
Math Resource Center online hours are Monday through Friday 9:00am to 4:30pm, and also 5:00pm to 8:00pm on Tuesday through Thursday. The Math Resource Center is considering offering some weekend hours. Please let them know if that would help your schedule.
Lane Community College is dedicated to providing inclusive learning environments. The Center for Accessible Resources coordinates all academic accomodations for students. If you anticipate or experience academic barriers due to a disability, to request assistance or accommodations, contact CAR at 541-463-5150 or accessibleresources@lanecc.edu.
The LCC Student Help Desk (nicknamed the SHeD) provides technology loans and support to students. It can be reached at 541-463-3333.
Distance learning is more immune to weather issues, but we should still know the routines...
Sign up for LaneAlert to receive e-mails or texts about weather closures! Log into mylane. In the Home tab, locate the box labeled Personal Information. Select the Lane Alert Emergency Notification link. Select which notifications you would like to receive. Scroll down to the very bottom of the page and click Save Changes.
You can also listen to KLCC (FM 89.7) or KUGN (AM 590 or FM 97.9) for campus closure information. You can also check the websites of LCC and FlashAlert.
If class is canceled or you are absent, please read ahead using the class website to familiarize yourself with the upcoming topics and assignments. Then we can more quickly cover the missed material.
LCC's website has more about its weather closure policies.
Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement.
- Jim Horning
Select your code name:
This class uses achievements instead of a gradebook.
The list of achievements looks very long. Well, it is very long! But you will start checking off stars quickly. Your progress is easy to see. Requirements are clear.
Achievements are more than grades. Grades only sort students. Achievements show everything that the math department and the instructor value and celebrate.
The achievements are organized into eleven categories, corresponding to how the welcome page describes Being a Mather and the five steps of How Real Math Works.
The same achievement list is used for LCC students taking Math 20 and Math 25. You should ignore the achievements whose star is marked with an icon for the other class. You are not responsible for those achievements. The achievements that do have the icon with you class are sets of ten exercises for which a score at least 8 out of 10 "finishes" the assignment.
Unfortunately, every term has students who could have easily earned a higher overall grade by turning in or improving homework assignments that would only take a few hours. That is very sad! Please do not let your grade suffer due to procrastination or over-scheduling.
What should lettter grades mean?
Earning a D should show that you are capable with a handful of skills. You can follow procedures and mimic example problems. With the right support, you can deeply understand math issues. Your math foundation does not yet have breadth that assures success in your next math class or in improving your career potential. So you are not yet prepared to move on, but are learning. Your progress is commendable and should be acknowledged!
Earning a C should show that you can use most of the skills, and can deeply understand math issues. You are prepared to move on. You can expect what you learned to be a little helpful in your next math class or in a career. Earning a C is a quite respectable grade for a student whose is still adjusting to college life and resources, or is too busy with real-life issues for excellent studying.
Earning a B should show that you are proficient in almost all skills, do deeply understand most concepts, and you can discuss other people's math. You are noticeably above average. Future teachers and employers look forward to this type of person.
Earning a A should show that you are proficient in nearly all skills and concepts, and beyond discussing other people's math can also create and present math topics in an original and practical way.
Hopefully these achievements fulfill those expectations for meaningful letter grades. I may reduce the number of achievments required for a letter grade if my start-of-term estimation proves overly ambitious.
I believe Robert Talbert first had the idea to use + and − to measure student engagement. That is more meaningful to future employers and teachers.
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Letter Grade Requirements
