Attendance is a very important component of success in my class. Thus, final grades are based on attendance as well as total points earned. Minimum scores for each grade and attendance level are as follows:

Make-up Exams: Except for Exam 5, you will be allowed to "retake" any exam you have done poorly on. Your grade will be an average of the "regular" score and any and all "retakes" for that exam. Please discuss a "retake" exam with me within a week of receiving your exam score.

Homework: I have the homework assignments on a different handout. Some of these problems will be collected for grading; correctly completing the others will ensure an adequate mastery of the material. I suggest that you work together in small groups on the homework for this class. To aid in your study groups, I will be distributing a class roll of both sections I am teaching this semester.

Office Hours: Office hours are times when I will be in my office to help you. There are many other times when I am in my office. If I am in and not busy, I will be happy to help. My office hours for Fall 2004 semester are 10:20 to 11:00 Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and 2:00 to 2:50 Tuesday, or by appointment.

Philosophy: I strongly believe that you, the student, are the only person who can make yourself learn. Therefore, whenever it is appropriate, I expect you to "discover" the mathematics we will be exploring. I do not feel that "lecturing" to you will teach you how to do mathematics. I hope to be your "guide" while we learn some mathematics, but you will need to do the learning. The textbook we will be using for this class will require you to actually read it to master the material.

My idea of teaching / learning is not "Teaching is telling and learning is listening". I believe that you must be active in the learning process to learn well. My job as a teacher, therefore, is not to "tell" you the answers to the problems we will encounter; rather it is to point you in a direction that will allow you to see the solutions yourselves. To accomplish that goal, I will work to find different interactive activities for us to work on. Your job is to use me, to use your text, to use your friends, and any other resources. Keep in mind that the goal is to learn mathematics, not to pass the exams. (Incidentally, if you have truly learned the material, the exam results will take care of themselves.)