Information about MAT108-08 ONLINE in Fall 2009:

Dr. Arthur Rosenthal,   Mathematics Department

Thank you for considering my online section of Math 108 (Finite Mathematics) in the Fall of 2009.   I hope this web page and the links on it will help you decide whether this online section is beneficial for you.

This course will be generally asynchronous, which means you don't need to come to any classes at specific times and can accomplish your work wherever you want whenever you want, as long as you have Internet access.  Nevertheless, I want to discourage you from leaving everything until the end of the semester.  Hence, there will be assignments with due dates, to encourage you to pace your learning each week of the semester so you can finish the course without trying to work on it 24 hours a day during the last week of the semester.  Also, I  plan to hold an OPTIONAL session on Wednesday, September 9 at 4:00 pm in the Math Lab (SB306) to help ensure that everyone knows how to access and use the online material for this course.   If you don't need help to access and use the online material for this course, you don't need to attend this section.  You are also welcome to attend any of my normal face to face office hours (which are itemized on my syllabus for this section).  Moreover, you should also feel free to drop into our Math Lab in SB306A for free tutoring and technical assistance. (For more information about the Math Lab, please go to http://www.salemstate.edu/math  and click on the link on the left of the frame near the middle for the Math/ Computer Lab).  In addition, there will be two proctored 50 minute exams as well a proctored 2 hour final exam.

All assignments will be submitted electronically.  I plan to have most of the assignments involve the Wiley PLUS system within WebCT.  (I have provided more information about WebCT in the next paragraph).  With the Wiley PLUS system, you will generally have three attempts to solve each problem.  If you get the problem correct in any of the three attempts, you will receive full credit for it.  During any attempt to solve the problem, there will be links to "Show hints" and "Link to text" which should help you learn what needs to be done to solve the specific problem.  If your answer to the problem is incorrect in any of the first two attempts, you will be able to repeat the problem using new values for the numbers in it.  The computer will provide feedback within 10 seconds about whether your answer to any problem is correct or not.  Most of the problems will involve short-answer responses (which might just consist of a number that answers a problem or a word).  While the computer is amazingly good at grading such answers, it may sometimes mark you wrong when you actually gave a correct answer.  In such cases, please e-mail me the problem number that was involved, and I can manually adjust your grade for the problem.

I plan to be using the WebCT Vista learning management system to present this online course.  You may get a preview of WebCT by going to http://www.umassonline.net/CourseDemo.cfm and test driving the sample course posted there.  After clicking on the "Login" button, I recommend clicking on the second entry in the "Course List" for the Student Simulation.  Then, you may click on whatever link catches your attention.  This site has some links that will help teach you how to use WebCT and will also help you see whether your computer is capable of using WebCT.  If you are having problems, I recommend coming to an OPTIONAL session I plan to hold on Wednesday, September 9 at 4:00 pm in the Math Lab (SB306) about how to configure your computer to use WebCT.   The main issues I have encountered so far are as follows:

• Your computer MUST be equipped with a suitable version of Java that is not too old and not too new.  If you have the wrong version (or no version) of Java, you will get error messages.  I also recommend going to http://webct.salemstate.edu, and then clicking the link to "Check Your Browser First".   If you don't have Java on your computer yet, you will then see a link which will enable you to download and install a suitable version of Java for free.  If your computer does have Java on it, passes the browser check, but still doesn't work with WebCT, I recommend clicking on "Start" (at the bottom of your computer screen), "Settings", "Control Panel", "Add Remove Programs", clicking on each version of Java that you have, and then selecting "Remove".  This will uninstall Java from your computer.  Then, when you run the browser check (as described previously in this paragraph), you will see a link which will enable you to install a suitable version of Java which should work with WebCT.
• Your computer MUST allow popups.  If you have a popup blocker running, it must be set to allow popups from WebCT.   If you have trouble setting this option, I recommend e-mailing me or coming to the OPTIONAL session I plan to hold on September 9 at 4 pm in the Math Lab (SB306), where I can try to help you disable the popup blocker on your computer.
• You MUST have and use a Salem State e-mail address, especially when sending assignments to me containing attachments (even pdf attachments).  (Hopefully, you will be able to submit most of your assignments using the WebCT system, and not using e-mail).  I have found that the Salem State e-mail system has a Spam blocker that often rejects and fails to deliver e-mail, especially if it contains attachments, sent from non Salem State e-mail addresses, even if the e-mail contains a student's answers to an assignment.  If you do not have a Salem State e-mail address, please go to http://www.salemstate.edu/4420.php and click on the link on the right to "Activate Your Account", which will show you how to activate your Salem State e-mail address.
• Your computer must have Microsoft Excel to do some of the assignments.  If your computer does not have this spreadsheet program, you can go to http://www.openoffice.org  and get a free version of openoffice.org, which incluces a spreadsheet program with most of the capabilities of Excel.  I don't expect you to have any background using Excel, but do hope that you will become proficient in using some features of Excel by the end of this course.
  

You may also go to http://www.salemstate.edu/online/  or   http://www.salemstate.edu/academics/2794.php to find more information about resources that may help you in an online course. A useful  "Rule of Thumb" to keep in mind is the following:  You should expect to dedicate at least "3 hours weekly of work for each credit hour.  This means for a three-credit course, you are expected to put in about 9 hours per week of work for a fifteen-week course."

The textbook which I will be using is available on-line for an access fee of $60, as described in the online version of my syllabus for this section,   I recommend just using the on-line version of this textbook.  With this on-line version, you can use CTRL-F to find text within any section, which will help you quickly navigate to the information you want.  This online version also includes a "Student Solutions Manual".  Nevertheless, if you prefer to have a physical copy of this textbook, it will also be available for purchase from the college bookstore.  If you buy the textbook new from the college bookstore, it will also include, for no extra charge, an access code to the on-line version and to the homework assignments which you will need to do using the WileyPLUS system inside the WebCT interface.  (If you buy the textbook used or buy a version with an ISBN different from the one specified on my syllabus, you should expect to budget an extra $60 to obtain the access which you will need to the assignments using the WileyPLUS system inside WebCT).

If you have any questions, please free free to e-mail me at  arosenthal@salemstate.edu .or phone me at 978-542-6392.  You may phone at any time, but if you would prefer to talk directly to me instead of my voice-mail, the best times to phone are on Wednesday from 12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. and on Monday and Friday from 4:00 - 5:00 pm.