Instructor: Clark Loveridge
Office: BR-60
Phone: (215)751-8689
E-mail: cloveridge@ccp.edu
Website: http://faculty.ccp.edu/faculty/cloveridge
Office Hours: 10am to 10:45am Tuesdays & Thursdays
noon to 1:45pm Mondays & Wednesdays
4:15pm to 5:15pm Wednesdays

Contacting Instructor: The telephone number listed has voice mail. Please call when absent or when making an appointment. If you contact the instructor by e-mail, please include "Math 017" in the subject line and sign your e-mail so the instructor will know who has written the e-mail.

The Course: This basic Algebra course will begin right away working with variables. Variables are letters that represent number values. To this end, all types of number values will be incorporated into all the lessons so as to continue to reinforce operations with numbers. Evaluation of algebraic expressions will be emphasized and no calculators will be used in those evaluations. Correct mathematical format will be stressed and expected when working all problems, both in class work/homework and exams. Topics will be studied in depth with correct language and notation emphasized.

Materials: The text has been specifically prepared for this course. You will be provided with this text at no charge. However, you will need to buy a three ring binder to keep the materials given to you. You will also need notebooks and pencils to do your own work. Calculators of any kind will not be used in this course. You are expected to bring the materials every day to the classroom.

Help available : You can find help in the Math Learning Lab in room B2-36 weekdays and in room B1-28 evenings and Saturdays. Free, peer tutoring is available beginning with the second week of classes, for all current CCP students. The peer tutors are experienced CCP students who have taken many of the courses in which they tutor. Free, weekly workshops, which begin in the third week of classes are also available to all CCP students.

Attendance: Each student is required to attend every class meeting on time. Students are responsible for all work missed due to absence. Attendance will be taken at the beginning of each class. Students who arrive after taking roll or leave the class early are considered to be late. If you are late three times it will be counted as one absence.

If a student misses class more than once during the first 3 weeks or more than twice during the first 7 weeks their attendance will be reported to the college as unsatisfactory. Any student who is on financial aid and must miss class more than once during the first 3 weeks or more than twice during the first 7 weeks should discuss their situation with me. Otherwise their financial aid may be discontinued. Any student who is absent for the equivalent of two weeks may be dropped.

Homework: Homework will be assigned at the end of almost every class meeting. Students are responsible for keeping track of the assignments. Each homework assignment will consist of two parts: Part I and Part II.

Part I Homework:
This part will consist of problems that have answers at the end of each lesson. You will not be required to submit this part. Certain amount of our class time will be devoted to the discussion of the homework problems, and you will have an opportunity to ask questions about it.

Part II Homework:
This part will consist of problems without answers given. This part will be collected and graded.
Please remember, that you will not get full credit if you do not display your solution in the correct way, or do not use the correct language or notation (for example, one common mistake students make is to use the ‘=’ sign incorrectly or not to use it at all).
Collected homework will be graded on the following scale:
P (pass) : 2 points;
MP (making progress) : 1 point;
F (fail): 0 point.
Please understand that the number of points awarded will be decided by the instructor.
Late homework will only be accepted on the same day it was due. Only the best 30 of the homework assignments will be counted towards your final grade.

Tests: There will be three in-class tests. No test score will be dropped.

Final Exam: The Final Exam will be comprehensive.

Missed tests: Missed tests can be made up only if a student has a justifiable excuse. If you know before hand that you will have to miss an exam, please contact me, so you can take the exam in advance of the rest of the class. In case of emergencies impossible to foresee, to be ‘eligible’ for a make-up exam, please contact me as soon as possible (e-mail or voice-mail). Once I determine that you indeed have a legitimate excuse, you will be given a make-up exam during the Final Exams Week.

Grading:
This course in a non-credit course with three grades possible:
P- representing a pass grade allowing you to register for the next course in the sequence
MP – representing a making progress grade requiring you to repeat this class
F – a failure grade requiring you to repeat this class.

Three tests count 100 points each. Homework will count 60 points. The final exam is worth 150 points. The grading scale is as follows.

P: 357-510 points (70-100%) or 346-510 points including 130-150 points on final exam
MP: 255-356 points (50-69.9%) or at least 30 points on homework and good attendance
F: 0-254 points (0-49.9%) with less than 30 points on homework or poor attendance

Inclement weather: In the event of inclement weather there are several ways of determining whether CCP is open. You may listen for CCP's school closing number 238 on KYW radio at 1060 on the AM dial or check KYW's school closing web page at http://www2.kyw1060.com/schools/ or for a price you may call KYW's school closing phone number at 1-900-737-1060. Usually if SEPTA is running close to normal then CCP will remain open.

Appropriate Classroom Behavior:

1. Please be on time for class. It is distracting to other students when people arrive late.
2. Please switch off pagers and cell phones before entering the classroom. Please do not send text messages and do not use headphones during class time.
3. Please be courteous and considerate to your other classmates and to me.
4. Please do not eat in the classroom (please, also do not display any kind of food)
5. Please do not talk (even about math issues) during the class. If you have a question, please raise your hand and wait for me to recognize you.
6. Please do not walk in and out of the classroom. In case of an emergency, please leave quietly.
7. Please remain seated during the entire class period.
8. Please remember that I have the right to ask you to change your seat.
9. If you have any personal questions (like, for example: ‘I was absent last time, can I get my test back’), please come and discuss it with me during a break, after a class, or during my office hours, NOT during the instruction time.
10. Please pay as much attention to your instructor as you can.
11. Do not bring children to the classroom.
12. If you break one of these rules I will remind you not to do it. But if you do it again, unfortunately, I will have to ask you to leave the classroom. If I ask you to leave, please do leave. You should be able to return the next day, and I will not penalize you for a bad behavior.

Schedule of Topics
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Week 1
Variables and algebraic expressions,
Evaluation of algebraic expressions.
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Week 2
Evaluation of algebraic expressions - continuation from week1,
Propositions,
Counterexamples,
Simple logical statements: the meaning of ‘and’, ‘or’ and ‘if…then’.
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Week 3
Equivalent algebraic expressions.
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Week 4
Operations on power expressions with positive integer exponents,
Review for Test 1
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Week 5
Test 1,
Multiplication of algebraic expressions,
The Distributive Law,
Factorization of a common factor,
Factorization of .
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Week 6
Addition and subtraction of algebraic expressions.
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Week 7
Rational expressions: simplification with the use of factorization,
Simplification of expressions: order of operations,
Review for Test 2
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Week 8
Test 2,
Evaluation of algebraic expressions,
Substitution of both numbers and algebraic expressions.
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Week 9
Generalities on equations: solution, the difference between algebraic expressions and equations,
Identity, conditional equation, contradiction,
Solving linear equations.
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Week 10
Solving linear equations – continuation from Lesson 9,
Definition of a linear equation,
Recognizing and matching patterns.
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Week 11
Linear equation with non-numerical coefficients,
Application of linear equations.
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Week 12
Linear Inequalities,
Graphing sets of the type , on a number line.
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Week 13
Review for Test 3,
Test 3,
Review for the Final Exam