Math 114Q Course Description
From the catalog:
This course covers the basic algebra and technological tools used in
the social, physical and life sciences to analyze quantitative
information. The emphasis is on real world, open-ended problems that
involve reading, writing, calculating, synthesizing, and clearly
reporting results. Topics include descriptive statistics, linear, and
exponential models. Technology used in the course includes computers
(spreadsheets, internet) and graphing calculators.
We will cover these topics, but with a different emphasis. The central
focus will be on understanding the numbers you run across every day in
the news and in life, not on the mathematics for its own sake.
If you plan to major in science or mathematics
this is probably not the right course for you. It will not count
toward your major, and will not prepare you for the math courses you
will need. Speak to your instructor about this before you commit to
taking it.
Course web page
You are looking at the course web page for section 8 which
can always be found at www.cs.umb.edu/~eb/114/.
Bookmark it in your browser, since you will be visiting often.
Syllabus
The current version is always available at www.cs.umb.edu/~eb/114/syllabus.html.
Prerequisites
Math
Placement Test A
Where and when?
Class meets Tuesdays and Thursday from
2:00PM - 3:15PM in
Wheatley W01-0041.
Some days we will meet in
H-UL-0029 (Mac Lab C), the Mac Lab on the upper basement level of the
Healey Library.
Hardware and Software
Much of our work this semester will use a computer for email, internet
research, writing and data analysis. In the past I've taught the class
in the Mac Lab in the Library, but have not been happy with the
room. Often the computers are a distraction rather than a
help. Discussion is difficult when students' faces are hidden behind
screens.
This semester we will try another approach. Most of the time we will
meet in a regular classroom. If you own a laptop or notebook computer,
please plan to bring it to class with you every day. (A smart phone
will provide some but not nearly all of what you'll need.) If you
cannot bring your own computer, you can arrange to check out one of
the University's -- see
http://www.umb.edu/it/getting_services/media_services/media_services_equipment_reservation_forms/it_media_services_student_equipment_request/
for a reservation form.
Your computer will need internet access (wireless is available in the
classroom) and a spreadsheet program. You probably have Microsoft
Excel, but that's not required. You can use
Open Office, which is freely available at http://www.openoffice.org/.
All the UMass machines have the latest version of
Microsoft Office (Office 2007 for PCs, Office 2008 for Macs), but
older versions will do just fine. You will just need to be careful
about transferring files from school to home.
The best way to move computer files from one machine to another is with
a small portable disk ("flash drive", "thumb drive", "usb stick"). Buy
yourself one - they're not expensive. But they are easy to lose
(I have lost several) so take care of yours.
Textbooks
The good news and the bad news is that there is no textbook that covers
the material in the way I have chosen to present it. Professor Maura
Mast and I have written one. We will be using the latest draft,
which we will provide for you (free). Here is the
online copy.
We will be updating and improving the text as the semester progresses.
You can also always look at the latest
version, incorporating changes made while the course is going on.
Instructor
Ethan Bolker
(Section 9)
Office - Science 3 179
Office phone: (617) 287-6444
e-mail: eb at cs dot umb dot edu
Office hours TTh 12:00 - 2:00 and by appointment.
The best way to reach me is by email. I read it regularly pretty much
all day every day. But please do not send attachments, and do not send
email meant to be read as a web page (tell your email software to send
plain text, not html).