MAT 100 – Homework/Quiz Grade

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Your homework grade will come from your online assigned homework. You can use computers at the Academic Success Center on either Airport Campus – AC 151 (822-3545) or Beltline Campus – WM 110 (738-7871).

Register for CourseCompass with the Student Access Kit. You’ll need to have an e-mail address that you check regularly. Use the Course ID at the top of the page to enroll in the MAT 100 course. Write down your UserID and Password so you don’t forget them!

Be sure to download the plug-ins so you can see the online material. There’s a link to the plug-ins on the Announcements page – or on the Installation Wizard tab. You need the MathXL player to do the homework or tests. The Adobe Acrobat Reader will let you see your textbook from any computer. Some test solutions will be put up using Acrobat. The QuickTime Player lets you see video examples for the text. Flash Player lets you see animations for some examples. If you try to do a problem and nothing loads up, you’re probably missing a plug-in. You also need to use Internet Explorer rather than an aol browser to access the homework.

“DO HOMEWORK” – This tab opens up the homework assignments. Note the due dates (before each test). There are hints to the right of the problem if you need extra help. If you are completely stumped or disagree with an answer, you can e-mail me “Ask my instructor” and I’ll see the problem you were working on. Numbers may be regenerated, so if you give the answer you got, be sure you also type in the problem; otherwise my response will be to that problem type with different numbers. Be sure to “Check answer” for each problem. You’ll get a check or an x at the top of the page for the problem number. SUBMIT HOMEWORK each time you finish an online session. The software will let you log back on and start up again where you left off, but it’d be a shame to have the homework almost completed but miss the deadline to hand it in because something unexpected came up (and sometimes the software goes off-line, so don’t wait until the last minute to do your work!) You can rework a problem you got wrong as many times as you want. After three attempts, the software shows you the answer and you can rework it with regenerated numbers. Double-check your score to be sure you haven’t overlooked a problem. The software shows your percentage as you work.

You will also have homework assignments from the textbook. Odd answers are in the back of the text. Your homework grade for the course comes only from the online work. I will not collect textbook homework problems. This doesn’t mean you can get away with just doing online work. Math requires lots of practice and the online work will not give enough practice to be as successful as you can be. Be sure to do the textbook homework as well.

“TAKE A TEST” – I may have assigned tests here as sample tests for you to take. These do not count for any credit but just give you extra practice. The sample tests further down the page will also give extra practice. After taking a practice test, you get a study plan that tells you what concepts you understood and what you need to review. Do NOT click the “Back” arrow while taking a Practice Test – it’ll kick you out of the tests and delete your work. Only use the “previous question” and “next question” buttons at the bottom of the page to move between questions. Your remaining time is shown on the right of the page. Submit Test (bottom right) when you’re done (or when time runs out). You’ll get immediate results on your test scores. The Practice Test will be useful in knowing if you’re ready for the in-class test. (Assuming you take it without looking back at your book or notes.) Once you have taken a test, go to Study Plan to see which sections you need to study more

In looking at your gradebook or study plan, the top of the page has a drop-down menu that lists each chapter. The study plan has another drop-down menu that lists each section. If you’re not seeing work you’ve done, check that you’re in the right chapter.

Entering answers. The bar to the left of the problems has math symbols like exponents or fraction bars. Click on it and use your mouse or arrow keys to move to where you need to put your answer. You can use the ^ as a shortcut for an exponent (just like on the calculator). Use the “more” button to get more symbols, including arithmetic operations – or use the keys on the number pad of the keyboard with * representing multiplication. The ? will give help on entering answers.

Handouts has copies of some handouts given in class. After the test I will put up the answers to the test so you can check your work here. The journal assignments are also posted here.

Chapter Contents has a link to free online tutoring. (You can also get in-person free tutoring at the Academic Success Center.) This also has tutorial problems for each chapter and videos corresponding to the text.

Discussion Board is a forum for the class where you can talk on-line with other students in the class. Be aware that anyone in the class can read these posts (and so can I).

External Links has links to other websites. Definitely explore here.

Play around with the material to get familiar with the software. Do not wait until the last minute to do your online work. If you do, that’s invariably the time the software will go out or something will come up.

Let me know anything that would help you more in using the online material.

Remember – the assigned homework has deadlines and is not available after that deadline. You can work sample tests and tutorials at any time to review earlier topics. The only work I will give you a grade for is the assigned homework.