Converse College, located in Spartanburg, SC and established in 1889 (www.converse.edu) is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award baccalaureate, masters, and educational specialist degrees. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033 or call 404-679-4500 for questions about the accreditation of Converse College.



  


 
Pre-Calculus Content Refresher for Teachers
(MTE 502 - 3 graduate semester credits)

COURSE SYLLABUS

CATALOG DESCRIPTION:

MTE 502 is designed as a thorough refresher course of the Pre-Calculus mathematical content that conforms to the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) standards for middle and secondary education.

It demonstrates the use of appropriate technologies and a background in Algebra II is recommended. This course may not be applied to existing graduate programs at Converse College.

DVDs, TEXT and MATERIALS:

Four DVDs are provided that contain the instruction for this course and students must have access to a DVD player connected to a television or one that installed in a PC.


Pre-Calculus: A Graphing Approach School Edition, Demana, Waites, Clemens, Foley, 4th ed or later.

In addition, four Practice Problem Sets are located on the course web site.

GRAPHING CALCULATOR:

The use of a graphing calculator is required. While participants may use any graphing calculator, the instruction on the DVDs uses the TI-83. The TI-84 is very similar and can be used as well.
Knowledge and competence for use of other graphing calculators will be the sole responsibility of the participant.


COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

This course will be offered through Distance Education. Participating teachers will receive four DVDs to view at their convenience, taking up to nine months to complete all requirements. There are no scheduled class sessions or meetings. There is an Internet web site that contains practice problems, four quizzes - one for each DVD - and a cumulative Final Examination.

1. The participant must view the four DVDs and supply a written statement that this has been accomplished. (Evaluation - Statement must be included with the End of Course packet - without it no credit is to be awarded.)

2. Participants must complete the four Practice Problem sets that are provided on the course web site. (Evaluation - The Practice Sets showing student work are submitted in the End of Course packet - without them, no credit will be awarded.)

3. Each of the four DVDs will have an accompanying quiz posted on this web site. The participant must complete each of these quizzes online and also submit printed copies of each quiz that shows their work in the end of course packet. (Evaluation - Each of the four quizzes will count 14% of the final grade.)

4. There will be a cumulative final examination. The participants will complete the final exam in the presence of a school or district administrator, have the administrator validate it, and then the participant submits it in the End of Course packet. The participants will also enter their answers to the exam online. (Evaluation – The final examination will count 46% of the final grade.)


GRADING:

Each question, whether a quiz question or a final exam question, will count as one point. There will be four quizzes consisting of six questions and one cumulative final exam consisting of twenty questions. Based on these forty-four questions, the grading scale is listed below. No other grade is given to this course. If you do not complete the course a grade of F is awarded.

A = 44-42 correct          C+ = 33-32 correct
A- = 41-40 correct         C = 31-30 correct
B+ = 39-38 correct        C- = 29-26 correct
B = 37-36 correct          F = 25 or less correct
B- = 35-34 correct

COURSE TOPICS

SESSION #1 - Functions, Graphs and Solving Equations
1. Functions
2. Linear Functions and Graphs
3. Applied Problems
4. Properties of functions from graphs
5. Solving equations graphically
6. Solving equations algebraically
7. Composition of functions
8. Inverse functions
9. Quadratic functions
10. Polynomial functions of higher degree
11. Real zeros of polynomials
12. Fundamental Theorem of algebra

SESSION #2 - Exponential, Logarithmic and Rational Functions
1. Exponential functions
2. Logarithmic functions
3. Solving log and exponential equations algebraically
4. Solving log and exponential equations graphically
5. Applications
6. Asymptotes (rational functions)
7. Graphing rational functions
8. Partial fraction decomposition

SESSION #3 - Trigonometric Functions
1. Measuring angles
2. Trig functions (right triangle definition)
3. Trig functions (unit circle definition)
4. Evaluating trig functions
5. Graphing trig functions
6. Inverse trig functions
7. Trig identities
8. Trig formulas
9. Solving trig equations

SESSION #4 - More on Trig, Parametrics, Conics, Polar Equations
1. Laws of sines and cosines
2. Vectors
3. Complex numbers and nth roots
4. Parametric equations
5. Graphing parametric equations
6. Conic sections
7. Polar coordinates
8. Graphs of polar equations