Math 2575 Course Outline

Yes. There’s a form for that, provided on Moodle. I don’t need to know why you need the extension; just what you want extended, when you want it extended to, and whether you need anything from me to help complete the work.

The team-based discussions are a learning tool, with a lot of very good evidence to support their effectiveness. But they are an alternative to lecture, and not part of the assessment. If you can learn better by working on your own, you can. You might find that the classes are not as useful to you, but the textbook is a great resource, and you can always meet during office hours to ask questions one-on-one.

I’ll do my best to be accommodating of any illness that interrupts your studies. There is no need to provide details of the illness. If you miss a week or more of work, please get in touch to make a plan for catching up. One of the biggest challenges in math is that once you fall behind, it’s difficult to catch up on your own.

If you’re staying home to avoid spreading illness to others (thank you!), but well enough to attend class, I’ll try to provide you with a video link via Teams or Zoom.

In short, that any work you represent as your own, is your own. Much of your work can be done in groups, but not all of it. I will assume that you have access to a calculator, including online tools (like Symbolab

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www.symbolab.com/

) that give you step-by-step solutions.

Use of these tools is acceptable, but take care that you are not overly reliant on them. What is not acceptable is having someone else do your work for you. This includes tutors, classmates, friends, family members, and online “homework help” sites. If you submit work that somebody else did for you, you are committing an academic offence.

Penalties for academic dishonesty are outlined in the Academic Calendar

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www.uleth.ca/policy/resources/student-discipline-policy-academic-offences-undergraduate-students

. Depending on the severity of the offence, penalties for a first offence can range from a grade of zero on an assessment, to an F in the courses. Academic offences are also reported to the Dean of Arts & Sciences. They keep a record of each offence, and students with multiple offences can be subject to supplementary discipline.

Not at all! But keep in mind that your course instructors will be available for help, free of charge. (OK, maybe not free of charge, but you’ve already paid for it with your tuition.) We will be responding on the discussion forum regularly, There will be time to ask questions in every class, and there will be online office hours. The Student Success Centre will also be running free help sessions (details TBA).

Some of you may still decide to pay for tutoring, and that’s fine. But you have a duty to disclose sources of help on an assignment, and the individual tests are still tests, even if you won’t have someone watching over your shoulder.

You should probably avoid the various paid “homework help” websites. Most of these don’t offer help. They offer worked solutions for a price. Getting those solutions won’t help with your understanding. More importantly, the people working for these sites are paid (poorly) per solution, and they often provide incorrect and/or badly written work. (We saw plenty of examples of this last Spring, and yes, all those students now have discipline reports on file.)

If you know in advance that you will not be able to write during the test window, let me know, and I’ll arrange for an alternate time. If you miss a test due to illness, your test score will be replaced by your exam grade, or the average of your other three tests, whichever is higher.

If you are unable to write the final exam, you will need to contact Academic Advising. They are responsible for authorizing rescheduling of exams. Usually if you miss an exam due to illness, an incomplete grade is recorded. You will write a makeup exam at a later date, at which point your grade will be updated.

No. This wastes health care resources and your time. Just email me to say you were sick, and spare me the details. However, if you miss more than one test due to illness, we’ll need to meet to discuss how to adjust your grade.

First, make sure that you have registered with the University’s Accommodated Learning Centre

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www.uleth.ca/ross/accommodated-learning-centre

. No need to let me know: they notify me of every student with accommodations.

Some accommodations will look a bit different this year, but exam accommodations such as extra time are still possible.

If there are any adjustments I can make to facilitate your learning, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me. All students deserve an equal opportunity to learn. Note that the HTML textbook is designed with accessibility in mind, and should work with screen readers. However, I regret that we have not had the time (or paid help) necessary to add elements such as alt-text descriptions for images. It’s on the to-do list, but that list is long, and growing.

Send me an email. Extensions are usually granted as long as they’re granted ahead of time. Online homework extensions need to be in place before solutions become available. Book an appointment with me as soon as you feel like you’re falling behind and I’ll do my best to get you up to speed.