Course Syllabus

Fall 2025 | MAT-1330-VO01 - Pre-Calculus Mathematics

Online Class

Online courses take place 100% online via Canvas, without required in-person or Zoom meetings.

Faculty

Dan Lemay
View Faculty Credentials
View Faculty Statement
Hiring Coordinator for this course: Julie Dalley

General Education Requirements

Mathematics

Note

Many degree programs have specific general education recommendations. In order to avoid taking unnecessary classes, please consult with additional resources like your program evaluation, your academic program catalog year page, and your academic advisor.

Courses may only be used to meet one General Education Requirement.

Course Description

This course is a study of the functions used in calculus, including the exponential, logarithmic, and trigonometric functions. Prerequisite: College Algebra or equivalent skills.

Essential Objectives

1. Solve systems of equations and inequalities.
2. Define and apply properties of linear, quadratic, polynomial, rational, and inverse functions.
3. Define and graph exponential and logarithmic functions.
4. Solve exponential and logarithmic equations and problems of growth and decay.
5. Define and graph trigonometric functions.
6. Simplify trigonometric expressions using trigonometric identities.
7. Use trigonometric identities and equations in application problems.
8. Recognize arithmetic and geometric sequences and associate corresponding key formulas.
9. Use the Principle of Mathematical Induction.
10. Employ the graphing calculator for the numerical and graphical solution of problems.
11.Demonstrate proficiency in understanding, interpreting, evaluating, and applying quantitative data and information.
12. Apply mathematical reasoning to analyze social justice problems in a variety of different contexts and consider whether these approaches are just and equitable.

Required Technology

More information on general computer and internet recommendations is available on the CCV computer recommendations Support page.

Please see CCV's Digital Equity Statement (pg. 45) to learn more about CCV's commitment to supporting all students access the technology they need to successfully finish their courses.

Required Textbooks and Resources

*** This is a no cost textbook or resource class. ***

This course only uses free Open Educational Resources (OER) and/or library materials. For details, see the Canvas Site for this class.

Artificial Intelligence(AI) Policy Statement

CCV recognizes that artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI tools are widely available and becoming embedded in many online writing and creative applications.

Allowed: This course's generative AI policy acknowledges technology, including generative AI, plays a supportive role in learning and feedback. During our class, we may use AI writing tools such as ChatGPT in certain specific cases. You will be informed as to when, where, and how these tools are permitted to be used, along with guidance for attribution. Any use outside of these specific cases constitutes a violation of CCV's Academic Integrity Policy.

Methods

We will be using OpenStax Precalculus 2e for as a basis for this this course. It is a freely available OpenSource textbook. You can view it online/download a PDF copy/order a print copy here:

https://openstax.org/details/books/precalculus-2e

Each section we cover will have a set of lecture notes and an accompanying video for you to watch and see some worked examples. If this is your learning style, use it.

There are a set of recommended, ungraded paper based exercises from the textbook for you to choose to complete. I recommend doing them as getting that practice will speed along the graded online exercise sets.

The graded work will be an online set of exercises that you will need to complete each week. Sometimes, you have a correct answer but the online HW system does not recognize your answer as correct. Because of these errors, I grade HW practice exercise sets at full credit as long as you try every exercise and earn at least a 70%.

Most of the online exercises have an accompanying video help.

And I am available for online office hour help via ZOOM. It is as good or even better as being in the same room as we do not have to look at the same computer screen. See the front page of the Canvas course for details.

Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation Criteria:

Forty Percent (40%) : Exams. These exams will be two part exams, one with an online component that is auto graded and a second part that you will have to show work and get me a copy of your work. These exams are not cumulative.

Quizzes (40% of your grade): This course utilizes quizzes and investigative tasks to help you master the essential skills of quantitative reasoning and applying mathematical thinking to social justice issues. Quizzes reinforce weekly learning, while investigative tasks offer a chance to explore real-world problems in greater depth.Quizzes will assess how you meet EO 1 - 11. They will be in the form of numeric answer questions (MyOpenMath style) or questions where you must show the work that leads to an answer.

• Investigative Tasks: In addition to the regular quizzes, you have the opportunity to complete investigative tasks. These tasks allow you to apply the concepts we're learning to analyze social justice problems (EO 12). Investigative tasks will be graded based on [mathematical modeling, accuracy of calculations, clarity of explanations, depth of analysis, connection to social justice issues]. A detailed rubric will be provided for each task.

• Two tasks will be available before Exam 1, covering content leading up to the exam. Week 7 (October 20th) is the deadline for this work.

• Two tasks will be available after Exam 1, covering the material from the second half of the course. Week 14 (December 8th) is the deadline for this work.

• You are required to complete at least ONE investigative task.
• You may complete more than one. Each additional completed task will replace your lowest quiz grade. Completing more than the required amount of investigative tasks is NOT considered extra credit, but will give you the opportunity to improve your quiz average.

Ten Percent (10%) from weekly online problem sets.

Each week you will have a set of online My Open Math style HW assignments to complete.

Ten Percent (10%) : Presentations:

Each week that a discussion post is required, I’ll share a set of prompts in the discussion forum. You’ll choose one to respond to, and I’ll provide a rubric that explains how your post will be graded. Be sure to incorporate the concepts we’re studying into your response. This post is always due by Monday night at Midnight (the end of the week)

There will also be a “Help Me” discussion forum. Participation is optional, but asking questions about the practice exercises is often helpful—not just for you, but for your classmates as well. Helping someone out is also very helpful. Another voice besides mine is great.

Do not post questions about quiz/exam items. Please email me these kind of questions.

Grading Criteria

CCV Letter Grades as outlined in the Evaluation System Policy are assigned according to the following chart:

	High	Low
A+	100	98
A	Less than 98	93
A-	Less than 93	90
B+	Less than 90	88
B	Less than 88	83
B-	Less than 83	80
C+	Less than 80	78
C	Less than 78	73
C-	Less than 73	70
D+	Less than 70	68
D	Less than 68	63
D-	Less than 63	60
F	Less than 60
P	100	60
NP	Less than 60	0

Weekly Schedule

Attendance Policy

Regular attendance and participation in classes are essential for success in and are completion requirements for courses at CCV. A student's failure to meet attendance requirements as specified in course descriptions will normally result in a non-satisfactory grade.

• In general, missing more than 20% of a course due to absences, lateness or early departures may jeopardize a student's ability to earn a satisfactory final grade.
• Attending an on-ground or synchronous course means a student appeared in the live classroom for at least a meaningful portion of a given class meeting. Attending an online course means a student posted a discussion forum response, completed a quiz or attempted some other academically required activity. Simply viewing a course item or module does not count as attendance.
• Meeting the minimum attendance requirement for a course does not mean a student has satisfied the academic requirements for participation, which require students to go above and beyond simply attending a portion of the class. Faculty members will individually determine what constitutes participation in each course they teach and explain in their course descriptions how participation factors into a student's final grade.

Participation Expectations

For CCV Attendance purposes you must do some work each week with in the current week's window. Online exercises or discussion board posts, quiz/exam. If you fail to complete any work, I mark you as absent for CCV. This can affect your financial aid eligibility.

Missing & Late Work Policy

If you miss the weekly discussion forum post deadlines, those cannot be made up. Once a deadline closes, you are talking in an empty room. If you miss a forum post because an unforeseen family emergency, email me privately.

For all other assignments, you will need prior approval to complete something late. Again if you miss a deadline due to an unforeseen family emergency, email me privately.

Each week runs from Midnight Tuesday morning through the next Monday night at midnight.

Accessibility Services for Students with Disabilities:

1. Provide disability documentation to the Accessibility Coordinator at your academic center. https://ccv.edu/discover-resources/students-with-disabilities/
2. Request an appointment to meet with accessibility coordinator to discuss your request and create an accommodation plan.
3. Once created, students will share the accommodation plan with faculty. Please note, faculty cannot make disability accommodations outside of this process.

Academic Integrity

Apply Now for this semester.