ection 3.3
Course Syllabus Example

Course:

Professor:

Text: Mathematical Journeys I Partially supported by the National Science Foundation, © Capital Community College, 950 Main St., Hartford, CT., 06103

Office Hours:

Message for Success: (Insert title for course) may be unlike any course that you have previously encountered. The course emphasizes research, creative use of information, collaborative work, and development of a course project. Your success depends on developing self-directed learning skills and making a commitment to work together as a team during out-of-class times. Valuable attitudes and skills include: curiosity, and commitment to diligent work; readiness to seek resources; well developed time-management skills; ability to organize information in creative, meaningful ways; capacity to work effectively with others in pursuit of a common goal. If any of these need clarification, please see your professor at once.

Course Objectives: The objective of (insert title for course) is to enable you to: deepen and extend your understanding of two-year college mathematics as well as its relation to real-world technology problems, engage in scientific inquiry through explicit application of the scientific method (problem, question, hypothesis, test, decision), decide the appropriate use of a learning technology –calculator, computer, data collection device such as a CBLÅ, become acquainted with print and electronic resources, conduct bibliotechnology research, create products that clarify and communicate the technology problem and its solution, and defend a thesis. Acceptable products might include: videos, Power Point documents, printed materials, computer and calculator programs, outputs from data collection devices, physical models, mathematical models, etc.

[Note to Professor: It should be emphasized that this syllabus is only an example. Your college's grading system, the way you allocate points to work, and your attendance policy may differ widely from this example.]

Evaluation Procedures: Your letter grade for the course is based on your "grade on 100" as follows: A = 100‚93, A‚ = 92‚90, B+ = 89‚88, B = 87‚83, B‚ = 82‚80, C+ = 79‚78, C = 77‚73, C‚ = 72‚70, D+ = 69‚68, D = 67‚60, F = 59‚0.

Your "grade on 100" is obtained by dividing the sum of your grades on the following by 5.

Withdrawal Policy: To be completed by professor.

Attendance Policy: For the learning process to be effective, you are expected to attend each class, to arrive on time, and to complete assignments as scheduled. If you miss the equivalent of two weeks of classes through unexcused absences, you will not have satisfied the attendance requirements of this course.

Use of Learning Technologies: Use of a graphing calculator and the World Wide Web is required for this course. Computer application programs such as a word processor, spreadsheet, a computer algebra system, and presentation software may also be helpful.

NOTE: Departures from this outline responsive to the needs of the students may be made at the discretion of the professor.

The quality of your work depends on your active involvement in learning. The course is built around collaborative learning teams. Your team will complete homework assignments, create a model portfolio, and deliver a thesis defense according to the schedule in this section of the syllabus. Team members are equally and fully responsible for completing the lab in the prescribed format, in agreement with all criteria provided by the syllabus and your professor, and on time. Any assistance or resources that you use to construct the model portfolio must be fully cited on a final page in the bibliography.

Guidelines for working in teams

1. Be respectful at all times.
2. Listen carefully to others' views.
3. Present your ideas in a way that encourages others to contribute their ideas.
4. It often helps to end what you are saying with a question such as, "What do you think?"
5. Support your ideas with logic and information.
6. Contribute to an environment that values the ideas and work of others.
7. Together with the others, establish team goals and a timeline for achieving them.
8. Together with the others, establish out-of-class meeting times.
9. Together with the others, assign specific tasks to team members.
10. Keep all appointments with other team members.
11. Complete assigned tasks on time.

As you proceed through the course, please keep in mind that assessment of your work will address the level of your performance in the following areas.

• Scientific inquiry
• Bibliotechnology research
• Problem solving and reasoning
• Communication
• Mathematics topics
• Connecting mathematics with other disciplines
• Technologies for learning/knowing

Unless otherwise indicated, homework assignments are team assignments and should be turned in during the next class. Each member of a team must confirm his/her participation in and contribution to work by signing and dating completed assignments.

1st – 2nd Week: Problem Development (Classes 1 – 6)

Class 1

Overview of course and concept of a Technology Problem.

1. Examine the following to develop an introductory understanding of the course.
   1. During the early stages of this course, you will be assigned a lab.
   2. The course is interdisciplinary –mathematics, technology, engineering, science.
   3. You will do research and scientific inquiry to explore and solve a technology problem.
   4. Scientific inquiry refers to the process of using the scientific method. That is, if one uses the scientific method, he/she is doing scientific inquiry.
   5. The scientific method is a way of learning/knowing that may be defined by five steps: problem, question, hypothesis, test, and decision.
   6. You will work as a member of a small team to complete a selected lab.
   7. Each lab comprises five key components: technology problem, bibliotechnology research, mathematics tools, model portfolio, thesis defense.
   8. Your team, guided by The Mathematical Journeys lab framework, will explore and solve an authentic technology problem. You should reflect on what is meant by authentic in this context. Real-world technology problems do not arrive in a fully formed, well defined, understood state; otherwise there would be no problem. One of the first steps in solving a technology problem is to develop an initial understanding of it. Typically, this will require use of specialized terminology.
   9. The model portfolio is your team's carrier of all pertinent ideas generated in fulfillment of the course objectives.
   10. Your team will defend the thesis expounded in its model portfolio to an audience of peers and/or invited guests.
2. Participate in the following organizational tasks.
   1. Review the syllabus.
   2. Participate in the formation of teams or defer this to Class 2 as determined by your professor.
   3. If teams are formed during the first class, introduce yourself to the other members of your team. The members of each team must provide all other members of the team with a copy of their academic term schedules and the out-of-class times when they could meet. The team members must also find a place where they can meet outside of class. If any team members have irreconcilable schedules, you must inform the professor at once. Defer this task if your professor forms teams in the second class.

Assignment: Prepare one typewritten page that addresses the following two questions: "When working with others toward a team goal, what do you see as the major difficulties and benefits? What special strengths/abilities/talents do you see yourself bringing to collaborative teamwork?" The paper should include a title, your name and an opening and closing paragraph. The paper should be a reflection of thoughtful introspection, well organized, and grammatically correct. In addition to writing a paper on collaborative teamwork, you should read the assigned lab or the lab abstracts (Chapter 1, Section 1.1), depending on the option used to select a lab.

Class 2 and Class 3

Develop a foundation of skills and concepts for doing Bibliotechnology Research and documenting sources.

1. Participate in the formation of teams if they were not organized during the first class (See Class 1 above).
2. Familiarize yourself with a few resources (printed or electronic) for writing research reports. Examples include:
   • Writer's Guide to Online Resources (2nd ed.), Jennifer McDowell, Editor, Want Publishing Co, NY, ©2000, ISBN 0-942008-96-0.
   • Reporting Technical Information (10th ed.), Houp, Pearsail, Tebeaux, Dragga, Editor, Oxford University Press, NY, ©2001, ISBN 0-195146-12-3.
   • A Guide for Writing Research Papers based on Modern Language Association (MLA) Documentation - http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/mla.htm - prepared by the Humanities Department and the Arthur C. Banks, Jr. Library, Capital Community College, Hartford, Connecticut. This address is a portal to several other writing resources such APA Style Essentials - http://www.vanguard.edu/faculty/ddegelman/index.cfm?doc_id=796.
   • Modern Language Association Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, (4th ed (1995)
   • Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed., 2001)
3. Explore resource categories (libraries, printed matter, electronic information, journals, industries), and identify processes for finding information. A helpful guide for using search engines is How to Search the Web (3rd ed.), Robert Want, Editor, Want Publishing Co., NY, ©2000, ISBN 0-942008-94-4.
4. Review a few specific resources.

Assignment: Your team will assemble an initial list of at least five correctly referenced resources pertinent to the technology problem. This resource list, augmented as the course continues, will provide a bibliography for the model portfolio. Also, your team will assemble a set of questions about the technology problems.

Class 4

Develop a conceptual framework for identifying and exploring Mathematics Tools.

1. Familiarize yourself with the concept of a mathematical model.
2. Explore categories of mathematical tools.
   1. Basic numerical concepts
   2. Basic algebraic concepts
   3. Geometry
   4. Solving equations (algebraically and with a graphing calculator)
   5. Graphing equations in two variables (algebraically and with a graphing calculator)
   6. Functions
   7. Fitting functions to data with a graphing calculator
   8. Trigonometry
   9. Counting methods
   10. Statistical methods

Assignment: Your team will assemble an initial set of mathematics tools that would appear to help represent and solve the technology problem. This mathematics tool set, augmented and refined as the course continues, will provide the mathematical foundation for the model portfolio and thesis defense. Also, your team will assemble a set of questions about the technology problem.

Class 5

Consider the following to develop an understanding of what constitutes a Model Portfolio and what you must do to create one.

1. A portfolio is an integrative document that is more than the sum of its parts. That is, the model portfolio will draw together all elements of your team's efforts on the lab into a well organized document in which each element supports or is supported by other elements.
2. Portfolios are sometimes used as part of the job or college application process. The model portfolio, as an example of an individual's collaborative work on an interdisciplinary project, might be useful when applying for a job or transferring to a four-year college.
3. The model portfolio includes all pertinent materials generated in fulfillment of the course objectives. Thus, the model portfolio encompasses not only all supportive printed material, including narrative and computer printouts as well as mathematical arguments and models, but also physical models, diagrams, photographs, audio-visual materials, etc. Following is a list of items that the model portfolio comprises:
   1. Title (cover) page which includes a title of the lab addressed, names of team members, professor's name, and relevant academic term and year
   2. Table of contents
   3. An abstract of the lab
   4. An Introduction that provides an overview of the lab including a description, statement of purpose, and findings
   5. A format style
      • Page numbers –Center bottom with page1 directly following the title page
      • Margins –Top and bottom = 1in.; sides = 1.5 in.
      • Font –Times New Roman; size = 12 points; headings may be larger
      • Tables –Label as Table and number in order of appearance; label above tables.
      • Figures –Label as Figure and number in order of appearance; label above figures.
      • Paragraphs: Block style; no space between lines
   6. Description of the technology problem
   7. Description of the mathematics tools used
   8. Description of the processes and arguments used to carry out the lab. This includes scientific inquiry, logical/mathematical reasoning, the thesis, and written thesis defense.
   9. Bibliography of both print and web materials
   10. Reflections –The final section should contain each individual team member's reflections on the lab. This must include a description of how you worked together to do the lab. Also, it should address any difficulties you had in working together and offer suggestions for making the collaborative process more effective. There should be one page for each team member.
4. Each technology problem must be represented by a mathematical and/or physical model. Although a model of a situation may be very different from the actual situation, there must be a one-to-one correspondence between important elements of the situation and the model. Also, processes in the situation must have corresponding representations in the model.
5. Models of the technology situation may involve:
   1. Three dimensional physical representations
   2. Audio-visual media
   3. Computer or graphing calculator programs
   4. Spreadsheets
   5. Mathematics
   6. Other means of representation

Assignment: Your team will prepare an outline of its model portfolio.

Class 6

Develop a working understanding of the concept of a thesis and a Thesis Defense.

1. A thesis is a significant claim that one makes about a situation. In this context, a thesis is a significant claim about the technology problem. Your team may develop more than one thesis about the technology problem.
2. A thesis defense is a logically structured assemblage of facts, explanations, representations and arguments that, taken collectively, support acceptance of the thesis. It should be noted that acceptance of a scientific thesis is not absolute; such acceptance remains open to review on the basis of new information. A thesis that was accepted at some point in time may later be rejected or revised as new discoveries are made. The thesis and thesis defense form the backbone of the model portfolio. "Delivery of the thesis", which is usually referred to more simply as "thesis defense" means orally communicating the model portfolio to an audience.

Assignment: Your team will make some pertinent statement (a thesis) about the technology problem and write a defense of the statement. You should demonstrate an introductory understanding of what is meant by "defense of a position or claim". Clearly identify the reasons used to support your thesis or claim including facts, sources, and logical arguments.

3rd –13th Week: Model Portfolio Creation (Classes 7 – 39)

It is important to keep in mind that the model portfolio is the embodiment of the research process and application of the scientific method. The model portfolio must reflect in structure and content the research process –understanding/describing/representing the problem, searching for and using bibliotechnological sources, giving meaning to source data, transforming data into information with the aid of mathematics tools and technology as appropriate, organizing information into a coherent work with the aid of technology as appropriate, observing accepted academic protocols and standards for research papers. The model portfolio must also reflect application of the scientific method –problem, question, hypothesis, test, decision. Your team will propose a thesis about its technology problem and collect data or cite data obtained by someone else's research to test the team's thesis.

In the solution development phase, you will strive to learn and use the mathematics and learning technologies required to deal with the technology problem. Your team should keep a step-by-step record of its work. This paper trail should be sufficiently complete to allow a third party to repeat your work and test any theses that you develop. Also, a record will be indispensable for supporting your thesis(es), preparing the model portfolio, or writing an article for publication. Also, you will need to keep on schedule and maintain your in-progress model portfolio in a condition that can be readily reviewed by the professor.

Assignments: Submit at the beginning of each week, a copy of the work accomplished since the preceding week. At approximately mid-term, your team should submit an in-progress model portfolio in accord with criteria published.

14th –15th Week: Delivery of the Thesis Defense (Classes 40 – 45)

This phase involves communication by your team of the thesis and thesis defense developed in your model portfolio. Your team will present the model portfolio and defend its underlying thesis to a selected audience. About 45 minutes will be allocated to the each team's thesis defense. In addition, you may be asked to do a criteria-guided peer assessment of the thesis defenses delivered by the other teams. You will communicate the results of your peer assessment directly to the team presenters.

The criteria used to assess the model portfolio are:

• Scientific method (problem, question, hypothesis, test of hypothesis, decision)
• Bibliotechnology research
• Problem solving and reasoning
• Communication of ideas
• Connections between mathematics and other disciplines
• Technologies for learning/knowing

Instrument for Assessment of the Model Portfolio

Rank each of the following criteria on a scale of 1 to 5 using the rubric at the bottom of the page. Circle your selections.

1. Scientific method (Problem, question, hypothesis, test of hypothesis, decision)
   [1] = Excellent [2] = Very Good [3] = Good [4] = Fair [5] = Poor
   
   
2. Bibliotechnology research
   [1] = Excellent [2] = Very Good [3] = Good [4] = Fair [5] = Poor
   
   
3. Problem solving/reasoning
   [1] = Excellent [2] = Very Good [3] = Good [4] = Fair [5] = Poor
   
   
4. Communication of ideas
   [1] = Excellent [2] = Very Good [3] = Good [4] = Fair [5] = Poor
   
   
5. Connections between mathematics and other disciplines
   [1] = Excellent [2] = Very Good [3] = Good [4] = Fair [5] = Poor
   
   
6. Technologies for learning/knowing
   [1] = Excellent [2] = Very Good [3] = Good [4] = Fair [5] = Poor