Math 25, Spring 2008

Welcome and Overview

Math 25 is the sequel to Math 20. It takes the techniques learned in Math 20 and applies them to real life situations through group activities.

There is very little new math in Math 25. Instead, students focus on understanding what they know more deeply and on constructing the kind of mental organization about their math knowledge that allows them to be skilled problem solvers.

The curriculum for Math 25 is organized into 14 activities. The first seven provide a lot of help reviewing what you learned in Math 20 and organizing those ideas in your head into a "math toolbox" of useful techniques. The latter group of seven activities uses the exact same set of techniques but the group no longer gets any guidance and must decide how to approach the task and what "math toolbox" techniques will be useful.

The only time students work alone is on tests. There are two midterms (one after activity seven and one at the end of the term) and a final exam. Test problems look a lot like the work done in the activities.

The class calendar is simple: seven activities, a review day, a midterm, repeat. There will also be at least one review day during the tenth week of the term, before the final exam.

Please register for MRC use (CRN 43200 in Spring 2008) if you plan to use the MRC at all. This is not a credit CRN but is used by the college to get appropriate state funding for the MRC staff.

The class is taught using the fancy StarBoard classroom computer equipment. Saved copies of most lecture's notes will be available online.

Math 25 is like a stool that stands on three legs:
      • reading the workbook and reference book before class
      • doing problems carefully
      • turning lectures into helpful lecture notes
Neglecting any of these three will dangerously ruin the balance behind your math learning! Please do not demonstrate such recklessness. Successful Math 25 students make time for all three of these.