Course Syllabus

Course Description:

[INSTRUCTORS: We have included a general description here as a place holder. As with all sections, feel free to keep this information, replace it with your local course description, or remove this section entirely.]

The emphasis in this course will be on skills necessary for success in elementary algebra. Course content will include review of fundamentals of arithmetic including whole numbers, common fractions, decimal fractions, and percentages. Other topics include order of operations, signed numbers, complex fractions, exponents, and scientific notation. There will be an introduction to the algebra of polynomials and/or an introduction to graphing lines, as time permits.

Student Learning Outcomes:

[INSTRUCTORS: We have included general student learning outcomes here as a place holder. As with all sections, feel free to keep this information, replace it with your local Student Learning Outcomes, or remove this section entirely.]

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

• perform basic operations and applications of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division with whole numbers, integers, rational numbers, and percentages.
• apply the order of operations to simplify expressions involving whole numbers, integers, and rational numbers.
• simplify complex fractions containing numerical expressions.
• apply rules of exponents in simplifying algebraic expressions involving integer exponents.
• simplify and evaluate radical expressions.
• apply appropriate solving techniques to linear equations.
• translate English phrases and sentences into algebraic expressions and equations.
• apply algebraic methods to solve word problems involving formulas and linear equations.

Course Content:

[INSTRUCTORS: Insert course content.]

• Whole numbers: Write and read in words; commutative, associative and distributive laws; exponents, order of operations, prime numbers, some word problems
• Positive and negative integers and the number line: Addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of integers; raising integers to whole number and integer powers, multiplication and division of monomials, some word problems
• Common fractions: Least common multiple, greatest common factor, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division with fractions (positive and negative); order of operations, complex fractions, some word problems
• Decimal fractions: Place value, rounding, operations with decimal fractions (positive and negative) with order of operations, interchanging common fractions with decimal fractions, operations on monomials, some word problems
• Ratio, proportion, percent, square roots, simplifying square roots of numbers that are not perfect squares, Pythagorean theorem, properties of our base ten number system, multiplication and division by powers of ten, scientific notation, some word problems
• Measurement: Metric system, perimeter, area, volume, and surface area of common figures
• Problem solving techniques: Some algebraic techniques, pattern recognition, and guess and check methods should be demonstrated throughout the course

Textbook:

Great news: your textbook for this class is available for free online!
Prealgebra from OpenStax, ISBN 1-947172-00-X

You have several options to obtain this book:

• View online (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)
• Download a PDF (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)
• Order a print copy (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.) 

You can use whichever formats you want. Web view is recommended -- the responsive design works seamlessly on any device.

Important Notes:

• All first week assignments need to be completed and submitted by the due date to avoid possibly being dropped from the class.

• Any student needing accommodations should inform the instructor. Students with disabilities who may need accommodations for this class are encouraged to notify the instructor and contact the Disability Resource Center (DRC) [link to your college's DSPS website] early in the quarter so that reasonable accommodations may be implemented as soon as possible. Students may contact the DRC by visiting the Center (located in room A205) or by phone (541-4660 ext. 249 voice or 542-1870 TTY for deaf students). All information will remain confidential.
• Academic dishonesty and plagiarism will result in a failing grade on the assignment. Using someone else's ideas or phrasing and representing those ideas or phrasing as our own, either on purpose or through carelessness, is a serious offense known as plagiarism. "Ideas or phrasing" includes written or spoken material, from whole papers and paragraphs to sentences, and, indeed, phrases but it also includes statistics, lab results, art work, etc.  Please see the YourCollegeName handbook for policies regarding plagiarism, harassment, etc. [link to your college's academic honesty policies]