Preliminary Information on Mth 163, Precalculus I

VHCC Distance Section

This information is for new students and prospective students:

• The Precalculus I course is delivered using the homepage, DVD lectures and web forms. 
• Students are assumed to have standard fundamental computer skills, including
  • reasonable keyboarding skills
  • ability to access the Internet
  • ability to run a URL (Web address) online
  • ability to navigate the Internet
  • ability to browse files and folders on a computer
  • ability to launch and run programs
  • ability to fill out and submit web forms
  • ability to copy and paste
  • ability to open and use a text editor (e.g., Notepad)
• Blackboard is also used for some purposes but is not the primary means of delivery.
• The instructor-student interaction on the assignments is central to the course. You submit problems using documents that ask selected questions about each assignment, and which provide solutions upon which you will base self-critiques.   The instructor will review your work and post answers to all properly posed questions. 

Reasonably good keyboarding skills are important for this course, since poor skills will add significantly to the time required to complete the work.

Tests are typically administered through by proctors as testing centers of institutions of higher learning.  Students in the vicinity of VHCC will test at the VHCC Learning Lab.  Students must arrange proctoring and the arrangement must be approved.

The homepage for your course includes an Assignments Grid, within which are links to worksheets, Class Notes and other  documents.  The Class Notes are build around video links in which the instructor presents information as it was actually presented in class.  Copies of the Class Notes with non-working video links are on the website.  To access the full Class Notes with videos, the class notes should therefore be run from the DVD's (or a copy of the information on the DVD's) according to instructions you will receive in the Orientation.

Orientation to the Course

The structure of the homepage and the procedures used in the course will initially be unfamiliar to most students.   At the beginning of the course you will  complete an Orientation designed to familiarize you with procedures, and to help you navigate the homepage for your course.  Learning the procedures and navigation take most students 2-3 hours.  Once you are 'clued in', you will know where to locate things and what to anticipate.  You will soon find that you can easily follow the correct procedures for completing assignments and submitting your work.

Tests must be given in a secure testing environment. Students generally either come to our Learning Lab or arrange to take tests in the testing center of a local institution of higher education. We have to approve the testing site, and it is the responsibility of the student to provide the email address of a contact person at the testing site by submitting the Proctor Information Form.  

Tests are randomly generated from a large problem bank and posted on the Internet, with a different test every 5 minutes, so you can access actual tests for practice, research the types of problems to expect, etc..

Level of Challenge

You should understand that this course is very challenging at the A level (our A students need to be able to transfer directly into programs at the top public institutions in Virginia, for example), but only moderately challenging at the C level (we have students who transfer to schools where academic standards are much lower than at top institutions, and we cannot reasonably exceed the C-level expectations of those institutions).  Assuming you have done well in prerequisite courses and make an appropriate sustained effort you will be able to adjust your level of challenge, depending on the program for which you are preparing and your grade expectations. 

Registration

Our Admissions Office (call 1-276-739-2400 and ask for Admissions) or web site vhcc2.vhcc.edu can give you information about registration times and procedures. There will be no problem with the course being closed and, barring unforeseen circumstances (e.g. incapacitating illness of instructor or family emergency) the course will not be canceled.  There have been no cancellations in these courses during the 10+ years the instructor has been teaching them.

If you choose to register for the course the system might not recognize your completion of course prerequisites and therefore might not permit you to register.  If you do have the prerequisites and wish to register, but are not being allowed to do so by the regular registration system, you should submit the form http://vhcc2.vhcc.edu/dsmith/forms/enrollment_request_form.htm .  If your prerequisites are in order the instructor will then forward a request to admissions to have you enrolled.

Purchasing Course Materials

The text may be purchased through the bookstore or through another source, provided the package is identical to the one sold at the Bookstore (the package may contain access codes to publisher support, CDs and other materials so if you use a different you need to be sure you are getting the right package). Check our Bookstore for prices—they are often competitive with prices from online sources, and shipping costs are reasonable.

Prerequisites for Precalculus I include demonstrated proficiency in Algebra I, Algebra II and Geometry at the high school college preparatory level or the equivalent of VCCS courses MTE 1 - 9.  Topics in the MTE 1-9 courses include the following:

MTE 1 - Operations with Positive Fractions
MTE 2 - Operations with Positive Decimals and Percents
MTE 3 - Algebra Basics
MTE 4 - First Degree Equations and Inequalities in One Variable
MTE 5 - Linear Equations, Inequalities and Systems of Linear Equations in Two Variables
MTE 6 - Exponents, Factoring and Polynomial Equations
MTE 7 - Rational Expressions and Equations
MTE 8 - Rational Exponents and Radicals
MTE 9 - Functions, Quadratic Equations and Parabolas

The syllabus is found at Precalculus I Course of Study.

Thanks for the inquiry.

Dave Smith