31081 UNIPREP MATHEMATICS COMMUNICATION LEVEL A
Year No. Offer Mode Description Cred. Pts
97 31081 S3 X UNIPREP MATHS COMM LEVEL A 1.00
Contents
STAFFING:
Examiner: L. GALLIGAN
Moderator: J. TAYLOR
RATIONALE:
Students considering entry into Psychology, Education, Nursing and Arts
require some mathematical knowledge and skills if they are to be successful in
their chosen field of study. Students need to be numerate and need to
have a basic understanding of functional relationships and classifying
data if they are to operate successfully at the tertiary level.
Students also need to develop and practise language and problem solving
skills in English so that they can build upon their existing knowledge and
express themselves adequately in the mathematical context.
SYNOPSIS:
There are two compulsory parts of the unit.
Part A consists of the mastery of the content of selected topics within
arithmetic, algebra, measurement, graphing and statistics. Students are also
expected to show competence in communicating using mathematical language in
English.
Part B consists of group work designed to develop the mathematical
communication and problem solving skills of students. This work utilises
the content mastered in Part A of the unit.
OBJECTIVES:
BJECTIVES PART A
On successful completion of this unit students should be able
to:
odules 1A,1B,1C
anipulate and perform operations on numbers in the real
number system including positive and negative integers,
fractions and decimals;
alculate percentages and ratios;
erform operations on powers with positive, negative, zero
and fractional indices.
odules 2A,2B,2C
dentify co-efficients, variables and constant terms in
expressions;
nterpret the meaning of algebraic equations;
implify expressions involving algebraic symbols;
xpand and factorise algebraic expressions;
se Sigma notation;
earrange algebraic formulae
olve linear equations;
olve simultaneous equations;
evelop equations for practical problems and solve them.
odule 3
se scientific notation and correct units of the metric
system;
erform operations on numbers expressed in scientific
notation;
onvert between units of the metric system;
onvert between scientific and ordinary notation.
odule 4A,4B
lot points on a Cartesian plane;
dentify and draw the graphs of linear, parabolic,
exponential and logarithmic equations;
redict the effect on the graphs of these equations when
constants and co-efficients are changed;
se graphs to solve simultaneous equations.
odule 5A,5B
efine and give examples of population, sample, parameter,
statistic, variable and randomness;
emonstrate an understanding of the methods of collection of
data;
ritically examine procedures used in the collection of data;
se a random number table and a calculator to select a
sample;
ifferentiate between discrete and continuous variables;
lassify data according to type;
onstruct and interpret stem-and-leaf plots;
onstruct and interpret frequency distributions and
histograms for grouped and ungrouped data;
onstruct and interpret bar charts and pie charts;
alculate the mean and mode of grouped and ungrouped data;
alculate the median of ungrouped data;
onstruct and interpret scatter plots;
it a line of best fit, by eye, to a scatter plot;
ake predictions using scatter plots;
emonstrate understanding of the variability and centrality
of data;
ind the range and deviations about the arithmetic average of
a data set;
erform statistical calculations on a calculator in the
statistics mode;
BJECTIVES PART B
n successful completion of this unit students should
be able to:
ead tables and graphs from a variety of sources
raw and interpret graphs from a variety of sources
se arithmetic and statistical calculations in problem
solving situations
se a calculator efficiently
se and develop formulae
ommunicate confidently in English in pairs and small groups
resent results from class work and assignments to whole
class groups
ead, speak and ask questions in class in English impromptu
rite sentences and paragraphs in class on class-related
activities
rite prepared sentences, paragraphs and report on class-
related activities
TOPICS:
Description Weighting(%)
- Arithmetic (Modules 1A,1B,1C) 15.00
- Algebra (Modules 2A,2B,2C) 25.00
- Measurement (Module 3) 5.00
- Graphing (Modules 4A,4B) 30.00
- Statistics (Modules 5A,5B) 20.00
- Problem solving 5.00
TEXT and MATERIALS to be PURCHASED:
Materials will be supplied.
Students are expected to have a scientific calculator.
STUDENT WORKLOAD REQUIREMENTS:
ACTIVITY HOURS
Directed Study 60
Private Study 90
Examinations 3
Assessments 12
ASSESSMENT DETAILS:
No *F/S Marks Due Description Wtg(%) LBL
1 F COMPETENCY TESTS 1A N
2 F COMPETENCY TESTS 1B N
3 F COMPETENCY TESTS 1C N
4 F COMPETENCY TEST 2A N
5 F COMPETENCY TEST 2B N
6 F COMPETENCY TEST 2C N
7 F COMPETENCY TEST 3 N
8 F COMPETENCY TEST 4A N
9 F COMPETENCY TEST 4B N
10 F COMPETENCY TEST 5A N
11 F COMPETENCY TEST 5B N
12 S 20.00 WK 9 ASSIGNMENT 1 10.00 Y
13 S 20.00 WK 11 ASSIGNMENT 2 5.00 Y
14 S 15.00 WK 11 ASSIGNMENT 3 10.00 Y
15 S END S3 EXAMINATION (3 HOURS) 75.00 N
*F=Formative, S=Summative
OTHER REQUIREMENTS:
1 Students are not eligible to sit for the end of semester
examination if they have not demonstrated mastery of all the
required modules and if they have not attended at least 80% of the
mathematics communications group work sessions.
Additional Notes:
1 Part A is predominantly a self paced course. Students work
sequentially through the modules they are required to master at
their own pace, completing this part of the work by the end of the
semester. Mastery of a module is demonstrated by the student
taking appropriate tests before proceeding with study of another
module. (These tests consist of a skill test and a vocabulary
test).
2 Part B consists of different activities each week. Students must
participate actively in the group work of the problem solving
sessions and the mathematics writing sessions. Students also must
submit written work as required.
3 The end of semester examination takes into account the work of Part
A and Part B.
This information is accurate as at 28/11/97