Academic Team:
Kenyon Plummer (lplummer@uoregon.edu)
FIG Seminar Instructor
Sofie
FIG Assistant
Isabella
FIG Assistant
Courses in the FIG:
UGST 109 FIG Seminar
TIME | BUILDING | CRN | 1 Credit
Succeeding in STEM fields involves a number of factors—some of them obvious and some of them not. In the Secrets to Success in STEM, we’ll cover all of them. You’ll develop your ability to learn (one of your greatest assets!) and put planning and time management habits to practice. We’ll cover the learning strategies that work and the reasons why. But success in STEM involves elements beyond course work, too. Fostering a supportive community and finding purpose in your academics are critical. With fun activities in and outside of the classroom, our FIG will be one big piece of your support system.
Please note that the math placement test must be completed prior to students being eligible to enroll. Students planning to take Chem 111 only need to complete the math placement test, but are encouraged to complete both placement tests to ensure they are in the appropriate Chemistry class.
CH 111 Introduction to Chemical Principles
Science (>3)| TIME | BUILDING | CRN | 4 Credits
This course is designed to introduce students to a limited number of chemistry topics and applied mathematics themes that will enable students to progress to the CH221, 222, 223 General Chemistry course sequence. Students in this course will learn to think like a chemist and will study phenomena in terms of macroscopic, sub-microscopic and symbolic interpretations and representations. In addition to lectures, there will be group work and on-line homework assignments, all of which are designed to build your basic knowledge and scaffold that knowledge to develop the critical thinking and problem solving skills that will lead to success in this and future science courses.
MATH 111Z Precalculus I
BS Math (>5) | TIME | BUILDING | CRN | 4 Credits
MATH 111Z begins by building familiarity with functions, including notation and the rate of change in a function. Linear functions, including lines of best fit, are discussed. Evaluation, identifying domain and range, and the basics of composition and inversion of functions follow. Quadratic and polynomial functions are introduced along with roots and extrema of quadratic functions. Exponential and logarithmic models are discussed with a focus on applications. Finally, transformations of functions are covered. The course covers content from Chapters 1 through 6 and Chapter 11 from “College Algebra and Trigonometry for the University of Oregon”, by Connally, Hughes-Hallett, Gleason, et al. The course text is a custom edition of “Functions Modeling Change: A Preparation for Calculus”, 4th ed, by Connally, Hughes-Hallett, Gleason, et al. Students using the national version should know that page numbers will not match up between the national and custom versions of the text. College algebra is a calculus preparation course and as such has a strong algebraic focus. Students should primarily take MATH 111Z to fulfill the MATH 241 or MATH 112Z prerequisites, although it does also satisfy one course of the Bachelor of Science mathematics requirement. Students solely seeking credit toward the Bachelor of Science mathematics requirement should consider MATH 105Z, 106, or 107. Prior to taking this class it is strongly recommended that students have recently taken a high school level algebra 2 course or an intermediate algebra course such as MATH 095. Students should expect to take a readiness quiz during the first week of classes to demonstrate preparedness for MATH 111Z.