QUANTITATIVE METHODS

Textbook:
I have chosen not to assign a required textbook for this course. However, if you
feel that you need extra reference/practice, I will put together a packet with
examples that are already worked out.

Course Description:
The objective of this Quantitative Methods course is to review mathematical concepts
in order to provide a better foundation before going into other courses such as Economics and
Management Science.

Since many topics must be covered in a short amount of time, we will move quickly.
However, I encourage you to ask questions whenever necessary.

Materials Needed:
■ I recommend a 3-ring binder with dividers.
■ It will be very helpful to have a calculator. A scientific calculator will suffice (one
that has the buttons “sin”, “cos”, and “tan”).
■ You will also need some sheets of graph paper for some of the notes taken in class.
Depending upon your method of organization, you may want to use only graph
paper in your binder instead of ruled loose-leaf paper.
■ You may want to have a ruler on hand during class as we will be graphing many
straight lines.
■ You may also want to have a couple of different colored pencils or pens as we will
be graphing more than one line on the same graph and color coding is often helpful.

Attendance:
Because this course is a non-credit course at no cost to you, you may consider
attendance to be less important. I do expect you to be in class every week. I understand that
circumstances do occur that prevent you from being in class. Please make every attempt to
contact me if you miss class or know you will need to miss class so that we can make
arrangements for homework assignments and handouts passed out during class. I will take
attendance into consideration when calculating your final grade.

Grading:
Your grade will be PASS/FAIL (70% or above is considered passing) and will be
based on the following components.

Homework Assignments    20%
Midterm    35%
Final    45%

Assignments:
Homework assignments must be submitted individually. Study groups are encouraged,
but all work must be shown and your work must be your own. Please do not put me in the
position of having to use the Heinz School’s cheating and plagiarism guidelines, which are
discussed more below.

Note:
Once I collect the assignment due each week, I will pass out a copy of
the answers and we will discuss the solutions together. Since it is
generally difficult to remember all of your solutions, you may want to jot
your answers down on a separate sheet of paper or make a photocopy of
your entire assignment before turning it in so that you can check your
answers.

Cheating and Plagiarism:

You are expected to adhere the Heinz School’s code of ethics regarding cheating and
plagiarism. More specific information regarding these policies is located in the MPM student
handbook.

Weekly Syllabus for Quantitative Methods
Summer

Date	Topics	Assignment
Week 1	-Operations on Integers -Laws of Exponents -Compound Interest Problems -Operations on Algebraic Expressions -Solving and Writing Linear Equations -Solving Literal Equations	Week 1 Handout
Week 2	-Plotting Points -Evaluating Functions/Function Notation -Slope -Slope-Intercept Form of a Line -Writing and Graphing Linear Equations in Slope- Intercept Form	Week 2 Handout
Week 3	-Applications of Linear Equations -Law of Demand and Supply	-Week 3 handout -Take-Home Midterm Exam (Covers Weeks 1, 2 only)
Week 4	-Parallel and Perpendicular Lines -Solving Systems of Equations (Using Graphing, Substitution and Elimination Methods) -Applications involving Systems of Equations	-Week 4 handout
Week 5	-Go over Midterm Exam -Solving and Graphing Linear Inequalities -Solving and Graphing systems of Linear Inequalities	-Week 5 handout -Prepare for final exam
Week 6	Last Class – Final Exam (covers ALL five weeks of material)	Congratulations and good luck to you!