MCR 8 - Learning Support for Business Mathematics at Virginia Highlands Community College
Course Description
Effective: 2017-08-01
Provides mathematical instruction for students who require minimum preparation for college-level but still need further preparation to succeed. Students in this course will be co-enrolled in college-level Business Mathematics. Credits not applicable toward graduation and do not replace MTE courses waived. Successful completion of Business Mathematics results in the prerequisite MTE modules being satisfied.
Lecture 1-2 hours. Total 1-2 hours per week.
1-2 credits
General Course Purpose
To enable qualified students to enter into credit bearing courses sooner, with the appropriate support, and with equal or better success than those students meeting course prerequisite requirements. The course provides support and enhancement of foundational and course content required of the credit course.
Course Prerequisites/Corequisites
Prerequisites: Completion of any one of the MTE units 1-3. Corequisite: MTH 132.
Course Objectives
- Communication
- Interpret and communicate quantitative information and mathematical and statistical concepts using language appropriate to the context and intended audience.
- Problem Solving
- Make sense of problems, develop strategies to find solutions, and persevere in solving them.
- Reasoning
- Reason and draw conclusions or make decisions with quantitative information.
- Evaluation
- Critique and evaluate quantitative arguments that utilize mathematical, statistical, and quantitative information.
- Technology
- Use appropriate technology in a given context.
- Communication and Basic Skills
- Solve application problems by interpreting the materials presented, including determining the nature and extent of the information needed, and present the answer in standard English.
- Estimate and consider answers to mathematical problems in order to determine reasonableness.
- Correctly calculate sums, differences, products and quotients of whole numbers, fractions and mixed numbers, and decimal numbers without the use of a calculator.
- Perform basic calculator operations.
- Solve a formula for any specified variable.
- Convert decimal numbers and fractions to and from percents.
- Banking Applications
- Solve word problems using the basic percentage formula.
- Identify the component parts of a check, check stub and deposit slip.
- Perform simple banking transactions, rectify bank statements.
- Calculate simple interest, compound interest and simple discount.
- Use the formulas for maturity value and present value for simple interest loans.
- Use tables to calculate present value and future value.
- Find the monthly mortgage payment, interest and PITI and prepare a partial amortization schedule.
- Calculate sales, property, loans with closed-end credit and open-end credit.
- Taxes
- Calculate Payroll, income taxes.
- Calculate gross earnings based on salaries, commissions and wages.
- Calculate overtime earnings for wages, salaries, and commissions.
- Calculate State withholding taxes.
- Calculate FICA and Medicare taxes for employees and self-employed individuals.
- Calculate Federal withholding taxes using the wage bracket and percentage methods.
- Calculate an employer's Federal Tax Liability.
- Business Applications
- Complete an invoice.
- Calculate the selling price for an item using markup and markdown.
- Use the basic percentage formula to calculate trade, chain, quantity and cash discounts, and net cost.
- Use complements to calculate net cost.
- Calculate the equivalent single discount for a series discount.
- Determine the last date of a discount period.
- Calculate the selling price for an item using markup and markdown.
- Determine the break-even point and the amount of a profit/loss.
- To achieve the above objectives, the support course will cover appropriate topics such as those suggested below in both planned review and just-in-time remediation:
- Student Skills Topics
- Class activities may include:
- Reviewing notes from class lectures
- Activities on taking good notes
- Analyzing personal time management
- Correcting textbook homework
- Predicting test questions
- Correcting tests
- Preparing for tests
- Asking good questions
- Exploring skills for using technology effectively
- Discussions may include the following topics:
- Using a planner/electronic device to keep up with assignments
- What work needs to happen outside of classes
- How does one use class notes?
- Why and when is it important to read the text?
- What does the instructor mean when he/she asks me to show my work?
- Math Skills Topics
- Operations with fractions, decimals, and integers
- Order of Operations
- Exponents involving positive and negative bases
- Laws of Exponents (including fractional and negative)
- Evaluating expressions/functions for given values of variables
- Excel or similar applications
- Formulas
- Ratios and Proportions
- Percents
Major Topics to be Included
- Communication and Basic Skills
- Banking Applications
- Taxes
- Business Applications