Independent Study
The emphasis in this course is on real-world mathematics concepts used in the workplace or in a person's daily life. This course will develop skills needed for solving business and consumer-related problems, analyzing and interpreting data, and applying sound decision-making skills. After a review of the fundamental processes, problems are covered which involve percentage, markup, discounts, interest, taxation, bank reconciliation, payroll, and insurance. AAS: Mathematics elective.
General Education Outcomes are the knowledge, skills, abilities, attitudes, and behaviors that students are expected to develop as a result of their overall experiences with any aspect of the college, including courses, programs, and student services, both inside and outside of the classroom. The General Education Outcomes specifically learned in this course are:
- Critical Thinking
Faculty Contact Information
First 8 weeks: MW 11am-12pm, TTh 1-2pm
Second 8 weeks: MWTTh 11am-12pm
I will be available in my office during those times without making an appointment. You will need to make an appointment outside of those times.
Course Information
At the end of this course, students will be able to:
- Use computational and critical thinking skills to solve word problems related to common business and personal situations.
- Apply basic math skills (such as percentages, decimals, and fractions) as required in all applications.
- Calculate discounts, markups, and markdowns.
- Calculate payroll, simple interest, discount note compound interest, and annuities.
- Calculate mean, median, mode, and frequency distribution.
- Know how to solve for the unknown.
- Whole Numbers
- Reading, writing, and rounding whole numbers
- Operations with whole numbers
- Fractions
- Convert between improper fractions and mixed numbers
- Reduce fractions
- Operations with fractions and mixed numbers
- Decimals
- Rounding
- Fraction and decimal conversions
- Operations with decimals
- Banking
- Bank reconciliation
- Checking account transactions
- Reconciling statement with register
- Solving for the Unknown
- Solving equations with multiple unknowns
- Solving equations with parentheses
- Using equations to solve word problems
- Percents and their Application
- Conversions of decimals, percents, and fractions
- Solving percentage problems
- Percent increase and decrease
- Discounts: Trade and Cash
- Trade discounts, single and chain
- Cash discounts, credit terms and partial payments
- Markups and Markdowns
- Markups based on cost and selling price
- Markdowns and perishables
- Breakeven analysis
- Payroll
- Gross pay
- Payroll deductions
- Payroll taxes
- Simple Interest
- Calculate simple interest and maturity value
- Finding unknown in simple interest formula
- Making partial note payments before due date
- Compound Interest and Present Value
- Compare simple interest and compound interest
- Calculate compound amount and interest manually and with table
- Compare present value with compound interest
- Compute present value with table
- Installment Buying
- Calculate amount financed, finance charge, and deferred payment
- Calculate monthly payment by formula and by table
- Calculate finance charges on revolving credit card accounts
- Inventory and Overhead
- Calculate cost of ending inventory and cost of goods sold for various inventory methods
- Calculate cost ratio and ending inventory at cost using the retail method
- Calculate estimated inventory using gross profit method
- Calculate inventory turnover
- Allocate overhead according to floor space and sales
- Business Statistics
- Mean, median, and mode
- Frequency distributions and graphs
- Measures of dispersion
Practical Business Math Procedures, 14th ed. by Slater and Witrry. McGraw-Hill. Connect access code and ebook comes with tuition.
A basic calculator
This course will be evaluated by performance on homework, quizzes, tests, and a comprehensive final exam.
- Homework = 20% of grade
- Quizzes = 10% of grade
- Tests = 50% of grade
- Final Exam = 20% of grade
Grading Scale:
Percentage | Final Grade |
|---|---|
90-100% | A |
80-89% | B |
70-79% | C |
60-69% | D |
0-59% | F |
Liberal Arts & Sciences
Dean, Jennifer Huggins; 815-802-8484; R310; jhuggins@kcc.edu; Division Office- W102; 815-802-8700
Videos: Video lectures and guided notes are available in Canvas. I highly recommend writing down the steps to the problems while watching the videos. There is something about writing things down that helps you to remember them. You can even try working through the problems ahead of time and just skip to the ones that you don’t understand in the video.
Homework: Homework will be assigned and completed using MyConnect. As many opportunities as necessary are granted to achieve full credit, thus, persistence is the key. Homework is your opportunity to practice and master the material. Homework is due on the time and date listed in MyConnect and is completed on your own time. NO late work is accepted. Your lowest homework grade will be dropped.
Quizzes: There will be one take home quiz per chapter (learning unit). You will upload pictures of your work in Canvas. I will post an answer key the morning after a quiz is due. You are expected write an analysis of your quiz after checking the answer key. This analysis should be provided in sentence form. Look at each problem in which your answer and/or work is incorrect and explain what mistake you made and whether or not you now understand how to do the problem. You are not simply stating that you were incorrect or correct. You learn best from your mistakes. Your lowest quiz score will be dropped.
Tests: Tests will be taken in the testing center. If you score below a 75% on a test, you will be required to meet with me to go over the test. I will replace your lowest test score with your final exam grade so if you do poorly on a test, you will have the opportunity to replace the low grade with your final exam grade.
Calculator Usage Policy: You may use a calculator throughout the course but you will be expected to show work by hand for the first three chapters. Cell phone calculators are not allowed during tests.
Academic Integrity: By enrolling in this course, you are agreeing to complete all the work yourself. If you are caught submitting someone else’s work, you may automatically receive an F for the course.
| Week | Topics |
|---|---|
1 | Chapter 1 Whole Numbers |
2 | Chapter 2 Fractions |
3 | Chapter 3: Decimals Test 1 |
4 | Chapter 4: Banking |
5 | Chapter 5: Solving for the Unknown |
6 | Chapter 6: Percents and their Application Test 2 |
7 | Chapter 7: Discounts: Trade and Cash |
8-9
| Chapter 8: Markups and Markdowns Test 3 |
10 | Chapter 9: Payroll |
11 | Chapter 10: Simple Interest |
12 | Chapter 12 Compound Interest and Present Value Test 4 |
13 | Chapter 14 Installment Buying |
14 | Chapter 18 Inventory and Overhead |
15 | Chapter 22 Business Statistics Test 5 |
16 | Review for Final Exam |
17 | Cumulative Final Exam |
College Policies, Resources and Supports
For information related to the Student Code of Conduct Policy, Withdrawal Policy, Email Policy, and Non- Attendance/Non-Participation Policy, please review the college’s Code of Campus Affairs and Regulations webpage, which can be found at catalog.kcc.edu under the Academic Regulations & Conduct Guide.
KCC offers various academic and personal resources for all students. Many services are offered virtually, as well as in person. Please visit Student Resources - Kankakee Community College to access student resources services such as:
- Clubs and organizations
- Counseling and referral services
- Office of disability services
- Student complaint policy
- Transfer services
- Tutoring services, etc.
The materials on this course are only for the use of students enrolled in this course for purposes associated with this course. Further information regarding KCC's copyright policy is available at https://kcc.libguides.com/copyright.
|Course syllabus/calendar is subject to change.