Faculty Syllabus

MATD-0485 Developing Mathematical Thinking

Brittany Davis


Credit Spring 2026

Section(s)

MATD-0485-011 (17554)
LEC MW 10:05am - 11:50am RRC RRC8 8212.00

Course Requirements

 Appropriate score on math TSI Assessment test.  Departmental approval is required for these courses. 

 

Readings

This is a First Day™ class. The cost of the required statistics textbook, including an online version of the textbook and software access, has been added to your tuition and fees bill.   

Statistics Textbook: Introductory Statistics: Exploring the World Through Data, 4th Edition, by Gould, Ryan, & Wong. Pearson Publishing (with MyLab software) 

Additional Textbook:  Developing Mathematical Thinking.  This is a free textbook compiled by the math faculty at Austin Community College using various Open Educational Resources (OER). 

Supplemental Materials:  scientific calculator 

 

Course Subjects

  • Study Strategies, Rounding & Estimating
  • Fractions & Decimals
  • Percents
  • Problem Solving with Integers, Problem Solving with Patterns, & Probability
  • Unit Conversion & Venn Diagrams
  • Data Collection & Categorical Variables
  • Statistical Studies & Numerical Variables
  • Describing Distributions & Technology in Statistics
  • Numerical Summaries, Measures of Center, & Boxplots
  • Linear & Exponential Patterns
  • Summarizing Patterns, Finance, & Scatterplots
  • Modeling Linear & Exponential Trends

 

 

 

Student Learning Outcomes/Learning Objectives

Upon successful completion of the course, a student should be able to:

  1. Use formulas and/or order of operations to solve problems for a variety of models, such as temperature, regression, exponential, or finance models.
  2. Explain and justify answers based on an understanding of mathematical properties and rules.
  3. Estimate answers and evaluate the reasonableness of answers to application problems. 
  4. Solve problems involving fractions, decimals, and percents, including percents based in two-way tables.
  5. Apply fundamental probability/counting techniques to solve problems.
  6. Convert between various units of measurement. 
  7. Use patterns and diagrams to count objects in a set.
  8. Analyze statistical studies.
  9. Describe, graph, organize, and analyze quantitative and categorical data.  
  10. Calculate and interpret measures of center and variation for statistical data.
  11. Analyze relationships and make predictions with statistical data.
  12. Identify and interpret linear and exponential patterns of change for multiple representations.

These course objectives illustrate that this course is not an algebra course as are most developmental mathematics courses. It is a course about thinking and using mathematics. There is some algebra in the course, but algebra is not the predominant topic or the focus of the course.

Office Hours

Th 11:30 AM - 12:00 PM CYP 2108 or 2110

NOTE In one of the learning labs

M W 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM RRC8 8112

NOTE At one of the learning lab tables in the accelerator.

T 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM CYP5 2108 or 2110

NOTE In one the learning lab, they are next door to each other

Office Hours

Th 11:30 AM - 12:00 PM CYP 2108 or 2110

NOTE In one of the learning labs

M W 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM RRC8 8112

NOTE At one of the learning lab tables in the accelerator.

T 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM CYP5 2108 or 2110

NOTE In one the learning lab, they are next door to each other

Published: 01/08/2026 09:14:17