MATH106 Applied Calculus I Fall 2003
Daily Syllabus Peter Greim's home page MACS home page Registrar's page Citadel home page
Class Mo, We, Fr 11:00-11:50 TH 203
P. Greim, Thompson 329,
Tel. 9535035, Email: peter.greim@citadel.edu
http://macs.citadel.edu/~greimp
Office hours are posted at my door and at myclass schedule web page. You can read it as long as you are using a Citadel terminal. The class schedule will give you an idea which times might be available if you need to make an appointment.
Text:
Applied Calculus - A Graphing
Approach
by David I. Schneider and
David C. Lay
Prentice-Hall, 1997 (ISBN
0-13-342478-2)
Covered material see syllabus
Goals
This is neither a
"theoretical" calculus course nor a technical skills course. The main
goal is to help you understand, and apply to situations in business and in the
life and social sciences, some of the concepts of calculus.
You will learn to recognize situations with problems that can be described and analyzed in the language of calculus, and you will learn how to solve them.
To this end you need to be able to do algebraic manipulations as you've done in high school, and you will develop some routines, learn some formulas in calculus. The emphasis, however, is on the concepts.
Expectations
See the list of objectives for MATH 106.
Technology
You need a graphing calculator: TI 83 or better. Instructions for the TI 83 are given in class; usually the MathLab conducts one or two workshops, too. For some test questions I may not permit the use of graphing calculators. Occasionally I will use Excel (a spreadsheet program) for demonstrations. You do not have to use Excel.
Grades
are based on the final, 4 tests, and homework (resp. quizzes). Each test counts 100 points, the combined homework and the final exam count 200 points each. You'll receive 0.5, resp. 1.25 percentage points extra credit for each correctly solved problem of the week or problem of the month. (See Prof. Trautman's webpage http://155.225.48.46/potw/potw.htm and look out for weekly, resp. monthly, announcements on the bulletin boards.) I will follow the usual 10% per grade scheme and not grade "on a curve". However, if after grading a test the statistics show a particularly bad performance of the whole class at one problem, I may adjust that problem's weight within the whole test.
Missing a test unexcused will result in a score of zero. I will not allow you to miss a test because of a lack of preparation. If your absence is excused, I may choose to drop it and prorate the other test and homework scores, or give you a makeup test.
On campus, you can check your standing in the course in a spreadsheet file.
Missing a test
unexcused will result in a score of zero. I will not allow you to miss a test because of lack of preparation. If your absence is excused, I may choose to drop it and prorate the other test and homework scores, or give you a makeup test. To be excused from a test you need to give me advance notice - if possible at or before the class period preceding the test. Guard duty is no excuse for missing a test.
Missing class
excessively is not a good idea either. Read the section "Class Attendance Policy" on page 25 of the 2002-2003 catalog. If you have to miss a class or if you can't stay awake, talk to me.
Homework
Since its total weight is only 25%, you can ignore the homework and still make a "C" in the course, right?
Wrong. You don't even have a remote chance to pass the course without doing the homework. Not only will it enable you to test your understanding of the material you saw in class - you will understand Calculus through trying, failing, and eventually succeeding in solving the problems.
After each class period, try to do the problems listed in the syllabus for that day. Identify the ones that you can't do on your own. Tell me at the beginning of the next class period which they are; we will discuss some of them. On that day I'll tell you which problems of that set you are to turn in at the beginning of the following class period. Instead of collecting the homework, I may quiz you on it.
Late homework will not be accepted. If you miss a class period, get the homework assignment from me or somebody in the class, or look it up on the web page (updates are posted by midnight). You will still have to turn it in at the due date. If you can't do it, come and see me.
When you work problems, first try to do them by yourself. After that, whether you succeed or not, you may discuss them with others. You will learn from talking about mathematics. However, do not copy homework from others. I want you to understand a problem solution (either through own research or discussion) and then formulate it in your own words. Discussing a problem solution with a classmate, understanding it, and then formulating it in your own words is allowed. Copying a solution from others is not. When I give you group projects, they'll be clearly identified as such. The group has to turn in only one solution, but each group member must be able to present it.
Homework format: Put your name and the date in the top right corner, the textbook page in the left corner. Draw a horizontal line across the page after each problem. (The easier you make grading for me, the more I can grade.)
Occasionally I may let you do or redo part of a test as take-home. In that case you are completely on your own - almost. I am the only person with whom you may discuss a test problem before turning it in.
Help
is available: you may work with other students, see me after class, during office hours, or make an appointment (or just drop by my office, taking a chance that I may be busy). There is also individual and group tutoring (at no cost) in the MathLab. See Jeff Ragan on the first floor. I’m on campus Monday nights – make an appointment.
One last advice: when you are getting behind (or can't even get started right) - let me know right away. I'll go out of my way to help you if you try. Your grade will be based on your success - not on your effort. However, your effort will determine how much I help.