Math 200: Calculus I

Spring 2013

sections F04, F05, F06

Instructor: Ed Bueler
Office: Chapman 301C.
   (Hours online at Course Web Site.)
Phone: 474-7693
eMail: elbueler@alaska.edu
 Class Time:  MWF 11:45-12:45
                      Th 11:30-12:30
   [plus your Tuesday section; see Course Web Site]
Text: Larson & Edwards, Calculus edition 5e
Course Web Site:
    www.dms.uaf.edu/~bueler/Math200S13.htm

The Course:   This course covers the basics of single variable calculus.  You will learn the meaning of, and basic manipulations of, the three fundamental operations in calculus: (i) limits, (ii) differentiation, (iii) integration.  Differentiation and integration are actually limits themselves.

Calculus is the language of physics and engineering, and much of chemistry, economics, and biology.  In these fields there is both continuous and discrete mathematics, and calculus is continuous mathematics.  For example, position and energy in mechanics, the velocity of a fluid, magnetic field strength, and probabilities in brownian motion all involve continuous quantities described using calculus.  People also use calculus to study things that are actually discrete, like populations or votes or the numbers of molecules in a chemical process.

The textbook is the "Early Transcendental Functions" 5th edition of Larson & Edwards, Calculus.  We will cover chapters 1 (review of functions), 2 (limits), 3 (derivatives), 4 (applications of differentiation), and 5 (integrals).

You are expected to ask questions in class about the lecture or about homework assignments.  Such questions are a great use of the class' time! You are unlikely to be the only one with a given question, so please do ask it.

"Recitation" sections:   An important part of the structure of Math 200 at UAF is an additional hour every week in a small "recitation" section.  (Thus this is a 5-day-a-week class!)  Your section is designed to help as many students as possible succeed at learning the calculus.  The sections are on Tuesday, at one of three times (2:00--3:00 for F04, 3:40--4:40 for F05, 5:20--6:20 for F06; see the Course Web Site for location).  In these sections the main goal is to discuss, with a person other than me, the homework and questions which arose in lecture.  There will also be required quizzes in these sections, and attendance is thus mandatory.  The teaching assistant Mark Layer, a graduate student in mathematics, is fully able to answer your calculus questions.

WebAssign:  http://webassign.net  Not-for-credit "WebAssignments" will be available each week.  I encourage you to do a part of this every class day.  You'll do the problems and submit your answers and they will be graded.  On the second submission you'll see the answers.  I will not use your WebAssignment score in determining your grade.  You are absolutely encouraged to work with other students on WebAssignments.  To get started, go to  http://webassign.net  and enter both the "class key"     uaf 9725 7171     and your "access code" which you got with your textbook.  WebAssignment #1 has already been posted.

Exams, quizzes, and paper homework determine your course grade:

60% of your grade will be determined by  four hours of exams:

Midterm Exam 1
Midterm Exam 2
Final Exam		 Wednesday, 20 February (one hour in class)
Wednesday, 3 April (one hour in class)
Friday, 10 May, 10:15-12:15 (two hours in class)

20% of the course grade will be determined by weekly quizzes.  (On weeks where there are Exams there will be no quiz.)  These will be given in the first 20 minutes of your Tuesday section.  Solutions will be handed out immediately and are a great topic for discussion.  These quizzes are also intended to help you with Exams by giving you many opportunities to see the kinds of questions which arise on exams, and my style in writing them.  I will drop your lowest quiz score.

20% of the total grade will be determined by weekly written (paper) homework.   These will be short, just a few problems, but they are likely to be the hardest problems I ask.  You are absolutely encouraged to work with other students on this paper homework.  I will announce each assignment in lecture and post the due date at the course web site.  Late paper homework is not accepted.  I will drop your lowest paper homework score.

Preparing for exams: I encourage you to construct practice problems by "role-playing" me before each exam.  That is:  Assume that I am a reasonable person who wants to test whether you comprehend what was lectured on and assigned.  Assume I have the goal of covering the topics and asking questions which represent a reasonable range of difficulty (from easy to hard enough so that not all will succeed).  What questions would I ask?  If you do can this role-playing then you will be able to generate a very close approximation of the exam I will give.  And you will get a good grade.

The Grade:
The course grade will be determined by points on the exams and quizzes, according to the schedule at right.  I do not give C- grades.  --->

The schedule represents a guarantee.		 Percent
93 - 100 %
90 - 92 %
87 - 89 %
82 - 86 %
79 - 81 %
76 - 78 %
  68 - 75 %
65 - 67 %
  60 - 64 %
57 - 59 %
0 - 56 %
 Grade
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
D+
D
D-
F

Prerequisites:    The official policy is "a grade of C or better in MATH 107X and 108 or placement for MATH 200X."  In the latter case, you can be placed in MATH 200 if you have certain scores on exams: 28 on Enhanced ACT Math or 640 on SAT Math or (56 on COMPASS College Algebra and 46 on COMPASS Trigonometry) or 90 on Accuplacer College Math.  As a practical matter you must have taken a precalculus class, have covered trigonometry at the precalculus level, and you must have done reasonably well (no Cs or lower).  Less than this is, in the absence of further information, a big warning sign about success in Calculus.

Accuplacer placement quiz in first week:  There will be a Placement Quiz on the first Tuesday, 22 January, in your recitation sections, which replaces the ordinary weekly Quiz.  This will happen in Chapman 305, and NOT YOUR REGULAR RECITATION SECTION ROOM.  If you take it you will get the full credit for the first week quiz, regardless of your score.  Please make sure to bring a photo ID to your recitation section.  I will explain on Friday January 18 in class.

Late Withdrawal: The last day for withdrawing with a W appearing on your transcript is Friday March 22. If, in my opinion, a student is not participating adequately in the class, I may elect to drop or withdraw this student. Inadequate participation includes but is not limited to: missing an exam, repeatedly failing to take quizzes or to complete paper homework, or having a failing average at the withdrawal date.  (But, if this applies to you, don't count on me doing you this favor!  I am OK with giving a D or F at the end of the semester for failing work.)

Policies:   The Department of Mathematics and Statistics has reasonable policies on incompletes, late withdrawals, early final examinations, etc.  See www.dms.uaf.edu/dms/Policies.html .  You are covered by the UAF Student Code of Conduct.  If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a dis-
ability, please inform your instructor during the first week of the semester, after consulting with the Office of Disability Services, 203 Whitaker (474-7403).

Makeup exams:  I will create makeup versions of Midterm Exams 1 and 2 if necessary, provided you have a convincing reason for me to do so and you let me know at least two class days before the exam.  It is Department of Mathematics and Statistics policy that Final Exams cannot be given early or late.

Math and Stat Lab in Chapman 305:  Please take advantage of  the Lab in Chapman 305.  See reverse for draft schedule.  This is a free study room and tutoring center which is open long hours, including on weekends.  It is staffed by advanced students.  There are computers in this room.  If doing math homework gets lonely, go there to find fellow sufferers.

Other resources:  Individual tutoring is also available through the ASUAF.  The UAF Bookstore has study guides for calculus.  I especially like How to Ace Calculus : The Streetwise Guide by Colin Adams and others.