Fall, 2000

Monday and Friday, 9:00-9:50 p.m.

Tuesday and Thursday, 9:30-10:20 p.m.

Buttrick 217

Office Hours. Monday, 10:00-11:00, Tuesday, 10:00-11:00, Thursday, 2:00-3:00. If these hours are not good for you, we can set up an appointment.

The purpose of these hours is to provide you with times where you can stop by and ask questions. Please do not hesitate to use them: one-on-one interaction is often the best way to learn stuff.

Learning Support. Our Learning Support coordinator, Ms. Schwarzlose, together with student learning assistants will be able to provide help throughout the week. More details will be provided. You are encouraged to use this service, and should think of it as part of your weekly mathematics regimen.

In addition, Ms. Schwarzlose will offer an orientation class on using graphing calculators. The day and time will be announced soon.

Course Content. Chapters 1-6. Topics include limits, continuity, differentiation, integration, and applications.

What is Calculus? There are two major topics that we study.

1. Given a function f(x), in algebra we were concerned with questions such as "What is the value of f(x) when x=2?" In calculus, the questions become "is f(x) increasing at x=2? How fast is it increasing?" This is handled using what’s called the derivative.
2. Suppose now f(x) represents a rate of change, say velocity for example. Then we may ask "How much change was there from x=0 to x=4?" This is handled using the integral.

While the two questions seem completely unrelated, towards the end of the class you will see that they are in a sense "opposites" to each other.

This, of course, is a huge simplification of what calculus is, but it gives you an idea of how we’ll be thinking for the next 14 weeks. (Of course, if calculus was this simple, I would probably be out of a job L …)

What good is Calculus? You’d be surprised. Calculus has applications in many scientific fields, both natural and social. In this class, we will see applications to

• Business
• Chemistry
• Economics
• Medicine
• Physics
• Zoology

Course Goals. By the end of the semester, you should:

• Be able to read mathematics

• Be able to write mathematics

• Learn a group approach to problem solving.

Attendance. You are expected to attend every class. Missing class days does not have a direct impact on your grade, however it will have an indirect impact on your grade. Trust me. Also, you will not be penalized directly for tardiness, however you are expected to arrive to each class on time.

ecademy.agnesscott.edu. A web page has been set up for this course. You can find it at http://ecademy.agnesscott.edu/Mathematics/mathfacpgs/koch,alan/Math118/index.htm, or if that’s too much typing you can just follow the links from the http://ecademy.agnesscott.edu page. Here you will find all the handouts for the course. Most will be .pdf files, so make sure the computer you’re using has Adobe Acrobat installed.

Here’s how you’ll be graded…

Homework. Each night, there will be homework problems assigned from the sections covered during the lecture. They will consist (primarily) of odd problems from the book, so you can check your answers in the back. This homework will not be collected, but it is assumed that it will be completed by the start of the next class. You are encouraged to work with other people in the class to solve problems – after all one of the course objectives is to be able to work in groups. (You won’t be graded on this, but it seemed like a good place to put this info.)

Assignments. There will, however, be six assignments that will be turned in. These assignments are designed to help you keep up with the material. As a word of warning, the assignments do not fully cover the scope of the class, and you should not use them as a substitute for daily homework assignments. Assignments are due by the start of class on the day indicated at the top of the problem set. Late assignments will not be accepted.

You are encouraged to discuss these assignments with the others in the class, but your write-up must be your own. If you have any question about this policy, please let me know.

Exams. You will have three exams. The first exam is the only in-class exam, and is tentatively scheduled for September 25. The other two are take-home exams. They will (tentatively) be handed out on Friday, October 27 and Friday, November 17; and each will be due the following Tuesday.

For the take-home exams, you use your calculator, a pencil, and the exam. You are forbidden from using your textbook or your notes or any other sources (including people, of course). Again, all exams must be pledged.

The exams will cover material from the text, along with material presented in class. You will not be allowed to make-up an exam without a doctor’s note.

Gateway Test. All Calculus I students will be expected to pass a "differentiation gateway test". This test will have 7 differentiation problems (chapter 4 stuff) and you must get each problem correct in order to pass. You may re-take the test as often as needed until you pass it, but you may not take more than one test per day. The deadline to complete this is December 4. This test is 5% of your final grade, and no partial credit will be given.

Final Exam. The final exam is cumulative, although there will be more the materials since Exam #3 for obvious reasons. It will be self-scheduled, like most of the exams at Agnes Scott. The same rules apply as to the take-home exam: you can use your calculator, pencil, exam, and the arm you write with.

Honor Code. All students are expected to follow the honor code throughout the semester. Any graded work, be it an assignment, exam, or project, must be pledged (and signed) in order for it to be graded. Please consult the student handbook for more details.

Project. In addition to the assignments listed above, you must also complete an independent project. The purpose of this project is to

1. give you more exposure to a practical application of calculus
2. provide you with an easy forum to read a mathematical document
3. give you the opportunity to work in a group to solve a deeper problem
4. improve your technical writing skills

Here’s how the project will work. On November 14, you will receive all the necessary paperwork for the project, and you will be split into groups. This splitting will be "Darwinian", i.e. you may work with anyone you want, provided your group has between 3 and 5 people. You should read through the project before November 20, which is when you will start working on it. You will be given three class days, namely November 20, 27, and December 1, where you can work. During those days, you will have access to all of the equipment you will need. This project will take additional time outside the classroom, and during this roughly three week period we will be doing other things (as well as having a take-home test), so plan your time wisely.

After solving all of the problems, your group will work together to create a formal write-up of the results. The writing is a crucial component of this assignment – what good is knowing the answer if you can’t share it with anybody? The project will be due December 8, and will not be accepted late.

While you should work in a group, it is important that the groups do not share their results with each other. Make sure all your work is done as discretely as possible.

This sounds like a lot of work, but most students find doing projects such as this to be one of the most enjoyable parts of Calculus I. I hope you find it interesting and enjoyable.

You should not expect a curve to be applied to the point scale, although plusses and minuses will be added as appropriate. Please note that the plusses and minuses are cosmetic: they appear on your transcript, but do not affect your GPA.