Basic Information

Official Course Catalog Entry

Calculus of functions of a single variable; differential calculus, including limits, derivatives, techniques of differentiation, the mean value theorem and applications of differentiation to graphing, optimization and rates. Integral calculus, including indefinite integrals, the definite integral, the fundamental theorem of integral calculus, and applications of integration to area and volume.

General Education rationale

Very important notice

Prerequisites

Related Courses

Class Meetings

Brief schedule overview:

• Wed Sep 4: First day of our class
• Wed Nov 28: Thanksgiving break, no classes
• Thu Dec 5: Proposal due
• Thu Dec 12: Final Exam during last scheduled day of class
• Thu Dec 19: Final Presentations (instead of exam), STARTS AT 11:30, AN HOUR EARLY! Project due

Class meetings will be mostly interactive lectures, with some time to work on problems in class, and some time to go over problems from the homework. Some class sessions will meet in a computer lab or use a cartful of laptops. Exams will also be held during class meetings.

Instructor information

Office Hours and other help

 
Mon/Wed:
	10:30-11:00 office hours
	11:00-12:15 Math 360-0, PH 520
	12:15-12:30 office hours and lunch
	12:30- 1:20 Math 120-4 (though might slide to 12:45-1:35 ?)
	 1:30- 2:30 office hours
Tue/Thu:
	 9:00- 9:30 office hours
	 9:30-10:45 Math 319-0, PH 520
	11:00-12:15 Math 360-1, PH 520
	12:15-12:30 office hours and lunch
	12:30- 1:20 Math 120-4 (though might slide to 12:45-1:35 ?)
	 1:30- 2:30 office hours
Fri:
	no schedule--I'm often on campus, though.
	I have various meetings to go to.
	Send e-mail to make an appointment.
Fri:
  No official office hours, but I'm often on campus.
  E-mail me to make an appointment, or drop by.

I am also happy to make appointments if you cannot come to the general office hours. Please send me e-mail to arrange an appointment.

The Mathematics Student Services Center (or "Math Lab") is also here to help you, in Pray-Harrold 411. Their hours are posted here. Please give them a call at 734-487-0983 or just drop by.

A good place to study, if the Math Lab doesn't suit you, is the Math Den, Pray-Harrold room 501.

Teaching philosophy, interests

I am a very applied mathematician. Applied, applied, applied. Not pure. Impure. I try to focus on real-world problems, rather than artificial drill problems (though I do recognize the need for some drill). My classes spend much more time on formulating problems (going from the real world to math notation and back) than on proving theorems. If you want the theoretical basis for anything we are discussing, please ask!

My general math interests are in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research (IEOR). In particular, I do research in applied probability and queueing theory, the mathematics of predicting how long it takes to wait in line for service. You can learn more about this in Math 319 and 419 when I teach them. I also enjoy teaching about cost-minimizing/profit-maximizing methods called Non-Linear Programming (NLP) in Math 319 and Math 560.

I am a licensed amateur radio operator, and enjoy bringing aspects of electronics and the physics of sound/music into the classroom. You will see lots of sines and cosines in my classes, and exponentials/logarithms, but not much in the way of tangent, secant, etc.

Required materials

Our required text is chapters 1 through 5 of "Calculus, Early Transcendentals", 7th edition. by James Stewart published by Brooks/Cole, Cengage. There are three ways to get it:

• Single Variable Calculus: Early Transcendentals, Volume 1 (chapters 1-5) Amazon link , approximate price $115 at Amazon
• Single Variable Calculus: Early Transcendentals (chapters 1-11) Amazon link, approximate price $152 (new) at Amazon
• The entire book (Ch. 1-17), Amazon link (Vol 1,2,3)

The textbook should be available at all the usual bookstores on and around campus. The library has a page about class textbooks that includes bookstore addresses.

Reading a math textbook takes certain skills! Here are some guides:

• Various study skills
• How to Read A Math Textbook
• Reading a Math Textbook
• search for: how to read a math textbook

Many students find it useful to have a graphing calculator, though it might possible to get through the class without one. A TI-Nspire is not required, but is allowed just as much as a TI-84 sort of calculator. However, some exams will have a no-calculator-allowed section.

Course Web Page

I will post data files, homework assignment files, etc. on my home page.

We will use the EMU-Online system to record scores. You are expected to keep an eye on your scores using the system, and get extra help if your scores indicate the need.

We might also use an on-line homework system.

Supplementary Materials

• a free online precalculus textbook if you need some review.
• Khan Academy: Calculus
• Schaum's Outline of calculus
• The Cartoon Guide to Calculus
• The Manga Guide to Calculus
• any book with a depressing, insulting title like Calculus for Dummies or Complete Idiots
• The Mechanical Universe videos, like derivatives (starts around 6.5 minutes), integration, potential energy, harmonic motion.
• A Companion to Calculus, 2nd Edition by Ebersole, Schattschneider, Sevilla, and Somers; ISBN-10: 049501124X
• Calculus: Single Variable, 4th edition, by Hughes-Hallett, Gleason, McCallum, et al.
• Calculus Problems for a New Century: Resources for Calculus Collection
• Calculus for the Life Sciences: A Modeling Approach, a free online bio-oriented calc textbook!
• other online textbooks, like Strang or Boelkins.
• Integration by Lego: Planimeter and video 1 and video 2

Course Content

1. Build an appropriate model.
2. Use the model to solve the problem.
3. Communicate the results of their analysis.
4. Evaluate the model.

1. Build an appropriate model.
   1. Estimate an answer to the problem.
   2. Identify important components of the model.
   3. Collect or generate appropriate data.
   4. Analyze the situation using arithmetic, geometric, algebraic, and probabilistic or statistical methods.
2. Use the model to solve the problem.
   1. Propose a solution.
   2. Evaluate the reasonableness of the solution.
3. Communicate the results of their analysis.
   1. Share the findings in oral or written reports using appropriate mathematical language.
   2. Write summaries to explain how they reached their conclusions.
   3. Communicate quantitative relationships using symbols, equations, graphs, and tables.
4. Evaluate the model.
   1. Draw other inferences from the model.
   2. Identify the assumptions of the model.
   3. Discuss the limitations of the model.

Chapters and Topics:
Chapter 1. Functions and Models (all sections) ≈ 1 week Review of precalculus, while introducing the graphical and numerical as well as the analytic approach to studying functions.
Chapter 2. Limits and Derivatives (2.1- 2.3 and 2.5 - 2.7) ≈ 2 weeks Introduces differential calculus, the tangent and velocity problems, limits, and continuity SOHCAHTOA
Chapter 3. Differentiation Rules (3.1 - 3.10) ≈ 3 weeks Standard differentiation rules: power rule, product, quotient, and chain rules. Derivatives of exponential, logarithmic and trig functions as well as implicit differentiation and derivatives of inverse trig functions
Chapter 4. Applications of Differentiation (4.1 – 4.7 and 4.9) (4.8 optional) ≈ 3 weeks Optimization problems, mean values theorem, L’Hospital’s rule, curve sketching, anti-derivatives
Chapter 5. Integrals (all sections) ≈ 2 weeks Integrals both geometrically and as limits of Riemann sums, Fundamental Theorem of Calculus, indefinite integrals, substitution.

.					MATH;120-4; CRN 11904;H ;Calculus I
.		Math 120		chapter	Fall 2013
.	1	9/4/2013	Wed	1	Introductions; Syllabus, etc.
.	2	9/5/2013	Thu	1	1.1 and 1.2
.	3	9/9/2013	Mon	1	1.3 and 1.4
.	4	9/10/2013	Tue	1	1.5 and 1.6
.	5	9/11/2013	Wed	1	review day; 1.1 part 2
.	6	9/12/2013	Thu	2	2.1 The Tangent and Velocity Problems
.	7	9/16/2013	Mon	2	2.2 The Limit of a Function
.	8	9/17/2013	Tue	2	2.3 Limit Laws; skipping 2.4
.	9	9/18/2013	Wed	2	2.5 Continuity
.	10	9/19/2013	Thu	2	continued
.	11	9/23/2013	Mon	2	2.6 Limits at Infinity; Horiz. Asymptotes
.	12	9/24/2013	Tue		Computer Lab day
.	13	9/25/2013	Wed	2	2.7 Derivatives and Rates of Change
.	14	9/26/2013	Thu	2	continued
.	15	9/30/2013	Mon	2	2.8 Derivative as a function
.	16	10/1/2013	Tue		Review day
.	17	10/2/2013	Wed		Review day
.	18	10/3/2013	Thu		exam
.	19	10/7/2013	Mon	3	3.1 Deriv of Polynomials and Exponentials
.	20	10/8/2013	Tue	3	3.2 Product and Quotient
.	21	10/9/2013	Wed	3	3.3 Deriv of Trig
.	22	10/10/2013	Thu	3	3.4 Chain Rule
.	23	10/14/2013	Mon	3	continued; extra session for chain rule & other-rules-so-far review?
.	24	10/15/2013	Tue	3	3.5 Implicit Differentiation
.	25	10/16/2013	Wed	3	3.6 Derivatives of Logarithms
.	26	10/17/2013	Thu	3	3.7 Science applications
.	27	10/21/2013	Mon	3	3.8 Exponential growth and decay
.	28	10/22/2013	Tue	3	3.9 Related Rates
.	29	10/23/2013	Wed	3	3.10 Linear Approx and Differentials
.	30	10/24/2013	Thu	3	review day
.	31	10/28/2013	Mon	4	exam
.	32	10/29/2013	Tue	4	4.1 Minimum and Maximum
.	33	10/30/2013	Wed	4	4.2 Mean Value Theorem
.	34	10/31/2013	Thu	4	4.3 Deriv and shape of a graph
.	35	11/4/2013	Mon	4	continued
.	36	11/5/2013	Tue	4	4.4 L'Hopital
.	37	11/6/2013	Wed	4	4.5 Curve Sketching; 4.6 Graphing
.	38	11/7/2013	Thu	4	4.7 optimization problems
.	39	11/11/2013	Mon	4	continued
.	40	11/12/2013	Tue	4	continued
.	41	11/13/2013	Wed	4	4.9 Antiderivatives
.	42	11/14/2013	Thu	4	review day
.	43	11/18/2013	Mon		exam
.	44	11/19/2013	Tue	5	5.1 Areas and Distances
.	43	11/20/2013	Wed		5.2 The Definite Integral
.	44	11/21/2013	Thu		continued
.	45	11/25/2013	Mon	5	5.3 FTC
.	46	11/26/2013	Tue	5	continued
.		11/27/2013	Wed	5	Thanksgiving break
.		11/28/2013	Thu	5	Thanksgiving day
.	47	12/2/2013	Mon	5	5.4 Indefinite Integrals and Net Change
.	48	12/3/2013	Tue	5	continued
.	49	12/4/2013	Wed	5	5.5 Substitution
.	50	12/5/2013	Thu	5	continued; project proposals due
.	51	12/9/2013	Mon		Computer Lab day
.	52	12/10/2013	Tue		3.11 Hyperbolic funcs; 4.8 Newton's Method
.	53	12/11/2013	Wed		review
.	54	12/12/2013	Thu		Final Exam during last day of class
.	55	12/16/2013	Mon		other classes taking finals
.	56	12/17/2013	Tue		other classes taking finals
.	57	12/18/2013	Wed		other classes taking finals
.	58	12/19/2013	Thu		Final Presentations: 11:30 - 1:00 p.m. AN HOUR EARLY

Grading Policies

Attendance

Regular attendance is strongly recommended. There will be material presented in class that is not in the textbook, yet will be very useful. Similarly, there are things in the textbook that are might not be covered in class, but are still very useful. If you must miss a class, arrange to get a copy of the notes from someone, and arrange for someone to ask your questions for you.

My lectures and discussions mostly use the chalkboard/document camera, along with demonstrations in Excel and other mathematical software. I do not usually have PowerPoint-like presentations, and thus cannot hand out copies of slides.

Homework

Homework will be assigned just about every day. We may be using an on-line homework system like MapleTA or WeBWoRK.

Quizzes

We might have short quizzes. Some of these might be announced; others might be unannounced.

Exams

Overall Grades

No scores will be dropped by default, unless a valid excuse (possibly with evidence) is given. In the unfortunate event of a need, the appropriate grade or grades may be dropped entirely (at the professor's discretion), rather than giving a make-up. You are highly encouraged to still complete the relevant assignments and consult with me during office hours to ensure you know the material.

• 50 percent: homeworks, project, and possible quizzes
• 30 percent: mid-term exams (3 of them, 10 percent each)
• 20 percent: final exam.

Some homeworks and worksheets might be graded as credit/no credit instead of graded in detail. These homeworks might then be counted as only half of a graded-in-detail homework.

Notice that there are about 40 homeworks, so each is worth about 1.25 percentage points on your grade. This means that missing one homework can easily move you from an A to an A-, or a B to a B-, etc, and missing two will DEFINITELY knock you down!

General Caveat

Advice from Other Calculus Students

• Do ALL the homework.
• Always ask questions, he will answer everything. Do homework and study properly, his tests cover material he covers in class.
• Go to class, do the homework, ask questions.
• This professor is very much on the applied side, not theoretical.
• Ask for help
• Try to complete homework early and have questions prepared for next class.
• Spend some time making your note sheet.
• Start your homework early and show all your work.
• Office hours are very helpful, make sure you make use of them. Also, the practice tests may not be graded, but still do them. GRAPH EVERYTHING!
• Start the homework when it's assigned. When in doubt, graph it.
• Make sure you do all the homework, not just the evens. Also make sure you have at least tried all of the problems and ask questions the day before assignments are due.
• The practice exams can be very helpful if you take it like an exam (no book, with your note sheet, and set a time limit).
• Graph everything! Even if you don't think you need to. Take some time to review trig and log functions.
• Graphing the problems a lot of the time can show an obvious answer.
• Use e-mail, Prof. Ross is good about getting back to you in about an hour, depending.
• Use office hours.
• Do the homework and do it well; it's 50 percent of your grade. Not doing one assignment can really hurt. Passing the tests is not good enough to do well in this class.
• This is not a blow-off class by any means; homework needs to be done every night just to stay on top of the material.
• Be sure to speak up if you don't understand something, otherwise you'll get snowballed (gains momentum while rolling down hill). He enjoys participation in class, so don't be shy, speak up.
• Even though the odd problems are not required, do them, it helps you understand the concepts better (but do them last, that way you don't get stuck on a problem you don't need to do).
• do ALL the homework, because that's a huge part of your grade.
• It often confused me the emphasis put on guessing solutions at the beginning of the semester. After years of concentrating on getting the right answer it seemed weird. I just didn't really understand the importance of doing that until it was way too late.

Advice from Research on How Students Learn

From the book "Learning and Motivation in the Postsecondary Classroom" by Marilla D. Svinicki: "researchers have demonstrated that students who are initially allowed to generate their own ideas about a problem before they receive a lecture on it better understand the concepts behind the problem than students who are simply told what those concepts are." What does this mean for you in this class? Most of the time, after the first class meeting about a new section of the book, I will want you to try the homework that night and ask questions during the next class meeting, then you have the night after that to finish up the homework and turn it in at the start of the next class meeting. There is a temptation to not try it the first night, and just sit and try to absorb information about the problems from the discussion the next day. The research cited above says this is not good for your learning.

Also, "students who learn to monitor their own understanding and take steps to modify their thinking in light of that monitoring become much better problem solvers in the long run." I almost always want you to check your work by comparing to sensible upper and lower bounds, guesses, etc., or by taking a derivative to check an integral formula you just found. This way, you are monitoring how well you can do the problems in real-time, without having to wait for feedback from me grading your paper. The research I just mentioned shows that this makes you a better problem solver. AND, you get more credit because you can fix the problems you find you got wrong, even before turning it in!

Standard University Policies

Religious Holy Days

Current University policy recognizes the rights of students to observe religious holidays without penalty to the student. Students will provide advance notice to the instructor in order to make up work, including examinations, they miss as a result of their absence from class due to observance of religious holidays. If satisfactory arrangements cannot be made with the instructor, the student may appeal to the school director or head(s) of department(s) in which the course(s) is / are offered.

Academic Honesty

Academic dishonesty, including all forms of cheating, falsification, and/or plagiarism, will not be tolerated in this course. Penalties for an act of academic dishonesty may range from receiving a failing grade for a particular assignment to receiving a failing grade for the entire course. In addition, you may be referred to the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards for discipline that can result in either a suspension or permanent dismissal. The Student Conduct Code contains detailed definitions of what constitutes academic dishonesty but if you are not sure about whether something you are doing would be considered academic dishonesty, consult with the course instructor. You may access the Code online at: www.emich.edu/studentconduct/

Classroom Behavior

Students are expected to abide by the Student Conduct Code and assist in creating an environment that is conducive to learning and protects the rights of all members of the University Community. Incivility and disruptive behavior will not be tolerated and may result in a request to leave class and referral to the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards (SJS) for discipline. Examples of inappropriate classroom conduct include repeatedly arriving late to class, using a mobile/cellular phone while in the class session, or talking while others are speaking. You may access the Code online at www.emich.edu/studentconduct/

Those who use laptops during class should sit in the back row if possible, to avoid distracting others with what is on their screens.

Special Needs Accomodations

If you wish to be accommodated for your disability, EMU Board of Regents Policy 8.3 requires that you first register with the Disability Resource Center (DRC) in 240K EMU Student Center. You may contact DRC by telephone (734.487.2470). Students with disabilities are encouraged to register with the DRC promptly as you will only be accommodated from the date you register with them forward. No retroactive accommodations are possible.

Student and Exchange VISitors (SEVIS)

The Student Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) requires F and J students to report the following to the Office of International Students 244 EMU Student Center within ten (10) days of the event:

• Changes in your name, local address, major field of study, or source of funding;
• Changes in your degree-completion date;
• Changes in your degree-level (ex Bachelors to Masters)
• Intent to transfer to another school.

• Dropping ALL courses as well as carrying or dropping BELOW minimum credit hours;
• Employment on or off-campus;
• Registering for more than one ONLINE course per term (F visa only)
• Endorsing I-20 or DS-2019 for re-entry into the USA.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)