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.
4 credit hours.
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. For some class sessions, I will ask you to bring a laptop if you can. Exams will also be held during class meetings.
I expect that you will work on Math 120 for 12 hours per week outside of class during a regular (Fall or Winter) semester, or twice that during a double-pace Summer semester.Mon/Wed: 1:00-2:00 office hours 2:00-2:50 Math 120, PH 304 3:00-4:00 office hours 4:00-5:15 grant stuff, PH 324 Tue/Thu: 11:00-12:00 meeting 1:00-2:00 office hours 2:00-2:50 Math 120, PH 304 3:00-4:00 office hours 4:00 Thu: meeting 4:45-5:30 office hours 5:30-6:45 Math 560, PH 321 Fri: no schedule--I'm often on campus, though. I have various meetings to go to. Send e-mail to make an appointment.
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.
Another resource on campus is the Holman Success Center, formerly the Holman Learning Center.I am a very applied mathematician. Applied, applied, applied. Not pure. Impure. I try to focus on real-world problems, or at least formulas that are related to 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 was 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.
Our required text is APEX Calculus Version 4.0, Volume 1 (chapters 1-6), which is freely available online at APEX Calculus. I recommend that you have a hard copy, whether you print it from a PDF or buy the cheap (about $14 plus shipping) printed copy online.
Reading a math textbook takes certain skills! Here are some guides:
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. I also encourage you to have a laptop with a spreadsheet on it, and access to sites like Desmos.com and WolframAlpha.com. However, some or all exams will have a no-calculator/laptop/etc-allowed section.
I will post data files, homework assignment files, etc. in Canvas, and possibly also at my home page. A record of all homework assignments is at this Google Doc (or, this link in case the bitly link fails)
We will use the Canvas 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 (which would also be free).
50-minblock# 2018: DoW Ch. Description 1 09-05 Wed Introductions, Syllabus, Intro activity 2 09-06 Thu Intro Activity 3 09-10 Mon 1.1 An introduction to Limits 4 09-11 Tue 1.3 Finding Limits Analytically 5 09-12 Wed 1.4 One-Sided Limits 6 09-13 Thu 1.5 Continuity 7 09-17 Mon same continued 8 09-18 Tue 1.6 Limits Involving Infinity 9 09-19 Wed none Computer methods: forward & back. difference 10 09-20 Thu none Modeling with Functions 11 09-24 Mon review 12 09-25 Tue Exam 1 13 09-26 Wed 2.1 Instantaneous Rates of Change: The Derivative 14 09-27 Thu 2.2 Interpretations of the Derivative 15 10-01 Mon same 2.1 and 2.2 continued 16 10-02 Tue 2.3 Basic Differentiation Rules 17 10-03 Wed 2.4 The Product and Quotient Rules 18 10-04 Thu 2.5 The Chain Rule 19 10-08 Mon same continued; "Deriver's License" practice 20 10-09 Tue same continued; Project 1 assigned 21 10-10 Wed 2.6 Implicit Differentiation; Deriver's License Quiz 22 10-11 Thu 3.1 Extreme Values 23 10-15 Mon 3.2 The Mean Value Theorem 24 10-16 Tue 3.3 Increasing and Decreasing Functions 25 10-17 Wed 3.4 Concavity and the Second Derivative; Proj 1 due 26 10-18 Thu none review 27 10-22 Mon Exam 2 28 10-23 Tue 3.5 Curve Sketching 29 10-24 Wed same continued 30 10-25 Thu 4.2 Related Rates 31 10-29 Mon same continue 32 10-30 Tue 4.3 Optimization 33 10-31 Wed same continued 34 11-01 Thu 4.4 Differentials (and linear approx) 35 11-05 Mon none Differential Equations 36 11-06 Tue 5.1 Antiderivatives and Indefinite Integration 37 11-07 Wed same continued 38 11-08 Thu 5.2 The Definite Integral 39 11-12 Mon same continued 40 11-13 Tue Exam 3 41 11-14 Wed 5.3 Riemann Sums 42 11-15 Thu 5.4 The Fundamental Theorem of Calculus 43 11-19 Mon same continued 44 11-20 Tue same continued 11-21 Wed Thanksgiving Break 11-22 Thu Thanksgiving Break 45 11-26 Mon same continued 46 11-27 Tue same continued 47 11-28 Wed 5.5 Numerical Integration 48 11-29 Thu 6.1 Substitution 49 12-03 Mon same continued; Proj 2 assigned 50 12-04 Tue same continued 51 12-05 Wed 6.7 L'Hopital's Rule 52 12-06 Thu none Fourier Methods 53 12-10 Mon 4.1 Newton's Method; 6.6 Hyperbolic Functions 54 12-11 Tue none review day; Proj 2 due; last day of classes 12-12 Wed other classes having final exams 12-13 Thu other classes having final exams 12-17 Mon other classes having final exams 12-18 Tue 1:30-3:00 Final Exam--A HALF HOUR EARLY!
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 Desmos and Excel and other mathematical software. I do not usually have PowerPoint-like presentations, and thus cannot hand out copies of slides.
Homework will be assigned just about every day. We might be using a free on-line homework system like WeBWoRK.
I encourage you to work together in study groups, but each person must work out and write out their own homework (no copying from each other). As in any academic work, you should "cite your sources": write down who you received help from (including tutors, but not including me) on any particular problem, or at the top of the homework paper if it's more efficient.
We might have short quizzes. Some of these might be announced; others might be unannounced.
I generally aim to have the Homework be harder than practice exams, and practice exams be a little harder than the real exams. That way, there aren't any unpleasant surprises. Practice exams show the format and type of questions, but the real exams won't just be changing the numbers from the practice exams; they will have different contexts for word problems, for example.
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 might 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.
Your overall score will be computed as follows:From: To: Grade: -infinity 56 F 56 59.33333333 D- 59.33333333 62.66666667 D 62.66666667 66 D+ 66 69.33333333 C- 69.33333333 72.66666667 C 72.66666667 76 C+ 76 79.33333333 B- 79.33333333 82.66666667 B 82.66666667 86 B+ 86 89.33333333 A- 89.33333333 infinity AThis scale is based on student performance from a previous semester. If absolutely necessary, the cutoffs might be adjusted.
Many 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 (not including the projects), so each is worth about 1 percentage point 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 almost DEFINITELY knock you down!
Or, put it this way: if you paid about $1200 to take this course, each homework is worth about $30. So not turning in a homework is like taking a $10 and a $20 out of your wallet and burning them--and that's just the immediate effect, not including doing worse on the tests, and increasing the chances you might have to take the whole course again. Similarly, we have about 56 class meetings in an ordinary Fall or Winter semester. So, you are paying about $20 per class meeting--miss one, and you might as well burn a $20 bill. And, double that during a double-pace Summer termFrom 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!
Instead of I'm not good at this, try: what am I missing? Instead of I'm awesome at this, try: I'm on the right track. Instead of I give up, try: I'll use some of the strategies we've learned (or email the professor!) Instead of This is too hard, try: This may take more time and effort Instead of I can't make this any better, try: I can always improve so I'll keep trying. Instead of I just can't do calc, try: I'm going to train my brain in calculus Instead of I made a mistake, try: Mistakes (and spotting them) help me to learn better Instead of She's so smart. I will never be that smart, try: I'm going to figure out how she does it. Instead of It's good enough, try: Is it really my best work (in the time available)? Instead of Plan "A" didn't work, try: Good thing the alphabet has 25 more letters!
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 might 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/responsibility/
Some schools have an Honor Code. EMU doesn't yet but together we can all work toward it!Those who use laptops during class other than when everyone is using them should sit in the back row or sides if possible, to avoid distracting others with what is on their screens. In addition to the articulated course specific policies and expectations, students are responsible for understanding all applicable University guidelines, policies, and procedures. The EMU Student Handbook is the primary resource provided to students to ensure that they have access to all university policies, support resources, and student's rights and responsibilities. Changes may be made to the EMU Student Handbook whenever necessary, and shall be effective immediately, and/or as of the date on which a policy is formally adopted, and/or on the date specified in the amendment. Please note: Electing not to access the link provided below does not absolve a student of responsibility. For questions about any university policy, procedure, practice, or resource, please contact the Office of the Ombuds: 248 Student Center, 734.487.0074, emu_ombuds@emich.edu, or visit the website: www.emich.edu/ombuds .
University Course Policies: https://www.emich.edu/studenthandbook/policies/academic.php
Student Handbook Link: https://www.emich.edu/studenthandbook/index.php
Graduate School Policies: http://www.emich.edu/graduate/policies/index.php