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.
Section 3 CRN 10821: Mon/Tue/Wed/Thu 12:30pm-1:20pm and SI sessions 1:21-1:45 in Pray-Harrold 305
Section 4 CRN 10822: Mon/Tue/Wed/Thu 3:30pm-4:20pm and SI sessions 4:21-4:45 in Pray-Harrold 305
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.
To succeed in Math 120 it usually takes 12 hours per week outside of class during a regular (Fall or Winter) semester, or twice that during a double-pace Summer semester. The federal standard for what a credit-hour means is a _minimum_ of 2-hours-outside-class for every credit hour, and our class is 4 credit hours, so that's at least 8 hours/week outside class.Mon/Tue/Wed/Thu 9:00-11:00 various meetings, Tuesdays only 11:30-12:30 Office hours and lunch 12:30-1:20 Math 120-3, PH 305 (CRN 10821) 1:21-1:45 Math 120-3, PH 305 Office Hours for Math 121 and Math 120-4 only. 2:00-2:50 Math 121-2, PH 305 (CRN 10825) 2:50-3:30 Office hours 3:30-4:20 Math 120-4, PH 305 (CRN 10822) 4:21-4:45 Math 120-4, PH 305 Office Hours for Math 121 and Math 120-3 only. 4:45-5:00 Office hours (except Thursdays) 4:45-5:15 research meeting, Thursdays only Fri 11:00-12:00 once/month: department Colloquium (students invited!) 12:30- 2:30 once/month: department meeting send email 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:
You basically need either a laptop so you can use Desmos.com, or a TI-83/84 graphing calculator. While it's possible to uses Desmos on a cell phone, it's not nearly as easy to use as when it's on a laptop. On most exams, there will be a portion where you're allowed to use a laptop with Desmos and a spreadsheet, and/or a graphing calculator, and a portion with no technology (or notes) allowed. Cell phones are not allowed during tests at all. If you don't have a laptop, I will lend mine to you (in 10-minute turns if needed). A TI-89 or TI-Nspire is not required, but is allowed just as much as a TI-84 sort of calculator.
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-min block# 2019 DoW Ch. Description
1 09-04 Wed Introductions, Syllabus, Intro activity
2 09-05 Thu Intro Activity
3 09-09 Mon 1.1 An introduction to Limits
4 09-10 Tue 1.3 Finding Limits Analytically
5 09-11 Wed 1.4 One-Sided Limits
6 09-12 Thu 1.5 Continuity
7 09-16 Mon same continued
8 09-17 Tue 1.6 Limits Involving Infinity
9 09-18 Wed none Computer methods: forward & back. difference
10 09-19 Thu none Modeling with Functions
11 09-23 Mon review
12 09-24 Tue Exam 1
13 09-25 Wed 2.1 Instantaneous Rates of Change: The Derivative
14 09-26 Thu 2.2 Interpretations of the Derivative
15 09-30 Mon same 2.1 and 2.2 continued
16 10-01 Tue 2.3 Basic Differentiation Rules
17 10-02 Wed 2.4 The Product and Quotient Rules
18 10-03 Thu 2.5 The Chain Rule
19 10-07 Mon same continued; "Deriver's License" practice
20 10-08 Tue same continued
21 10-09 Wed Differential Equations in Spreadsheets; proj 1 assigned
22 10-10 Thu Differential Equations continued
23 10-14 Mon 2.6 Implicit Differentiation; Deriver's License Quiz
24 10-15 Tue 3.1 Extreme Values
25 10-16 Wed 3.2 The Mean Value Theorem
26 10-17 Thu 3.3 Increasing and Decreasing Functions
27 10-21 Mon 3.4 Concavity and the Second Derivative
28 10-22 Tue 3.5 Curve Sketching
29 10-23 Wed none review
30 10-24 Thu Exam 2
31 10-28 Mon 3.5 Curve Sketching
32 10-29 Tue 4.2 Related Rates
33 10-30 Wed same continued
34 10-31 Thu 4.3 Optimization; proj 1 due
35 11-04 Mon same continued
36 11-05 Tue 4.4 Differentials (and linear approx)
37 11-06 Wed 5.1 Antiderivatives and Indefinite Integration
38 11-07 Thu same continued
39 11-11 Mon 5.2 The Definite Integral
40 11-12 Tue same continued
41 11-13 Wed Exam 3; no review session scheduled!
42 11-14 Thu 5.3 Riemann Sums
43 11-18 Mon 5.4 The Fundamental Theorem of Calculus
44 11-19 Tue same continued
45 11-20 Wed same continued
46 11-21 Thu same continued
47 11-25 Mon same continued
48 11-26 Tue 5.5 Numerical Integration; proj 2 assigned
49 11-27 Wed pre-Thanksgiving break
50 11-28 Thu Thanksgiving
51 12-02 Mon 6.1 Substitution
52 12-03 Tue same continued
53 12-04 Wed same continued
54 12-05 Thu 6.7 L'Hopital's Rule
55 12-09 Mon none Fourier Methods
56 12-10 Tue 4.1 Newton's Method; 6.6 Hyperbolic Functions
57 12-11 Wed proj 2 due; Review Day
58 12-12 Thu Review Day
12-16 Mon other classes having final exams
12-17 Tue 3:30 class: Final exam 3:00-4:30
A HALF-HOUR EARLY!
12-18 Wed other classes having final exams
12-19 Thu 12:30 class: Final exam 11:30-1:00
AN 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 $15. So not turning in a homework is like taking $15 out of your wallet and burning it--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 term.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, it's best to do the homework that night and ask questions during the next class meeting, then turn it in that day to get the most rapid feedback from me. 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.