Math 150 Syllabus

 

Course Syllabus:  Math 150 Course Syllabus [Full Document]

 

Meet Your Instructor:  Dr. Marty Romero

 

Course Description: 

Single and multi-variable calculus including limits, derivatives, integrals, exponentials, and logarithmic functions and partial derivatives. Applications are drawn from biology, social science, and business.

Textbook Information: 

Title	Ed	Author	Publisher	isbn
Calculus and Its Applications.	11th	Bittinger/Ellenbogen/Surgent	Pearson/Addison-Wesly	978-0-321-97939-1

*Please make sure your textbook comes with MyLab Mathematics online homework system. We will be using this to complete your homework.

Class Expectations

Experience has taught us that mastering the content of Math 150 requires that students spend many, many hours solving calculus problems and studying the textbook. We strongly recommend getting to know some of your classmates and spending lots of time with them working through hard problems, comparing notes on homework, and studying for examinations. You should also make good use of our office hours, of the Math Center (L204), and the online MyLab Math resources. We estimate that “A” students will spend at least 10-15 hours a week studying for this course in addition to the time spent in lecture. Of special importance is making sure you do not fall behind. The pace of Math 150 is brisk; it’s hard to catch up. If you feel that your performance is slipping, come and see me as soon as possible.

 

In lecture, we will not cover everything in the textbook, but rather, will spend most of the time exploring difficult points and interesting problems, and working together on exercises that will help us help you learn calculus. Do not expect a 150-minute lecture; you will be an active participant in your learning. Typically, the content covered in a lecture will be useful to completing a subsequent homework assignment. But, occasionally, I will assign homework problems on material not yet covered in lecture or you will need to read the textbook or view my online videos to complete the assignments. I expect you to come to every lecture and discussion section prepared to do mathematics.

Course Goals

This course (Math 150) is for students with interests in the social sciences, biological sciences, and management. It is designed to help students develop:

(1) a conceptual understanding of the major ideas of differential and integral calculus,

(2) technical facility with its techniques and theorems, and

(3) the ability to use these techniques and theorems to solve a variety of standard and nonstandard

problems

The focus of this first calculus course is not on theory, it will have an emphasis on applications. However, because proof is so central to mathematical ideas, we will examine how to prove the basic theorems that underlie important computational techniques. Students will also learn to use the main course theorems to solve application problems.

Calculus is a beautiful and venerable subject that provides powerful tools for analyzing the behavior of functions—that is, the ways that changes in certain quantities affect changes in one or more other quantities. These tools—developed in the seventeenth century and refined over the next quarter of a millennium—represent one of civilization’s greatest intellectual achievements. Calculus makes possible a concise and accurate description of the motion of heavenly bodies, of basic economic principles, and of countless other phenomena in which change and interdependence are central.

Calculus often allows us to compute the past and future states of a system, and here lies one source of its power. It allows us to find desirable states of systems such as when one important quantity takes its largest or smallest value, or moves at its greatest velocity, or just plain stops changing for a spell. Often, when using the tools of calculus, one discovers that two systems or phenomena, which appear at first to be completely unrelated, have exactly the same underlying structure so that intuition in one domain allows us to better understand the other. This discovery of surprising similarities, that by looking through the lens of mathematics one can often see unity, is one of the special pleasures of our subject and one of the reasons that drive some to choose mathematics as their profession. We hope that, at semester’s end, you will have a sense of the power of The Calculus and a growing appreciation for its beauty. Welcome to the community of mathematicians.

Classroom Policies

Attendance

I will be taking roll during each course meeting. Attending every class is required and important for your success. Remember there are no make-up assignments or exams. If you are absent, you are responsible for getting any class announcements and updates, and turning in any assignments that are due. Remember, any student missing the first day of class will be dropped. Any student absent for 4 classes may be dropped.

Tardiness

Any student missing 30 or more minutes of class (start and/or end of class) will be marked absent, unless your missing time is cleared with me prior to class beginning. The best way to do this is via email.

Classroom Behavior

Students are expected to actively participate by following class rules, being on time, having materials, answering and asking appropriate math questions, presenting solutions to the class, and helping others. Students are not expected to distract or disrupt their peers. All cellular phones or other technological devices must be put away and put on silent at the beginning of class. If you need to leave the classroom during class, please do so quietly without disturbing others.

Course Assignments

MyLab Math (MLS) Online Homework

Homework: Section assignments are assigned on the course schedule and due dates are shown in MLS (1-2 Point/Problem). Online help features available to assist, you may redo any problem as many times as you would like to before due date. 25% will be deducted for late homework .

Textbook Homework/Learn Checks

Selected problems from textbook will be assigned after we complete a lesson. Your solutions to those problems will be due at the beginning of the next class. If you are late or not present when homework is discussed, graded, and collected, it will not be accepted.   Homework grade is determined by three things and worth 100 points: (Full Completion and effort, Correcting your homework before class, Participating in group discussion/ reflection/Learn Check in class). Keep in mind that solutions are provided a head of time, 20 points will be deducted if you do not completely self-correct your homework using the posted solutions and 10 points will be deducted if you do not complete the reflection. PLEASE BE NEAT AND ORGANIZED WITH YOUR WORK, USE STANDARD SIZE PAPER AND MAKE SURE EVERYTHING IS LABELED AND FOLLOWS THE FORMAT BELOW. ILLEGIBLE WORK WILL NOT BE SCORED.

There will be times in class that I assign a group Learn Check based on completed homework. These are used to help you gain a better grasp of your progress on important math content. Learn Checks will include similar problems from homework, so you will be asked to retrieve what you learned in the past. This effortful retrieval makes your learning durable and sustainable. There are no Make-Up Learn Checks if you are absent.

* Three (3) of your lowest written homework assignments/learn checks will be dropped. NO LATE HOMEWORK IS ACCEPTED

Course Exams/Final

Exams

There will be 4 exams throughout the course that is broken up into two parts: Part 1 is completed in class and consists of show-your-work questions, and Part 2 is done online and consist of questions chosen from your online homework. Part 2 is done out of class, but you cannot get assistance or work collaboratively on the Part 2. There are no make-up Exams. Part 1 has a time limit of 1 hour and Part 2 will have a 2-hour time limit. 

Final

The final exam will cover Chapters 1-6 and be given during the last class meeting. It will contain both multiple-choice and free-response questions. There are no make-up Final exams. (*Your Final Exam percentage will be averaged with your lowest exam percentage to REPLACE your LOWEST EXAM PERCENTAGE, this is only if your Final Exam score is higher than your lowest exam score and you have 70% or above on your online homework)

Class Materials

Pencil, Paper, Eraser, Binder, Scientific Calculator (TI-36, TI-30, or other scientific calculator), (No Cell Phone Calculator or Computer on Tests), Ruler.

*Graphing Calculators will not be allowed on an Exam, but we will be using the in class computers to use the online Desmos.com grapher

Grading

Online Homework: 15%

Written Homework/Learn Checks: 10%

Exams: 50%

Final: 25%

A: 90% and Above     B: 80%-89.9%               C: 70%-79.9%   D: 60%-69.9%   F: Below 60%

Free Math Help: Math Center- L204 (Call for Hours, 714-5646677)