MAT 135: CalculusFall 2008 Syllabus

prof: Robert Talbert, PhDoffice: Old Main 128

office hours: MF 11:00-12:00. MTRF 1:30-2:30, by appointment, by open-door drop-in, and by IM.phone: 738.8268

email: rtalbert@franklincollege.eduAIM: rtalbert235

Overview Calculus is the branch of mathematics that studies quantities that change. In this course, we will try to answer three basic questions about a variety of real-life situations:

1. When we have a situation in which one quantity depends on another -- gas prices depending on oil production, free throw percentage depending on practice time, and so on -- how can we describe this dependency in a precise way?

2. Given a precise description of a dependency between two quantities, how can we determine the amount and rate of change in one quantity when the other is changed?

3. Given a quantity that is changing continuously, how can we determine how much change occurs over time?

Everything we do in the course will go back to one or more of these three basic questions. The first question is addressed by the concept of the function (Chapter 1 in the Stewart text) The second question uses the concepts of the limit (Chapter 2) and the derivative (Chapters 3 and 4). The third uses the concept of the integral (Chapter 5). And all of these constructions are related by the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus (discussed in Chapter 5).

The questions and problems that calculus addresses arise in almost every area of human activity. In the class, we will look at numerous applications, particularly in the natural sciences and social sciences. We will do so with a view towards not only mechanical competency in making calculations but also understanding the main ideas and concepts, using good problem-solving techniques, and applying what we know to problems we have not seen before.

Course GoalsThe successful MAT 135 will be able to do the following things with the specific content in the course: • Perform mechanical calculations with fluency and correctness. • Apply analytical problem-solving skills to new, complex, and/or applied problems in a variety of

areas, especially areas related to the studentʼs major or interests. • Extend or modify basic course content knowledge to solve problems that the student has not seen

before. • Communicate the overall strategy of a problem solution and the meaning of the solution in context to

an appropriate nontechnical audience.

In particular, note that merely obtaining right answers on simple exercises from the textbook is not sufficient to pass MAT 135. You must also be able to go several steps beyond simple mechanical fluency in order to show that you are doing college-level work and preparing yourself to use calculus in future endeavors.

ExpectationsStudents enrolled in MAT 135 need to have placed into the course via the Math Placement Exam, or else have completed MAT 125 (Calculus Preparation) with a sufficiently high grade. A very brief review of

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precalculus ideas will take place in the first few days of the course, but proficiency with these prerequisites as well as algebra and arithmetic will be assumed.

Students are expected to give MAT 135 the attention college classes deserve. Such behavior includes: • Spending an average of at least two hours outside of class for every hour spent inside -- working

on class assignments, reading the sections, and discussing work. This includes work that is assigned but not taken up or graded, such as end-of-section exercises.

• Solidifying basic skills in algebra and arithmetic where needed by the use of review web sites, prerequisite textbooks, Math Study Center or office hours visits, and other means.

• Attending class every time it meets. • Paying attention, taking notes, and working diligently during class meetings. • Respecting others in the class, including the professor. For example, no idle talking or web-surfing

during class meetings. • Taking initiative to ask questions when you have them, seek help where it can be found, and do work

that you need to do whether or not is actually an assignment.

Likewise, students in the course can expect the following from the professor: • Prompt return of graded work and posting of grades. • Fair and constructive grading practices, with detailed feedback designed to help you improve. • Enthusiastic treatment of the subject material. • Thoughtful treatment of all questions from students. • Transparent course policies that are enforced fairly (though with mercy in extreme circumstances). • Organized and effective learning activities during class meetings. • A fundamental respect for students as learners and human beings.

Students should remain aware that there are significant differences between high school calculus and college calculus, even if a studentʼs high school course was a well-run AP Calculus course. Students should not expect MAT 135 merely to duplicate their high school calculus course, if they had one.

Resources • Human resources: The best way to get input on the course, the assignments, or anything else is to

communicate with the professor. I hold open office hours at the days and times listed at the top of the syllabus. You may also schedule an appointment if these times donʼt work for you, and any time you see my door open you are free to make an unscheduled visit. You may also send questions via email, via IM using AOL Instant Messenger, or by phone or voice mail if a face-to-face meeting doesnʼt work for you. The initiative to make use of my availability is up to you.

• Electronic resources: We have a course website at http://mat135.wikispaces.com which is separate from the Angel site for this course. We will use Angel only for grade posting; all other web-based course resources will come from the other web site. This web site will contain links to the course Google Calendar, course documents (including this syllabus), tutorials, and other helpful information. You will be expected to check the course web site at least once a day for new postings and announcements; alternatively, the course web site has an RSS feed for updates to which you can subscribe using an RSS feed reader such as Bloglines or Google Reader.

AssessmentsGrades in the course will be determined through five different kinds of work. • A Technology Assessment which will be given in class on Tuesday, September 2. This brief quiz will

assess basic skills on Winplot, a free graphing tool which we will use extensively in the course. • Quizzes which cover assigned exercises. These are ground-level formative assessments which check

your progress on understanding basic terminology, concepts, and mechanical calculations. There are 12 quizzes planned at 20 points each; the studentʼs grade on quizzes will be taken as a percentage of 200 rather than 240 to allow for mistakes.

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• Problem Sets, given at key points in the semester. These focus on higher-level understanding such as your ability to communicate technical concepts and results, interpret the results of a calculation, apply basic content to new situations, perform more complex calculations, and solve problems in a creative and systematic way. There are six problem sets planned at 20 points each; the studentʼs grade on quizzes will be taken as a percentage of 100 rather than 120 to allow for mistakes.

• A Quarter-Term Exam scheduled for Friday, September 19 which will give a summative assessment of your progress in the early portion of the course. This exam will be graded prior to September 21, the last day to withdraw from a Fall 2008 course, so you can use the feedback on the exam to decide whether to continue in the course.

• A Midterm Exam. This summative exam, scheduled for Friday, October 10, will gauge your accumulated skills, on al levels, on the foundational material on functions, limits, and derivatives.

• Final Exam. A comprehensive Final Exam will be given to will assess your skills, at all levels, on the entire course. The dates and times for each sectionʼs exam are given at the end of the course calendar at the end of this syllabus.

These assessments are designed to cover the full range of cognitive and intellectual skills that college students are expected to develop. For more information, see the presentation on “Assessment and Intellectual Skills: Itʼs Not About the Grade!” given in class and archived on the course web site.

Grade FormulaThe point values for the various assessments add up as follows:

Assessment Point Value Grade %

Technology Assessment 20 3%

Quizzes† 200 32%

Problem Sets‡ 100 16%

Quarter-Term Exam 80 13%

Midterm Exam 100 16%

Final Exam 120 19%

TOTAL: 620

† Students may earn up to 240 points on quizzes. If a studentʼs quiz total exceeds 200 points, the excess will be counted as extra credit. ‡ Students may earn up to 120 points on problem sets. If a studentʼs problem set total exceeds 100 points, the excess will be counted as extra credit.

Each studentʼs semester grade will be obtained by totaling up the number of points the student earned and comparing that with the maximum possible, which is 620 points:

Grade Percentage Range Min. points needed

Grade Percentage Range Min. points needed

A 93-100 577 C 73-76 453A- 90-92 558 C- 70-72 434B+ 87-89 539 D+ 67-69 415

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B 83-86 515 D 63-66 391B- 80-82 496 D- 60-62 372C+ 77-79 477 F 0-59 0 (We all start

here!)Keep in mind that many majors requiring MAT 135 also require a grade of C- or higher to “pass”. Check the precise requirements of your major in the course catalog to make sure.

Course Policies

Attendance. Perhaps the most influential behavior common to successful calculus students is regular attendance. If you miss a class, you will find yourself behind, and you will have to work hard to catch up. Conversely, if you attend class regularly, you will find staying current and fluent with the course material to be well within your means. Unless it is totally impossible for you to attend class, you should plan on attending, or else you will find it extremely hard to keep up.

However, there are situations where attending class really is impossible, and so you are allowed a total of three absences during the course without direct grade penalty. You may use up these “personal sick days” for any reason you wish, and you do not need to get approval from me unless you miss a quiz. However, as with personal sick days in the professional world, you will be penalized once you use them all up. Every absence after the third one will result in a -15 penalty from your semester point total, regardless of the reason, even if that reason is a “serious” one. You may look at the grade chart above to see that 15 points is almost equal to one half-letter grade. This penalty is in addition to the implicit penalties you incur by falling behind due to excessive absences.

If you have used up all three of your absences but need to miss class again due to an unavoidable health, family, or personal situation to which you must attend and of which you had no prior knowledge, please consult with me. Depending on your situation, you might merit an additional sick day without penalty,

The strategy you should take is to conserve your “sick days” in case you really need them, which is what professionals in the “real world” do. Note that you are not guaranteed a makeup should you have an absence which causes you to miss a quiz, exam, or other assessment. See “Absences and Makeups” below.

Attendance assumes promptness. You are expected to arrive to class at least a few minutes before class begins and be ready to work once the class starts. Note that all quizzes and exams will begin right at the beginning of class. If you arrive late, you will not be granted extra time unless your circumstance is extreme and unavoidable, in which case you should start the quiz or exam when you arrive and discuss time extensions with the professor later. If you are late to a quiz simply because of poor time management, you will not be given extra time.

Students who miss more than 20 minutes of a single class meeting will be counted absent for that class meeting. This includes being more than 20 minutes late as well as leaving class more than 20 minutes early.

Absences and Makeups. If you miss a class meeting, you are responsible for learning the material covered in that class on your own. You are expected to read the semester calendar and be aware of what is being done in class on any particular day, and then do independent reading and exercise work if you have to miss. You may seek help from me in the form of specific questions, but I will not re-teach the material to you if you miss.

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If missing a class causes you to miss a quiz or exam, you will be allowed to make the assessment up provided you satisfy all of the following criteria:

1. The absence is the result of a serious illness, family or personal emergency, police or court proceedings, or other instance which is beyond your control to change, is completely unavoidable, and was not known to you in advance.

2. You provide documentation of your absence which includes the signature of an adult in charge of the situation and that personʼs telephone number, and you submit this documentation within 36 hours of the absence. (If circumstances make the 36-hour submission time frame impossible, an extension may be granted if you contact the professor promptly.)

3. You agree to make up the work according to a schedule determined by the professor and follow through on that schedule.

Note the following special cases of this policy: • If you miss an assessment because you “felt sick” but did not see a doctor or nurse, you will

not be allowed a makeup. If you are not sick enough to see a doctor, come to class. Otherwise go see a doctor.

• If you miss an assessment due to an official school or work function, then you must take the assessment in advance of that absence. If you approach me after the absence to obtain a makeup, you will be denied. The same policy applies to police or court proceedings, or other events which require your attendance and cannot be changed.

Students with Learning Disabilities. Students with documented learning disabilities are eligible for alternate quiz and exam environments, including extended times and alternate locations. Please see the professor as soon as possible to arrange such accommodations if you are eligible.

Technology. It is assumed that students in MAT 135 have basic proficiency with the operation of a personal computer and with the resources on the campus network. (Students without these skills can get help from Franklinʼs IT Services department in the form of personalized training sessions.) Students will be expected to check their Franklin College emails and the course web site regularly (at least once a day, preferably more often) for communications and announcements. Such communication will not be sent to nonstandard email addresses such as GMail or Yahoo accounts.

Students are expected to plan ahead for technological problems by having alternative plans for handing in assessments. Technological difficulties will not be considered valid excuses for late work. For example, failing to hand in a Problem Set because “the printer didnʼt work” will result in a grade of 0; the student should instead email the assignment as an attachment to the professor or hand in the writeup on a flash drive. It is assumed as well that you will back up your work to multiple locations besides your personal computer (e.g. your G: drive, a flash drive, as an email attachment to yourself, using a web-based storage service such as box.net, etc.) in the event of a catastrophic computer failure such as a hard drive crash.

Writing. A key element of MAT 135 is effective communication, particularly technical communication and the writing of clear, complete, easy-to-follow solutions to problems. A large portion of assessments in MAT 135 will be based on the quality of your writing, which in mathematics also includes the correct use of mathematical notation and terminology. Therefore it is implicit in every exercise or problem you work that you must give a complete, correct, and clear explanation of your answer and not just give the answer itself. (For many problems, the “answer” is itself the explanation.) Students are expected to use English correctly, including correct spelling and grammar, and to format their mathematics in a professional way. Remember that you are not being graded on the correctness of your answers but on the correctness, clarity, and completeness of your solutions and thought processes as actually given on what you hand in. The professor will not give the benefit of the doubt that you “know what youʼre doing” if your work gives no reason to believe such; your work must support and carry itself.

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Academic Honesty in MAT 135 and at Franklin College

One of the primary, if informal, goals of MAT 135 is to get you to think of mathematics as more of a framework for understanding and solving problems and communicating their solutions, as opposed to merely grinding out exercises and getting right answers. Development of your problem-solving and communication skills is a key goal of the course. Even if you never use calculus again after the semester is over, you may be assured that you will be called upon to solve difficult problems and communicate your thoughts clearly to a nontechnical audience in your future paths. Figuring out how to do this in your own way is an extremely important task for each student in this course, even if it means stumbling a bit at first as you transition from high school mathematics to college mathematics.

As such, all of the work that you complete as part of the requirements for this course must be your own work, or the result of an honest and equitable collaboration among the members of your study group. When I grade your work, I am looking to see your own personal development in the understanding of the material. I must be able to trust that the work that you are handing in reflects this development and understanding accurately, even -- especially -- if there are problems or errors in it. I have no interest in your merely emulating the work of one of your classmates, copying or even paraphrasing work from a web site or textbook, or in any way otherwise passing off someone elseʼs work as your own.

Plagiarism is the term usually given to define the act of handing in work as if it were your own, when in fact it is not. Academic dishonesty is a broaded term that encompasses plagiarism as well as other actions such as using unauthorized implements on a timed exam. Academic dishonesty is so named, and plagiarism is included under its heading, because academically dishonest behavior is intended to mislead the professor into thinking that your work is an accurate reflection of your learning.

To be clear: Academic dishonesty is not a “youthful indiscretion” or something that can be rationalized away because of the stresses of college life or because so many get away with it. It is a deliberate, conscious choice on the part of the student to mislead his or her professor, and it demolishes the mutual trust upon which all of education is predicated. If you plagiarize or commit academic dishonesty, it is not just the one instance that I cannot trust; your entire body of work (past, present, and future, and not just for MAT 240 but for all your college career) becomes untrustworthy. And it is supremely unfair to the students who are struggling but doing so honestly.

The penalties for academic dishonesty in any form are appropriately severe at Franklin College. If a professor suspects academic dishonesty on an assignment, the professor is required to investigate it. (Note: This is not a choice on the professorʼs part but a job-related obligation according to the Faculty Handbook of Franklin College.) If the professor, in his or her professional opinion, finds that academic dishonesty was committed, each student involved receives a grade of “0” on the assignment, and each studentʼs letter grade in the course is lowered by one full letter, after the “0” has been factored in. That is the penalty for the first offense in the studentʼs career at Franklin College. If it is the studentʼs second offense -- or if the student commits a second offense later -- the student is expelled.

While professors do have some leeway in recommending alternative punishments for academic dishonesty, it is my personal policy not to do so, but rather recommend the full force of the penalty in all situations -- whether the assignment in question was a final exam or a 5-point reading assignment.

In MAT 135, you get quite a bit of leeway to work with other people as you learn calculus and sharpen your problem-solving and communication skills. Assigned exercises may be collaborated upon freely among other students, and in fact I encourage a responsible use of study groups as you do these exercises. Most of the assessments, both formative and summative, in this class are individual timed assessments, so those students who conscientiously master the material on their own, whether or not they study in a group, will be rewarded for their accomplishments. Conversely, students who freeload or fail to engage themselves will find themselves, quite fairly, being assessed negatively. Obviously, on these

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timed assessments, security will be tight, and any instance of using unauthorized implements or of students looking off of othersʼ work will be dealt with immediately in the context of academic dishonesty described above.

Problem Sets are the only outside-of-class assignments that you will have on a regular basis. On these assignments, every sentence that you write should be one that you have generated yourself and that you understand. You are permitted to collaborate with other classmates on overall strategies for solutions and on big ideas and hints. But you must be working alone when you write your solutions. Additionally, all collaboration with other students on Problem Sets must occur with students who are currently at the same stage of the solution as you. For example, if you are making no progress on a solution and find a classmate who had finished the problem, and then get help from that student on how to do the problem, that is considered plagiarism (collaborating with someone not at the same level of progress as you). If you are making no progress on a problem and get together with 2-3 classmates who have also made no progress to brainstorm big ideas for the solution, then this in itself is acceptable collaboration. However, if one of those students in your brainstorming group comes up with the correct idea for the solution, and you simply write down their work without working out the details for yourself and without real understanding, then thatʼs plagiarism (using someone elseʼs work as your own).

Also, the primary resource you should use is the course textbook and your notes (and the notes that are on the course web site). However, you may find it helpful sometimes to look up additional reference material in other books (such as other calculus books or a study guide). If you use such information in a significant way for your solution, you must attribute it properly using the title, author, and page numbers of the resource you used. However: It is plagiarism to use other books or other mateirals to get completed solutions or significant parts of completed solutions; this is using someone elseʼs work as your own.

Finally, no contact whatsoever is allowed with past students from MAT 135, such as the student workers in the Math Study Center. Student workers at the MSC have been instructed to deny requests for help on all Problem Sets in this class. You may, of course, seek any amount of help you wish on textbook exercises from MSC staff, which would give you a firmer foundation to attack the more complicated problems in Problem Sets.

The easiest route to take in order to avoid issues with academic dishonesty is just simply to recognize and avoid the temptation to engage in it. It is much better to turn in work that has problems but honestly reflects your best efforts than to turn in something that, for all practical purposes, lies to the professor about you. You might lose points in the short term, but you will learn better, perform better, and enjoy your mathematical future better if you stay honest.

PS: In order to “walk the walk” here, I should mention that portions of this document were adapted from Ted Sundstromʼs syllabus for his course Communicating in Mathematics, at Grand Valley State University.

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MAT135(A,B):CourseCalendar,Fall2008Thiscalendarissubjecttochange.Allchangeswillbeannouncedinclassandonthecoursewebsite.

M T R F

8/26/2008OverviewofMAT135;Fourwaystorepresentafunction(1.1).WinplotassignmentandTechnologyAssessmentguidelinesgiven.

8/28/2008Fourwaystorepresentafunction(1.1),continued.

8/29/2008Mathematicalmodels(1.2);overviewofdataplottingusingExcel.

9/1/2008LaborDay;noclass.

9/2/2008TechnologyAssessmentinclass.Newfunctionsfromoldfunctions(1.3).

9/4/2008Quiz1(1.1‐‐1.3).Exponentialfunctions(1.5).

9/5/2008Finish1.5ifneeded.Inversefunctionsandlogarithms(1.6).ProblemSet1assigned.

9/8/2008Thetangentandvelocityproblems(2.1).

9/9/2008Quiz2(1.5,1.6).Thelimitofafunction(2.2).

9/11/2008Finish2.2.Calculatinglimitsusingthelimitlaws(2.3).

9/12/2008ProblemSet1due.Finish2.3.Continuity(2.5).

9/15/2008Quiz3(2.1‐2.3).Limitsatinfinity(2.6).

9/16/2008Derivativesandratesofchange(2.7).

9/18/2008Thederivativeasafunction(2.8).ProblemSet2assigned.

9/19/2008Quarter‐TermExam(Chapter1;2.1‐2.6).

9/22/2008Derivativesofpolynomialsandexponentialfunctions(3.1).

9/23/2008TheProductandQuotientRules(3.2).

9/25/2008ProblemSet2due.Quiz4(2.7,2.8,3.1).Practicesessiononcalculationtechniques.

9/26/2008TheChainRule(3.4).

9/29/2008TheChainRule(3.4),continued.

9/30/2008Implicitdifferentiation(3.5).

10/2/2008Quiz5(3.2,3.4).Derivativesoflogarithmicfunctions(3.6).

10/3/2008Finish3.6.

10/6/2008Ratesofchangeinthenaturalandsocialsciences(3.7).

10/7/2008Exponentialgrowthanddecay(3.8).ProblemSet3assigned.

10/9/2008Quiz6(3.5‐3.7)withlivedebrief,plusotherreviewquestions.

10/10/2008MidtermExam(Chapters1and2,Sections3.1‐3.8).

MAT 135 Spring 2008 Syllabus: Page 8 of 9

M T R F

10/13/2008Relatedrates(3.9).

10/14/2008ProblemSet3due.Relatedrates(3.9).

10/16/2008FallBreak;noclass.

10/17/2008FallBreak;noclass.

10/20/2008Maximumandminimumvalues(4.1).

10/21/2008Maximumandminimumvalues(4.1),continued.

10/23/2008Howderivativesaffecttheshapeofagraph(4.3).

10/24/2008Quiz7(4.1).Finish4.3andpractice.

10/27/2008Usingcalculustopredictgraphbehavior.(Replaces4.5and4.6.)ProblemSet4assigned.

10/28/2008Optimization(4.7).

10/30/2008Optimization(4.7),continued.

10/31/2008Optimization(4.7),finish.Quiz8(4.7)givenastake‐home.

11/3/2008ProblemSet4due.Quiz8due.Antiderivatives(4.9).ProblemSet5assigned.

11/4/2008Areasanddistances(5.1).

11/6/2008Areasanddistances(5.1),continued.

11/7/2008Thedefiniteintegral(5.2).

11/10/2008ProblemSet5due.Quiz9(4.9,5.1).Thedefiniteintegral(5.2),continued.

11/11/2008Integrationpracticecovering5.1and5.2.

11/13/2008TheFundamentalTheoremofCalculus(5.3).

11/14/2008TheFundamentalTheoremofCalculus(5.3),continued.Courseevaluations.

11/17/2008Quiz10(5.2,basicsof5.3).PracticewithcalculatingintegralsusingFTC.

11/18/2008IndefiniteintegralsandtheNetChangeTheorem(5.4)

11/20/2008IndefiniteintegralsandtheNetChangeTheorem(5.4)continued.ProblemSet6assigned.

11/21/2008Quiz11(harderexercisesfrom5.3;5.4).

11/24/2008Thesubstitutionrule(5.5).

11/25/2008Thesubstitutionrule(5.5)continued.

11/27/2008Thanksgivingbreak;noclass.

11/28/2008Thanksgivingbreak;noclass.

12/1/2008ProblemSet6due.IntegrationpracticecoveringChapter5.

12/2/2008Quiz12(5.5)withlivedebrief;Q&Aoverintegration.

12/4/2008Reviewforfinalexam(Chapters1‐‐3).

12/5/2008Reviewforfinalexam(Chapters4‐‐5).

FinalExamsSectionA:Tuesday,December9,8:00‐‐10:00

SectionB:Wednesday,December10,10:45AM‐‐12:45PM

MAT 135 Spring 2008 Syllabus: Page 9 of 9