M170 / 171: Calculus I
Boise State University, Fall 2000
Instructor:
Stephen Brill
Office:
MG 218-A
Phone:
(208) 426-3122
Fax:
(208) 426-1356
E-mail:
brill@math-cs.idbsu.edu
Class meetings:
11:40 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Lectures occur every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday
in room MG 106.
Computer labs occur most Thursdays in room MG 104.
On selected Thursdays we will not have computer labs and we will
instead meet in MG 106.
Textbooks:
Calculus: Early Transcendentals
(Fourth Edition) by Stewart (Chapters 1-5)
Laboratory Manual for Calculus, Boise State University
by Kenny
Office hours:
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Other times by appointment.
Homework:
The purpose of homework is to give students
the opportunity to work with and become familiar with the important concepts
of the course. Homework will be assigned regularly but will not be graded.
Collaborative work on homework exercises is encouraged.
You will have the opportunity to discuss homework exercises in class.
Grading policy:
Your grade will be determined by your performance in five areas:
-
Three tests (30%) -- Tests will occur during regular class meeting
times on 28 September, 26 October, and 30 November. Collaborative work on
tests is not permitted.
-
Quizzes (20%) -- All quizzes are take-home and will be assigned
and collected on a weekly basis (except those weeks when tests occur).
Generally, quizzes are distributed at the end of class on Friday and due
at the beginning of class on Monday.
Although collaborative work on quizzes is encouraged, each student must
hand in his/her own quiz paper.
-
Computer Labs
(15%) --
An important part of the course is the use of the
Maple computer algebra system to study concepts of the calculus.
Laboratory exercises will be assigned and graded.
Although collaborative work on computer lab exercises is encouraged,
each student must hand in his/her own paper.
-
Project (10%) --
The project is an opportunity for students to work on a (hopefully) enjoyable
problem related to the material we will be studying throughout the semester.
Students will form groups consisting of three or four people each; each group
will have a unique project.
Each group, with
the permission and/or advice
of the instructor, may design its own project,
or may choose to have a project topic assigned by the instructor. The
presentation of the project may be in oral or written form (or, perhaps, in a
combination of the two). It is the responsibility of the students of each
group to meet with
the instructor
(preferably not too far into the semester)
to determine an appropriate project and format.
All projects must be presented before Wednesday, 13 December at 11:40 a.m.
-
Final exam (25%) -- Tuesday, 19 December, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Collaborative work on the final exam is not permitted.
Your grade will be computed via the following algorithm. Let x be
the number of points accumulated throughout the semester (between 0 and
100):
A: x > 90
B: 80 < x < 90
C: 70 < x < 80
D: 65 < x < 70
F: x < 65
The following two paragraphs are taken verbatim from the Department of
Mathematics and Computer Science's
"generic
syllabus" for M170:
Learning Objectives
Our first semester calculus course has the usual objectives of a calculus course which is used by other disciplines on campus. As a service course taken primarily by
non-majors, M170 stresses neither the aesthetic side of mathematics nor the idea that of mathematics as the study of patterns.
Through the course of the semester, successful students will be expected
To develop an understanding of the derivative and how it can be used in solving problems.
To understand the relationship between the derivative and the graph of a function.
To be sufficiently practiced in basic algebra to set up and solve equations and inequalities involving functions and their derivatives.
To recognize that the integral is an operator which can be approximated through Riemann sums and is (in a sense) an anti-derivative of the integrand.
To have mastered the basic formulae for differentiation and integration.
Assessment of Learning Objectives
Students will be assessed by evaluating their ability to do problems based on the learning objectives. The problems will occur in several contexts:
Periodic problem sets for homework serve both as learning and assessment tools. Classroom activities may vary depending on students' performances on homework
assignments.
Problems given on in-class examinations are designed to give students the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to apply rules and formulae to the solution of simpler
problems.
Instructor-optional take-home examinations designed to evaluate the students ability to solve more complicated and time-consuming problems. These problems give
students the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to use technology to solve problems that are not amenable to simple analytic techniques.
This page was most recently updated on 29 August 2000.
http://math-cs.idbsu.edu/~brill/teaching/m170_f00/syll.html