MAC2311 -- Calculus I -- Fall 2002-- Section 4972

Link to this page: http://www.math.fau.edu/wess/mac2311.htm
For a weekly syllabus including homework assignments goto the Syllabus.Last updated 8/16/02.
This syllabus may change often. It is your responsibility to keep upwith the course.
Instructor:  Mark Wess
Office:  Science & Engineering Bldg., Room 299 M
Email:  darthwess@yahoo.com
Time and Location:  M W R F  5:00 - 5:50 PM in Fleming Hall, Room 424
Office Hours:
Tutoring:
Textbook: Calculus, 4th edition by James Stewart 
Prerequisites: Adequate preparation incollege algebra, trigonometry, and geometry is essential to success inCalculus. You must pass the Calculus I Pretest, for more informationand a sample test click here.This pretest will also help you assess your level of preparation, but oneshort exam is not conclusive. It is possible to pass the pretest and stillnot be adequately prepared to study Calculus. Each student should readChapter 1 and Sections 2.1-2.3 to assess his/her level of preparation.It will be assumed that you have a full working knowledge of this material;if you do not, then you might consider taking another precalculus coursebefore studying Calculus. Inadequate preparationis one of the main factors contributing to failure in Calculus.
Course Description and guide to success:
This is the first course in the Calculus sequence. Adequate preparationand a willingness to work hard and attend class regularly is all that ittakes to understand the material of this course, and if you understandit, then you will pass it. You might even pass it without understandingtoo much of the material, but that is a risky venture; better to understandas much as possible.

There is a lot of help available. If you run into trouble at any point in the semester, the most impotant thing is not to wait: gethelp immediately. Often students wait until near the end of the semester to seek help, but at that time it is usually to late to fixthe problem. Please come to see me in my regular office hours, make anappointment, talk to me after class, go to graduate student tutors (ifavailable), etc. when you first start having difficulty in the course.If you are confused by something during lecture, please interrupt me andask for clarification. The path to success in calculus (any math course)is:

Read the section of the day before class.
Attend class regularly and ask questions.
Do the exercises for the section of the day ASAP (that evening is preferable).
Do even more exercises (go back over some from previous sections).
Ask questions about homework problems in class.
Study for quizzes and exams.
Do still more exercises.
Seek help when neccessary.

Math is not a spectator sport; if you cannot do it at home, you willnot be able to do it on an exam.

GRADES

Homework and Quizzes
The syllabus contains 15-25 homework exercises for each section. These represent a minimum number of homework problems, and I strongly urge youto do all of them carefully. However, they will not be handed-in or graded.Instead, each Friday when there is no exam, there will be a 15 minute homeworkquiz. The quiz questions will be taken directly from the assigned exercisesof the sections covered since the last quiz/exam. The purpose of the quizzesis to determine whether you understood and can do the assigned homework.The lowest quiz will be dropped and no make-up or early quizzes will be given for any reason.  All thequizzes together will count 20% of the final grade.

Exams
There will be five exams: four midterms and one final, all togethercounting  80% of the final grade.
The final exam will count double the value of a midterm. Theexams are scheduled as follows.

  1. Friday,
  2. Friday,
  3. Friday,
  4. Friday,
NO MAKE-UP OR EARLY EXAMS WILL BE GIVEN UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.
If you miss an exam for any reason, then that exam will be the onewhich is dropped.

Grades
The grading scale will be no worse than A: 90-100%, B: 80-89%,C: 70-79%, D: 60-69%.
There will be a small lowering of this scale at the end of the semester,but any grade below 50% will be failing. You should try to meet the abovescale to be assured of the grade you want.

The grade of I (incomplete) will only be given for the reasons specified in the catalog.

Links

THIS PAGE -- Calculus I -- Wess:
http://www.math.fau.edu/wess/mac2311.htm
Weekly Syllabus:
http://www.math.fau.edu/wess/mac2311/syl.htm

Mathematics Department Homepage:
http://www.math.fau.edu/